robalo01 Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 The only balsa wood I could find locally was 1/4 inch thick. I cut out the sillouette and glued the two halves together. But the thought occurred to me: this stuff is pretty soft. I wonder how hard it would be to make a stamp to cut out the lures and then glue together? you might even do tree laminates and leave cavities for rattles. You would still have to sand it to shape, but ... it is an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don-Art Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Not sure if the edge quality would be favorable on the 1/4" thick material. The thing that comes to mind as an example, is the old balsa rubber band powered toy airplanes. I believe that they were die cut. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 I was just cutting some soft 1/4 the other day and you have to use a fresh sharp blade on it. Even with thinner stock the model kit manufacturers had trouble with clean edges back in the day. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 (edited) Not sure if the edge quality would be favorable on the 1/4" thick material. The thing that comes to mind as an example, is the old balsa rubber band powered toy airplanes. I believe that they were die cut. Don Now you're saying it , I remember as well ,........but I seem to recall , that these stamped out balsa parts were only up to about 1/10" thick , namely the single rips of the wings or fuselage . Don't think , one could go much thicker with the balsa , as in my opinion the punches used for these model plane kits were rather like profiled knife blades , not like the solid die punches one would use for dies punching out parts from sheet metal , ........I also believe that if using such solid punches for thicker balsa , the edge quality would not turn out nice , .....and some kinda longer knife blade punches would get stuck into the wood , as they enter deeper , and then not cut anymore . For explanation , ....I'm having punches in mind , that are about shaped like these cookie dough punches as pictured , http://www.frischekueche.at/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Keksformen.jpg but other than these , they would have to be of tempered steel , as thin as possible and with a razor sharp edges , .......but still I'm convinced , that they could not handle 1/4" thick balsa ! Just my , ....greetz , diemai Edited June 13, 2014 by diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 I know they do laser cutting in balsa up to about 1/8. If you wanted to explore having them laser cut in the multiple layers and can supply a DXF file there are a lot of places like www.manzanolaser.com bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 If you were going to make a punch for 1/4" balsa just to get ruff shapes cut out you would almost need to make it like a perforation type punch with 100's of little needle type punches in the shape you want the lure to be in have them all touching each other a extremely thin and only a touch longer then 1/4" and you might be able to stamp out some shapes then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny.Barile Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Perforation............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robalo01 Posted June 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 I think If I had a cookie cutter sharp enough and tough enough, I could pound it through with a mallet. Might be faster than cutting it out otherwise... maybe not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don-Art Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Maybe two cookie cutters. One on each side of the material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 well if you get them razor sharp that would work for a few cuts anyway... at that point you would need to sharpen them again thou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) If your trying to speed up production then why not stack the balsa and then use a bandsaw? As easily as balsa goes through a bandsaw you could probably stack 10 or more layers on top of one another. Double stick tape should hold them together and that way you could sand all of them to the final dimension. Even if you could only stack two layers every time you made a cut you would still have a rough cut bait which would only need a pass through the sander to have a finished profile. It would seem to me that no matter how sharp your "cookie cutter" was you would still end up crushing wood fibers around the edge. This may, or may not, be cleaned up when carving/sanding it ti final dimensions. When you crush the wood fibers together your losing buoyancy as the air trapped inside is forced out where the fibers are crushed. And I could be all wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. just my Ben p.s. Take a single edge razor blade and try pushing it through the balsa your using. Pushing straight down with no sawing action. This might tell you whether or not the "cookie cutter" is worth pursuing. Edited June 15, 2014 by RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 If your trying to speed up production then why not stack the balsa and then use a bandsaw? As easily as balsa goes through a bandsaw you could probably stack 10 or more layers on top of one another. Double stick tape should hold them together and that way you could sand all of them to the final dimension. Even if you could only stack two layers every time you made a cut you would still have a rough cut bait which would only need a pass through the sander to have a finished profile. It would seem to me that no matter how sharp your "cookie cutter" was you would still end up crushing wood fibers around the edge. This may, or may not, be cleaned up when carving/sanding it ti final dimensions. When you crush the wood fibers together your losing buoyancy as the air trapped inside is forced out where the fibers are crushed. And I could be all wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. just my Ben p.s. Take a single edge razor blade and try pushing it through the balsa your using. Pushing straight down with no sawing action. This might tell you whether or not the "cookie cutter" is worth pursuing. Good advice on both counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 They make butt markers for marking and cutting the outline of hinges in doors. These are not made to cut that deep but the principle seems to be similar. You would need the tapered part of the chisel away from the lure or the scrap side. Most of the compression is on the side that has the taper not the straight side of the chisel. I took a one inch straight chisel and it went right through but that is not like a lure shape. Might not work at all, but I believe it would work. I believe you would have more trouble getting the lure out of the chisel than cutting it. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 sounds kinda odd but at the end of the day couldn't you use 1/2" closed cell foam board(pink or blue) and get the same result just a bit easier to cut perhaps... I would say 1/4" but I am not sure where you would even get that... cause really it's density is pretty close to balsa and it's sandable... use it to make duck decoys out of and it holds up to punishment... just a random thought anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 (edited) Test... POP out P O P out. P O P test. ROFL. lol I noticed the same thing Bob. Anytime you type p o p without the spaces between the letters it translates into Plaster of Paris. It must be a computer glitch left over from when you could type in certain words and phrases and it would give you a definition from the original glossary. So far P O P is the only word that I've seen this happen with. Ben Edited June 16, 2014 by RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Maxwell Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I use the stack method with a band saw and fasten the material together with small nails placed between the lure shapes. I try to number the blanks as I cut them so that each lure is made with sides cut from the same piece of balsa as I have found that the density varies along the material. Watch your fingers and good luck. Don't ask how I know about watching your fingers. Still hurts when I think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty's Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 What you guys are talking about is called a steel rule die. The dies are not expensive...the press can be.. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=steel+rule+die Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonister Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 has anyone tried making a press? since soft balsa can be indented with a finger I would think instead of making a "cookie cutter" you could just go the whole way and make a full 2 part aluminum mold that you could just use to stamp together baits in a sense, you would put the balsa in the middle of the mold/press and perhaps step on it or use a vice or something to crush the wood into a shape. you might loose buoyancy but it might even toughen the lures and make them a little more squish proof and therefor better suited for hard biting toothy fish. would this work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty's Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Why make one. Depending on the size you can find a small kick press or rotary press on CL or freakbay. Have a steel rule die made to shape. Pieces will be best looking. I wouldn't think you'd want to mash it...I think it would destroy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonister Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 I never thought of just buying one. That is the other problem i could see now though, just plain destroying a block of balsa instead of it actually shaping into form. hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
