Lip Attachment

[wvhillbillyjlm]

I am going to build some lures with Cisco Kid style metal lips. Do I attach the lips after the final layer of topcoat or before applying topcoat?

Thanks!

[BobP]

On wooden lures, I like to attach the lip after painting, just before topcoating.

[diemai]

I've made quite a few baits like that utilizing homemade lips of aluminium sheet . Prior to sealing , painting and topcoating your blanks , pre-assemble your lip to the bare blank just to check out for a perfect and angled fit .

First mark and drill only ONE wood screw pilot hole into the blank(prefarably the center one out of most likely three) , fix your lip with one screw and set it to a perfectly angled position , ........now mark and drill all other pilot holes trough the screw holes of the lip .

If a pilot hole should have run out of position , thus it is not possible to set the lip perfectly angled and/or centered , do not try to extend or doctor on the pilot hole , this would only weaken the screws fit into the wood ,..... just extend the hole in the lip to an oval shape with a router bit or a small round file , the screw's head would later hide that little imperfection .

Also utilize round head screws exclusively , woodscrews with 90° countersunk heads are not suitable , as their angled heads are likely to push the lip into unwanted directions by having an effect on the edges of the lip's holes .

After you're happy with that dry fit , proceed your blank with sealing , painting and topcoating , the lip assembly would be the final work operation(before rigging the hooks ) ,....start again with only one screw , set lip correctly and after fix the other screws , .........I like to apply some epoxy glue to the screw shanks and pilot holes for added strength and to seal of the pilot holes interior ,...... put in the first(center) screw dry to be able to set the final lip position , you'd twist it out again to finally glue in , after the other two screw's epoxy has set .

good luck , diemai