screw eye/pin hinge question

[.dsaavedra.]

hi guys, another swimbait hing question (i'm sure you're getting tired of these )

anyway,

what are you guys using to cut out the slot that the screw eye goes into (where the pin goes thru the screw eye)?

also, are you guys drilling a pilot hole (i guess thats the right term) for your screw eyes? or do you just screw them in without drilling a hole for them first?

thanks for helping a n00b out

[diemai]

I cut those slots on my first swimbait with a router bit on my small hobby routing machine .

I always drill pilot holes for my screw eyes , even in softer woods like abache .

It's not , that you can't twist the eyes into such wood without pre-drilling , but , in the sense of that term , that hole "pilots" the screw into the right direction .

In such soft woods the holes don't have to be as deep as the length of the screweye's shank , half to 2/3 is enough , the diameter of the pilot hole shoud be like the core of the thread on the shank , or a fraction smaller .

But things are different when working with hardwoods like beechwood , oak or maple(these I am familiar to) .

Here the pilot hole has to be of almost same depth like the threaded shank's length , also the diameter may be a fraction larger .

But I don't utilize a larger drill bit as I would use for soft wood , I'd just circle the rotating bit around and move it up and down inside of the hole to make it wider a bit;) .

This is very important , when mounting longer screw eyes , that do not have a thread all the way up their shank , the pilot hole has to be larger , where this unthreaded portion engages into the wood , otherwise that shank portion binds too much whilst twisting in the screweye .

You will clearly feel this , when the hole is too tight , it is very hard to twist in the eye , even using pliers , the eyelet might rather be bend.

In this case , unscrew the eye again and make the hole larger . it takes some "feel" .

And NEVER use brass screw eyes into hardwood , these won't give no warning by bending away , they'll just twist off !

Try to go for SST only !

greetz , diemai

[Vodkaman]

The screw does not cut away material to make its own hole, it merely pushes it to one side. This creates a bursting pressure that could result in the wood splitting, especially on thin sections.

http://sawdustmaking.com/Free%20Charts/Pilot%20Hole.pdf

There is a ton of information on the WWW. I thought the above link informative, although I thought that the pilot holes seemed a bit tight. It would be interesting to hear what size pilot holes other lure builders use.

[bahlzar]

hi guys, another swimbait hing question (i'm sure you're getting tired of these )

anyway,

what are you guys using to cut out the slot that the screw eye goes into (where the pin goes thru the screw eye)?

also, are you guys drilling a pilot hole (i guess thats the right term) for your screw eyes? or do you just screw them in without drilling a hole for them first?

thanks for helping a n00b out

DSV, heres how I cut my slots......first I do make a 1/8 pilot, I dont go very far with that one...then i up size the bit a touch and make the hole a little bigger, now, tilt the bit to one side then tilt it to the other side, you should see the slot forming and its nice and clean and round......take a eyescrew it stick it in the slot to see if you have enough clearance......keep tilting that drill bit untill you get the desired size slot.... good luck .........and you should always drill a pilot hole for the eye screws..just think if you got a bait all sanded and formed and then you screwed in a eyescrew and it split !!!. they wont split if theres already a hole...

[mark poulson]

While the blank is still rectangular, and after I've cut out the joints on both sides, but not all the way through, I decide where the slots are going to be for the eyes, and drill a 5/16" hole there. Then, after I've shaped the lure at the sander, and cut the joints all the way through, I cut out the wood leading to the top and bottom of the hinge clearance hole on the bandsaw. Then I use a file to remove the saw marks, and sand. That leaves plenty of room for the paint and epoxy. I make the hole 1/4" on smaller lures, but no smaller than that. It's too hard for me to finish the lure cleanly with smaller holes. The epoxy top coat takes up too much space.

If you use a thinner top coat, like Dick Nite's, you might get away with smaller holes still.

[.dsaavedra.]

when you drill the hole, are you drilling into the lure from behind or are you drilling into the lure from the side?

[mark poulson]

The hinge clearance holes are from the side.

Once I've cut out the rectangular block, I trace the lure shape on the sides, and then put the hinge locations on in pencil. I locate where I'm going to place my weighted hook hangers, and ballast weights, and make them on the lure outline, too.

Then I can see how much wood I have left in each section to put my hinges without running into anything else.

Once I've decided where I'm putting the hinges, I mark horizontal lines, parallel to the bottom of the lure, on the sides at each hinge location. I then eyeball how much back from the marked joint I think the screw eye going to project back from the first section into the second, and mark that point. That becomes the center of my 5/16" hole, which I drill from side to side.

I mark a center line on the top and bottoms of the blanks, and project the hook hanger, ballast, and hinge cut locations up and down, and mark them on the blank.

I then move to the drill press, and drill the 5/16" holes for the hangers and ballast, and the appropriate size hole for the hinge pins, which are located centered in the screw eye clearance holes.

I try to get the holes started straight at the drill press, knowing that, once I've shaped the lure and cut out the joints, I can finish any of the holes by hand, either at the drill press in the case of the 5/16" holes, or while I hold the sections in my hand, in the case of the hinge pin holes.

This sounds really complicated, but, once you've done it, you can make a couple of layout templates for all the joints and holes, and it's simple. Otherwise I couldn't do it! )

[KelpKritter]

This is a bit off topic, but I have found it very valuable in my limited experience. My first successful crank which I just recently finalized is now repeated quickly with the use of a template as Mark P. stated. I made my first one on aluminum sheet that is marked with center lines, hook hanger, and lip slot location with notes on the template for what bits and cutting angles I used. If you do not have one already for your bait make one once you are happy with the finished product. I marked, drilled, and cut 15 baits this week from one blank in roughly an hour.

Once I get my first swimbait to do what I want this will be priority #1 to make sure I get it right everytime.

[.dsaavedra.]

ok i understand what you're saying mark

great advice guys!