Lure Balance?

[CedarLakeMusky]

I finally finished my first lure after working with epoxy for the first time. I couldn't wait for the epoxy to cure so I could try it out in the water. I was really excited to see what kind of action it would have. I put the lure in the water on Sunday and I knew something was wrong right away. My lure would not balance side to side and would lay on one side or the other. I cut the lure as symmetrical side to side as I could get. I sanded and hand painted it. I have never used an airbrush yet, but would like too learn. I figured I would hand paint a few until I got the hang of lure building. I was really bummed and thought what a waste of time. I put the lure aside and thought it should be thrown away. I picked the lure up today and was ready to put it in the garbage, but then I thought this is too nice to throw away. I thought about what I could do. I looked around for something kind of heavy and found a large nut. I taped it to the bottom of the lure and put it in a bucket of water. I was really happy with what I say. My lure was balanced side to side. I took the nut and weighed it on my scale and got some lead sinkers to match the weight. I drilled some holes in the belly and put the sinkers inside and double checked it the the bucket of water. It was balanced. I glued the sinkers in and wood puttied the holes. When that dries I will sand, paint and expoxy that area of the lure. I should be able to get some use out of this lure. I am sure glad I didn't throw it away.

Scott

[diemai]

@ CedarLakeMusky

You've done it the right way , except next time do this prior to painting your lures(just apply a temporary topcoat of acrylic clear or similar , .......just to prevent water sepage whilst balancing).

You may also tape on lead chunks , sinkers or rolled lead sheet drums straightaway , so no need for the nuts and scales !

good luck , ....greetz , diemai

[CedarLakeMusky]

So do you put the temporary topcoat over the raw wood? Then put sealer, primer, paint, and final top coat on when lure is balanced. Also are the lips, splitrings, and hooks attached to the lure?

@ CedarLakeMusky

You've done it the right way , except next time do this prior to painting your lures(just apply a temporary topcoat of acrylic clear or similar , .......just to prevent water sepage whilst balancing).

You may also tape on lead chunks , sinkers or rolled lead sheet drums straightaway , so no need for the nuts and scales !

good luck , ....greetz , diemai

[fatfingers]

I finally finished my first lure after working with epoxy for the first time. I couldn't wait for the epoxy to cure so I could try it out in the water. I was really excited to see what kind of action it would have. I put the lure in the water on Sunday and I knew something was wrong right away. My lure would not balance side to side and would lay on one side or the other. I cut the lure as symmetrical side to side as I could get. I sanded and hand painted it. I have never used an airbrush yet, but would like too learn. I figured I would hand paint a few until I got the hang of lure building. I was really bummed and thought what a waste of time. I put the lure aside and thought it should be thrown away. I picked the lure up today and was ready to put it in the garbage, but then I thought this is too nice to throw away. I thought about what I could do. I looked around for something kind of heavy and found a large nut. I taped it to the bottom of the lure and put it in a bucket of water. I was really happy with what I say. My lure was balanced side to side. I took the nut and weighed it on my scale and got some lead sinkers to match the weight. I drilled some holes in the belly and put the sinkers inside and double checked it the the bucket of water. It was balanced. I glued the sinkers in and wood puttied the holes. When that dries I will sand, paint and expoxy that area of the lure. I should be able to get some use out of this lure. I am sure glad I didn't throw it away.

Scott

I could not tell from your post whether or not you tried testing the bait to see how it runs BEFORE you put the weight in the belly.

Often baits will still run very well despite the fact that they lay one on side or the other at rest.

Much depends on the shape of the bait.... If top of the bait is thicker than the belly, you usually need no weight at all, unless you want to build a bait that will troll at high speed.

While it is difficult to speak in generalities (for fear that someone will certainly cite an exception to the generality), it is certainly safe to say that some baits need no weight at all. In fact, some run better with no weight added. The hooks alone often provide sufficient ballast.

[CedarLakeMusky]

I tried the lure without weight and it laid on both the left and right side. When I reeled the lure in it had no action. It ran sideways in the water. The lure was about 1" thick with flat sides. I decided to tape some weight to the bottom to see if it would balance and it did in a bucket of water. So then i put lead in the bottom and tested it in the lake and it had good action when reeling in. The only down side is the lure is it was alittle heavier than I wanted. I know what you mean though about no weight. I built a lure with a sheet metal lip and seal coat as a topcoat. That lure balanced fine and good action with no weight , but the lip kept bending on me and the topcoat didn't hold up very well to teethy fish. So in the end I think you need to test each lure individually to see how it balances because wood can very?

Scott

I could not tell from your post whether or not you tried testing the bait to see how it runs BEFORE you put the weight in the belly.

Often baits will still run very well despite the fact that they lay one on side or the other at rest.

Much depends on the shape of the bait.... If top of the bait is thicker than the belly, you usually need no weight at all, unless you want to build a bait that will troll at high speed.

While it is difficult to speak in generalities (for fear that someone will certainly cite an exception to the generality), it is certainly safe to say that some baits need no weight at all. In fact, some run better with no weight added. The hooks alone often provide sufficient ballast.

[Vodkaman]

the topcoat didn't hold up very well to teethy fish.

You know you are doing great when the above quote is your main problem, LOL. Congrats on a successful lure.

Dave

[diemai]

....... So in the end I think you need to test each lure individually to see how it balances because wood can very?

Scott

This is my experience as well , .......even multiple "same" lures carved after the same sketches , templates or specifications may vary and require different amounts of weight , ...sometimes even also at different locations on the blank .

You can't just only balance only one lure out of a bunch of "alikes" and put in same weights into all of them , ........they'd probably turn out differently in action , floatation level or sink rate , ....been there , done that !

Also try out different locations to temporary tape on the ballast onto the lure body , ....you'll be surprised , how these variations might render the swimming action of certain lure models .

good luck , diemai