scrubs Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) Ok now that I know uranium is the way to go with my crankbait weighting another question? What is the difference in wobble between flat sides and round in crank action? I'm looking to make some for shallow SM bass. Two different types, Mann Baby -1 0-1ft and Bagley Honey B 0-4ft depth. Templates for round sides, yes? bill Edited June 12, 2015 by scrubs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Flat sided cranks have more side-to-side resistance and a tighter wobble, while rounded cranks tend to have less side resistance, so wider wobble. There are various ways to round a body. Through experience, I've found that is is almost impossible for me to round over a bait all by eye and get it symmetrical, especially in a wood that has any visible grain structure. And symmetry is critical. Some guys do a top template to guide how the bait will be tapered. Then they cut facets at the corners of the square blank to make it octagonal, then round those over to a cylinder cross-section. That's basically what I do. In the long run, it's worth going to the trouble to do templates and mark your cuts. Even with the marks, you still have to eyeball it to feather out the facet cuts in the nose and tail of the bait. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 In theory rounded is the way to go for more action and they certainly look much better. But the last lure project I did was flat sided, just to explore for myself. I was pleasantly surprised that the action was very good, although a side-by-side comparison was not made. Maybe a future project. Until I get my duplicator re-built, any lures I produce for my experiments will be flat sided, mainly because repeatability is so important and I hate carving. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted June 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Thanks guys. You've confirmed my assumptions. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleriver Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Bill By far the best fish catcher I have built to date is a flat sided bait. I love hand carving round baits, so I make very few flat sided baits. We are all different. I think the flat sided bait is more fish like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 There's more to the action of a bait than just whether the sides are rounded or flat. I've built a couple of flat sided baits that looked almost as if they were going to swap ends they had such a wide swing. I can't explain all of what goes into giving a lure the action it has, but I do know that the location of the ballast plays a big role. If you can get the baits center of gravity and center of mass to line up it will give you everything that style and shape of bait has to offer as far as action goes. Ben 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 I think baits can have several areas of physical appeal to bass: size, visual action, hydrodynamic signature, sound, etc. Conventional wisdom is to use a tight action lure in cooler water, a wide action lure in warmer water. But I catch fish with flat sided tight action lures year round, including in summer when bass won't hit a rounded fat bodied wide action lure. The opposite doesn't usually apply in cold water, at least for me, so I've developed a bias toward using flat sided crankbaits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Some good nuggets here for this tyro. More thanks guys. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking 56 Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 When I'm fishing off peak times, I've noticed that a jointed round sided crank has been more effective for me than its straight version. That being said, a straight flat sided bait will be my go to bait as it has produced for me time after time. I have yet to build a jointed flat sided crank so I a can't comment on its effectiveness vs its straight counterpart. s56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) Ok let's assume I want to make some flat sided balsa cranks around 2 to 2 1/4 inches. How thick would you recommend to start experimenting? I have found very little on the web in the way of specifics, only a pattern and great instructions for a 2 1/2" from Paul Adams. It's 2 1/2" long with 1/2 balsa used. But then again I have some 1 1/4" basswood blanks from Whittler that are 1/2". Not too many anymore. :-) Another question, is the belly weight hangar a spot to start with ballast placement? bill Edited June 14, 2015 by scrubs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 You can go to any width you like but as they get "too wide" they begin to look blocky unless you round them over more, which sort of defeats the purpose of a flat sided crank. One of the most famous flat sided cranks was the D-Bait by Gary Dees. They were just over 1/4" in width and many of the best known flat siders are similar. It's a balancing act. Less than 1/4" wide and it becomes hard to ballast them. Also, the thinner they are, the more poorly they tend to cast. But the thicker they get, the less realistic the profile of the bait becomes and the less lively the action tends to be. As to ballast position, 99% of balsa flat sided cranks use an integral belly hanger/ballast. Of course, none of the above dictates how you need to build YOUR bait. A lot of the "classic" flat sided baits are built the way they are due to commercial considerations, not purely for performance reasons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking 56 Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 This size of lure would be a first for me, but as BobP suggested 1/4'' or even up to 3/8'' thick but I would run the ballast horizontally almost flush with the belly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) The flat sided bait I made was 40mm long and 11mm thick, rounded over with a 3mm router. I used the rule; if it looks right then it is. Dave Edited June 14, 2015 by Vodkaman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Ok, sounds like I'm all set for some building. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
