lostfisher Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 (edited) What is a good wire thickness for bass/walleye cranks Edited March 28, 2009 by lostfisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 I just put the vernier on my soft stainless steel wire, it measured 0.031", that makes it 20 gauge AWG (0.032"). I am very happy with it. The wire twists easily, making forming trouble free. It also makes the baits easy to tune at the waters edge, without damaging the top coat. It takes the load well, only starting to distort the eye once passes 20Lbs, well beyond the breaking strain of the line. I have not tested specifically for the distortion limit, this is just based on passing observations while doing pull tests. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 For me, it depends on the wire and the bait. I also like .032 soft temper stainless steel for baits where the line tie is in the nose of the bait, for the reasons Vodkaman states. It also makes thru-wire construction on balsa baits much easier. 040" dia is also OK for average to large size baits. If you want to use hard temper ss wire, I'd go with .029" dia. I use it for belly and tail hangers on hardwood baits where I'm gluing in hand twisted screw eyes for the hangers. Just because I have some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverdoctor Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 I use strain hardened stainless steel wire from Janns in 0.031 in. dia. size for wire harnesses. If I need annealed (softened) wire, I heat it beyond "red" hoping to achieve at least 1650 F to ~1900 F with a propane torch. Then quench in water. The oxidation layer is very thin and can easily be removed with 400 grit paper. ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
