eye placement

[bowfin68]

: I am working on my first lure. I am making a pike plug. I had it all done and painted, and it looked awesome, right up until I put on the eyes. Does anyone have any pointers on how to get the eyes on perfectly straight and even? I have tried a couple of methods, but they never come out straight and even. I have since peeled of the old eyes and I am back at square one. Thanks.

[SpoRoller]

You could try making a template for the eyes. Just a suggestion from another new guy to this hobby.

[Big Splash]

I paint mine using the head of two differant sized nails. I line them up by 'eye', noteing how far back from the nose, and verticaly how near the top of the plug.

[musky1]

Buy a cheap metal compass and bend the point into an L shape. This will allow you to place the compass on the nose or tail of the bait. With some experimenting you'll have perfectly centered eyes. Jim

[Coley]

If its a flat sided bait, you can take a small

drill bit and drill all the way through.

This will give you perfect alignment.

Coley

[Coley]

If its a flat sided bait, you can take a small

drill bit and drill all the way through.

This will give you perfect alignment.

Coley

[Richoc]

Why do the have to be perfect.

Little different things work.

[Brett]

I use two stick pins you would use on a bulletin board. Stick one in on one side and line up the other. Have made and used templetes but found I wasted time checking it anyways.

[out2llunge]

Try using a pair of calipers, the kind you use for turning on a lathe. This will give you your centerpoints.

[bowfin68]

If its a flat sided bait' date=' you can take a small

drill bit and drill all the way through.

This will give you perfect alignment.

Coley[/quote'] Coley, thanks for the tip. I used a drill bit and my eyes came out great!

Bowfin68

[RiverMan]

I tried the drill bit approach a couple of times but it's possible to drill through at an angle thus having the eyes out of alignment. What I do now is stick on one eye then very lightly place the other. Then look at the eyes from both above the bait and straight on (like the bait is looking at you) and you can easily see if they are aligned vertically and horizontally. I have done so many now that I seldom have to move the eye more than a mm or two.

Jed

[Coley]

Riverman, if your drilling through at an angle

on a flat sided bait, then your drill bit and

your table are not lined up properly or

your drilling through too fast. This will cause

a small bit to wander off.

Coley

[RiverMan]

Good point Coley, most of my baits I have rounded to the point of where this becomes a problem. I think too I was assuming that he was using a hand drill...with a drill press this of course isn't a problem. Even with the hole drilled you will still have to be certain that the eye is centered over the hole. I would still suggest just eyeballing the lure from front and top, takes but a second and lines them up perfect everytime.

Jed

[KcDano]

I use 1/8 masking tape run the tape around the body in the area where you want the eyes placed. Looking down at the top of the bait find the center line of the lure then mark the tape at the center line, then decide how far down then decide how far down the side you want to place the eye and mark that on the tape. Then make a measurement from the center line mark on the tape to where you want to place the eye. Then simply use that measurement on the other side. If the bait is symmetrical the eyes should be right on!