Process For Placing Eyelet Wire In The Bill?

[TheBearFan89]

For the life of me I cannot figure this out, but how do you go about putting wire through a crankbait bill for the line-tie eyelet?

The first crankbait shown on this site is what I mean: http://www.liveoutdoors.com/fishing/209501-popular-deep-crankbait-options/

Is a tiny bit used to drill holes through the bill and you epoxy the wire in? Or maybe you heat up the wire enough to where it melts through the material??

I can understand the screw-in eyelets used in the bills...

Seriously guys I stumped here :/ Somebody please explain this to me. Lol

[Ces]

Cut a slot in the bill for the wire to pass through when you glue the lip in. Not a hole.... a slot from the back of the bill.

 

Ces

[TheBearFan89]

How would you go about cutting said slot?

[mark poulson]

I drill two small holes where I want the line tie to pass through the bill, bend my line tie wire into a tight loop with a pair of small round nosed pliers, pass the wire tag ends down through the holes, slip a small drill bit or nail through the loop as a spacer, and then bend the two tag ends back away from the finish end of the bill, getting the bends as tight and close to 90 degrees as possible.

I use Lexan, and cut my bill slots before I finish shape my lure bodies.

After I've gotten the lure finish shaped, I cut a small flat into the lower side of the lip slot to give my brad point bit a good starting point, slip a piece of scrap Lexan into the bill slot to keep the bit from drifting into the slot itself.

Once the hole is drilled, I cut the tag ends of the line tie wire just past the end of the bill that goes into the lure, put a small kink bent into the ends to give the epoxy something to grab, and then glue both the bill and wires into the lure.

Dry fitting first helps me to be sure everything will work, including having masking tape on the bill with a centerline, both to align the line tie holes, and to align the bill once it's being glued in.

[BobP]

There are a few methods for custom cranks but most of them have the line tie going through a hole(s) in the lip and running along the lip's bottom to be glued into the body of the lure.  I twist wire into the shape of a screw eye and then bend it 90 degrees slightly below the eye using soft temper stainless steel wire.  Then I drill a single hole through the lip and work the screw eye through and run along the bottom of the lip to a recess drilled in the bottom of the lip slot, where it is glued in when the lip is mounted.  The critical feature is to size the hole in the lip so that you have a tight friction fit for the wire.  I want mine so tight that you have to fight to get it through the lip.

 

In my experience, using the right wire is critical to getting the line tie correct.  I like soft temper stainless steel because I can shape it accurately with hand tools and it allows the bait to be tuned easily during fishing.  Most often I opt for .040" wire size for bass baits.  I use a Dremel tool with a set of micro drill bits to make the right size holes.

[SW Lures]

BobP is right, the wire makes all the difference. I chatted with Dieter about this not long ago. I wanted to make a deep diver and to do this I needed to bring the tie out on the lip. I made one like you show in your post. I test everything that I use and found that it puts way to much stress on the bill/lip. So I put a tie that goes back into the body of the bait. This is much stronger for stronger fish hits.

I use a stainless steel welding rod, .045 "TIG" rod/wire made from 308 SS. This is US spec.'s. You can get this from any welding supplier. The grade of the metal gives me the strength that I'm looking for but still allows me to bend the metal the way I want. This does not distort as much under stress at the tie during a sudden impact.

I like the twisting of the wire like BobP does but I only have it inside the body of the bait (this is for holding strength). I do the slot and the hole technique also. If possible I prefer the hole only, just because of the clean look. One thing I forgot, Bob is right about soft metals, STAY AWAY FROM ANNEALED METALS......unlike what I did at first.

I hope this helps.

Dale

Edited November 18, 2015 by DaleSW

[SW Lures]

Oooops; the word "rod" is a slang word of people around welding profession. The correct word is electrode.

[TheBearFan89]

Thanks all for the info, I think I've got a solid understanding of how it's done.

Just to be safe someone post a picture of this hole and slot method?

[mark poulson]

I'll try and remember to take some photos the next time I make a crank like this.

[diemai]

I'm just into the build of some cranks again , one amongst sporting a deep diving lip and the line tie on it , .....gonna shoot some pics and going to put them up in here in about 15-20  hrs. from now .

 

See ya , Dieter

[SW Lures]

If you buy electrodes they are sold by the lb. in the US. The length of the electrode is 3' and if you buy a lb. of .045 diameter, you get about 15-20 electrodes. If you buy .040 you will get 20+. At 20 of 3' electrodes, you will have 60'. Don't consider this as a lot when you are doing through body wires. But for just lips it will last awhile.

The price around here is about $8-10 a lb.

Dale

[diemai]

OK , ...as promised, ...here are some pictures displaying , how I do my crankbaits sporting their line tie on the lip .

 

Guess , that the pictures say it all , ...only thing left to say is , that the ballast sheets are only temporary , .....they'll be trimmed during water bucket swim tests after having sealed the lure with a 48 hrs. propionate soak and following 10 propionate dips ,........after desired swim level would have been determined ,a blank swimtest in the bath tub is in order to check out , whether lip , tow eye position or ballast amount/location would still require to be altered in terms of a good swimming action  .

 

If these tests would finally lead to satisfying results , the ballast and the wireform connected to the lip  would then be glued into the belly slot using 5 min. epoxy glue , ...afterwards cured glue remainders would be worked down flush to the lurebody to render the lure ready for painting .

 

Greetz , Dieter