Coley Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Used a 3" x 3" x 6" balsa block to cut these, all I have to do now is slice them up, to whatever thickness I want. The key to doing this is, the table must be a perfect right angle to the blade. If it is not, the block will either be larger or smaller on one end and the lip slot will taper. The smallest amount of mis-alignment will magnify itself the further away you get from the table up the blade. Coley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassNator 1 Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Hey Coley I can vouch for you on that point as I have had that happen. My first 10 lures I started cutting were not squared off on my saw. I couldnt understand why it seemed un square and not true. I thought I couldnt cut worth a darn and was getting VERY frustrated. The cuts just werent true and off centered. I looked at my saw table and realized that it had pivoted an had been like 1 1/2 degrees off center axis. Granted that isnt much but when it comes to a lure running straight and everything being in line... it does make a difference ESPECIALLY on large cuts. And it is true, the farther away the cut, the more severe the angle is. All my lips were really crooked.... I used them all for firewood and started over! But I learnt a valuable lesson, LOOK at my saw before I cut! Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 Coley...I use a similar method to cut my flat sides (stacks of balsa on the scrollsaw). Would it be easier (and more flexible) to cut the bodies without the lip slot. Might give you a little more "wiggle" room if something is a bit off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 What a great idea, very ingenious! Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassNator 1 Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I like the idea of cutting the lip slot when Im cutting the bait, you get a truer placement of where the lip will go early in the production. It is so much easier to cut the slot early in the production. I have tried both ways... I actualy started out cutting the lip slot last. I am glad I changed my ways to cut the slot out early. I really think it is too hard cutting it out later and it makes it tedious to cut it out any time further in production. Also IMHO it is so much easier to have your plans traced onto the wood, then all the cuts are done at the same time. Then all your drilling is done at one time. Carefully planned steps are the best to execute properly and to make production run smoothe! Especially when it comes to mass production. Why do you want to run to your saw twice, when you can do it once. Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted May 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 Hey dtrs5kprs, I cut the lip slot the last thing. The reason I want to cut it while I cut the bait out is this: The slot will tell me if I have a perfect alignment between table and blade and that the rest of the bait is square. And I want my lures to be identical as possible. I have a 14" Grizzly bandsaw, blade flex is not a problem. If you look across the top edge of the lip slot in the blocks in the picture you will see a perfectly straight line, this tells me everything is ok. If you had a small misalignment in in your saw, you could wait until you sliced the baits up to cut the lip slot. But, it seems to me, if you sliced them without aligning the table and the blade, you will just compound the problem. Coley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
