Rattles

[archeryrob]

Ok, I made some templates for Rat-l-traps in autocad fo I could print them and shape them onthe sander. It worked out rather well for making a rough blank, instead of just eyeballing everything.

 

I went by the store and picked up some thumb tacks from something I saw year last year for using them as a caps for a hole drilled. The are small! Large ebough to cover a hole for a BB, bt I was looking for somethign else, maybe larger. I was thinking of a larger rattle chamber. They are about 11/32" across and could cover a 1/4" hole with a 3/8" forstner bit recess chamfer.

 

What are you guys doing or using? If you use these tacks, what about the pin? I am assuming I need to cut the pin off as I did and peen the head on the anvil to flatten out the cut of the pin off. Striper season is around the corner and I need a few of these. They whent nuts last year for the rattling jerk baits.

[Seeking 56]

I use the metal handle of my acid brushes.  Cut to size, insert BB,s and pinch both ends and fill with wood epoxy.  My gliders are 7/8'' thick and I use a 3/8'' Forstner to bore down 1/4 of the way down the back.  

 

I think Diemai had some pics on here of the ones he makes which are a lot better than mine.

 

s54  

[JBlaze]

i use a notebook paper punch and cut discs out of aluminum flashing or the sides of a soft drink can

[kajay920]

I agree Diemai's  rig is great. He uses a brass tube that he cuts and bends over the ends.

I use a rattle designed for inside of jig skirts from lurepartsonline.com 

They are about 3/4" long with a BB plug on one end. They are plastic so when I drill them into the bait I epoxy them in and can sand down the attachment plug. I have to drill them diagonally so that they don't stick out the sides. It takes very little action to get a good rattle and the closer to the sides the less dampening there is.

[BobP]

I drill a hole through the bait, put in the bb's and cap the holes with round pieces cut from a pop can with sissors, which I superglue onto the sides.  This puts out max vibration since you have the rattles hitting the metal caps which are covered only with paint and clearcoat.  For best results, make the caps about 1/8" oversize and cut a slight depression around the hole to fit them.  The aluminum is easy to sand so the caps disappear under the finish.

[quickdraw]

I was building larger rattle chambers in 9"-12" swimbaits using a 1/4" ball bearing. I tried the coke can cover glued over the end of the chamber then clearcoat over that but the ball bearing literally beat the coke can out of the side of the lure body. I ended up building a rattle out of 1/2" OD copper pipe and soldered caps on the end. I drilled a hole that was very tight for the chamber to slide into and then painted and clearcoat. It works well and is very loud. I need to check my tablet for a link I found a while back for large factory rattles. Premade and inexpensive.

Edited April 2, 2013 by quickdraw

[quickdraw]

Here you go.

 

http://saltybugger.com/rattles.htm

[mark poulson]

I also use discs cut from alum. drink cans and sst ball bearings.  I've had the same problem Quickdraw had with the rattles beating the aluminum plug, deforming it and causing the glue that covers the plugs to crack when I use Gap Filler super glue to cover the discs.  When I use bondo, it doesn't crack, but the rattle isn't as loud.

[nedyarb]

I use 5/16" brass tubing that I cut into 1/4" pieces. I put the cut tubing onto frisket paper, place one drop of super glue into tube, and spray with super glue accelerant. Then just add a bb for rattle. Works great!

[Tracy G]

I cut a strip from a soda can, then roll it around a bb.  Cut the strips a little wider than the thickness of the bait and fold the ends over.

[BigPete]

Old trick is to use a 22 magnum case cut to length then put a couple of bb's or ball bearings inside and cap the open end with a bit of sheet brass cut to size with a punch. The rim end will require a stepped hole so it will sit flush.

 

Big-Pete

[RayburnGuy]

I've used Dieter's method of building rattles using copper tubing. Due to the softness of the copper the rattle had a somewhat subdued sound. I've also used the circles cut out of soft drink cans with a hole punch which were then glued over a through bored hole in the bait. This gave a better sound, but still not quite as loud as what I was hoping. Using Dieters method I've recently built some rattles out of aluminum arrow shafts like those used for archery. The aluminum used in the arrow shafts is much harder than that used in soda cans and is also thicker. Using steel BB's the arrow shaft rattles were noticeably louder than anything else I've tried so far. The trick to getting the most out of this method is to make the length of the rattle just long enough that a coat of epoxy will cover the ends and leave a smooth surface to paint over. This does two things. It gives the BB's the longest distance to roll and gain momentum so you'll get the loudest sound and also ensures the thinnest coat of epoxy to cover the ends so the epoxy doesn't act as a sound dampener.

 

Ben