I Know Nothing

[Predator130]

I've been fishing a long time but I've never once thought about making my own baits, at least not until I got a 3d printer for another hobby and thought it might could prove useful for fishing as well.  I've done a little bit of lurking and read that it's best to start with topwater baits because those seem easiest to make and get the action you want.  Since I own a few wake / topwater baits that are jointed I figured I'd start there and see what happens.  

 

Any tips that are obvious failures on the design?  I intend to do some testing and see what the action is but I was curious if anyone had any tips on what the center of gravity should be?  I made a cavity in the bottom to belly weight it but haven't yet seen how it performs without weight.  

 

 

[Nathan]

You need to spend some time with our search feature at the top of the page.Search terms like Swimbaits, ballast,joints..etc..Will give you hours of reading..Nathan

[Predator130]

Yeah, I did a little reading.  78 degrees on the bill, narrow at the top, roughly the width of the bait at the widest point and 1/2 the width tall on the bill.   Weight it such that 2/3 of the bait is submerged, no weight in the tail, I believe what I read suggested you want it to "twerk".  Lastly the line tie closer to the bill will also give it more wiggle on the head whereas the line tie toward the centerline will rely more on tail action.   

 

The good thing about 3d printing is a whole new design can be printed and on the water in 5 hours.

[Predator130]

Did a few mods.  We'll see how this one runs.

[Hughesy]

Is the bait hollow or does the material it is made of float? You might be better off making two halves and gluing them together giving you a hollow bodied lure.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Hughesy

[Predator130]

It's built at 24% density so it's very buoyant.  I can also build internal chambers and stop the print at whatever desired level to insert weight or rattles.  

Edited May 3, 2016 by Predator130

[Vodkaman]

This is a terrific project. My first thought was density issues, but if your material is 24% then that is not an issue.

 

You are basically leading the way with a project like this, so I suggest that you get one finished and proceed to the water's edge. Don't forget to report back. Maybe a little video!

 

DAve

[SlowFISH]

Not sure which machine and materials you are using.... but I'd make sure you consider the build directions vs. strength of the part as well. The ABS Stratasys machine we have a work makes great parts - but they can be weak if you don't have a considerable wall thickness to really strengthen the object since it's built in layers.  In our case - we've found a quick rub down with Acetone can help "melt" the surface for a little more rigidity and seal it up a bit - but even then it will always be stronger in one direction (perpendicular to build layers) than the other.

 

Your machine will also be good for building mold masters if you go the soft bait route... you can even print out vents/gates/etc and with little work make a mold.

 

 J.

[Predator130]

I had issues with ABS having Z - axis weakness but with PLA if I increase the temp it seems to bond the layers very well.  Basically to the same strength as hollow spooks and other store topwaters.   Got a new project printing this morning.  I figure if this material proves to be too weak I can always break it down into pieces and make molds for resin parts, though so far the printed strength has been surprising.  

Edited May 4, 2016 by Predator130

[SlowFISH]

Sounds like you've worked around some of the limits already!!!  I'd also suggest thinking about using ballast weight to help provide the z-axis strength.... if you'r running a spook bait standing on end - no reason you couldn't make a small cylindrical chamber inside towards the bottom of the bait running the full length.... use a small reamer or drill to clean it out - lube up a small rod/wire/toothpick/dowel with epoxy and insert it.... a little epoxy and dowel or wire gives a boat load of strength.

 

Good luck!

 

  J.

[Predator130]

That's a good idea, weight it and strengthen it at the same time. 

[Predator130]

That turned out much better than expected.

[Predator130]

Seems to swim ok.  Has a good knock when it changes direction.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B74Tri8uRE8za3NxMEh5MjdYV1g3bWgtQlM2dzZaSkY3UEVv/view?usp=sharing

[SW Lures]

I have read some post about 3D printers using it to make lures here. I think it is a interesting topic.

Thanks for sharing,

Dale

[Predator130]

Well it works!  I can't believe how good it swims with 2 1/8 splitshots in the belly and an elaztech tail.  

 

  

Edited May 6, 2016 by Predator130

[Predator130]

First fish on the new wakebait.  Just shows that little fish eat big baits. 

[Predator130]

Also did some stress testing with a 25lb weight.  At static everything was fine and the 65lb test sounded like a guitar string.  Once I shocked the system by dropping the weight about 6" it broke.  The 65lb test anyway.  The hook hanger and nose tie were still firmly seated and there were no visible stresses on the lure.  I am completely satisfied with the results that actually surprised me a bit.  

Edited May 7, 2016 by Predator130

[SW Lures]

Not sure that your material is simular to wood as far as excepting adhesive. But I have tested some incredible stress on epoxy and/or glue, +700lbs per square inch. It will hold trust me.

But I must agree with someone who stated here (can't remember name), that it's no more stronger than your weakest link; line, split ring, design/material for that matter.

If you are like me, keep on researching. You need to prove it to yourself. Doing the test helped me immensely in understanding what makes a lure design....tic. Fishing with them helped but I was after fish only. It's different in designing one, then catching fish.

Dale

[Predator130]

Will it scale?  First one has a 4" body, the bigger brother is 6".  

[Hughesy]

What make/model printer are you using?

[Chuck Young]

I had issues with ABS having Z - axis weakness but with PLA if I increase the temp it seems to bond the layers very well.  Basically to the same strength as hollow spooks and other store topwaters.   Got a new project printing this morning.  I figure if this material proves to be too weak I can always break it down into pieces and make molds for resin parts, though so far the printed strength has been surprising.  

Rats! A 3d printer --- Some people have all the cool toys..

[Mcleod]

I was very interested to see this thread, I have moved to making lures via 3d printing as well and haven't come across many other people who are doing the same. I think by the sounds I do mine different to you but that is the great thing about it, many ways to skin the cat. A couple things I have noted with mine are,

 

- Taper the bib such that it is thicker as it enters the body of the lure. I found with my prototypes that all was good for normal use but once the bib started hitting structure the plastic (abs in my case) was breaking due to the thinner sections. The bibs on my lures are about 1.6mm at the tip and about 6mm when they enter the body of the lure.

 

- Layer Orientation affects the overall strength of the lure. Seems via your tests you have covered this though. I do my layers opposite to yours as my lures are done in two halves and then joined. Inter layer adhesion is one of the biggest issues I have found. I tested my lures to 110lbs without the hook eyelets pulling.

 

- Have good thickness around the eyelet inserts to improve the strength in that area. I do my lures to a shell thickness of 1.6mm and increase this around the eyelet inserts such that there is a good amount of plastic to deal with the stress. I have never fished for Large mouth Bass so don't understand the stresses they can put on a lure.

 

Your lures look great, keep up the great work. Some of the most enjoyable lure making I have had is designing and printing mine. I would guess your lures are done in TinkerCAD by the looks, have never tried it so would be interested to get your thoughts. I use a program called Fusion360. I found that great.

 

See link below to some of my lures if you are interested, may give you some ideas,

 

http://mactackle.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/something-new-for-me-3d-printing-lures.html

 

Angus

[All Eyes]

Thought about buying stock in 3-D Systems tech years ago and never did. I just can't see this not becoming a bigger manufacturing player every day. It's too slow and has issues now, but as the tech progresses, I can easily see it taking over many industry standards. Very cool to see this bait you've printed. Thanks for sharing this. 

[Predator130]

Angus that is really cool what you have there.  I tried ABS and found it to be finicky without an enclosure and contrary to what you might read about PLA being the weaker material it seems plenty strong for largemouth bass applications.  Time will tell of course, but one thing I love about PLA is it is extremely easy to print.  Tinkercad is a nice piece of software for someone getting started, it's not as feature rich as fusion 360 and I hope to move to fusion later.  That being said I have yet to meet the limitations of tinkercad and I think instead of knowing a little about a complicated tool I've done the opposite, I've played with tinkercad till I am really familiar with all of it's features and have been able to design as desired so far,  I'm sure I'll hit a brick wall one day though.

 

The printer I'm using is a Prusa I3 clone.  It's really cheap and requires a lot of tinkering but once you get it setup properly and are willing to disassemble / reassemble as needed it works.  I kayak fish and my original idea was to use it as a compliment for that hobby and I've been designing some anchor systems, tie off mounts, etc that I hope to print one day.  I keep printing small templates to test every orientation of the final product before I waste 36 hours of printing on something that doesn't fit.  

 

Still new to 3d printing in general but I can tell that lure building will always be a part of it if I can continue with the success I've had so far.  Maybe it's beginners luck?  I'm not brave enough to try anything as complicated as a swimbait yet, I figure I still have many tests ahead of me with the wakebait and it's summer time anyway.  Might as well take advantage of the topwater bite.

[Vodkaman]

If the lip becomes an issue by snapping off when bounced off rocks, the solution is to design in a radius between the body and the lip. This will act as a strain relief, spreading the loads out.

 

Cracks and tears happen at sharp corners because all the strain concentrates at the corner. Remove the corner and the problem goes away. This is why aircraft have round shaped windows.

 

DAve