Sfrye37 Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Guys I am just curious of some of your setups for getting the same wood lures consistently the same. I want to produce multiple lures at the same time and am curious about how you guys do it. Currently I am cutting a few blanks out with a band saw and then using a regular drill to drill holes for hook hangers and belly weights. Then sanding each lure by hand with sand paper. I am planning on getting a small drill press soon and trying to make my mind up on a sander of some kind. Sanding each lure by hand is a pain. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 I use an oscillating belt sander to do most of my shaping. It is fast and still controllable. This is what I use, except mine is 20 years old: https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Oscillating-Edge-Belt-Spindle-Sander-EB4424/100061671 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Well, I don’t think hand shaped lures can ever be perfectly consistent. But you can get close using a router table and safety templates to radius the edges. There’s a tutorial about that here on the site. I prefer using hand tools and a Dremel sander after marking all the round over and taper limits with a compass and removing most of the material with a good woodcarving knife. Some guys prefer rounding over with sandpaper glued into pieces of pvc pipe of the appropriate diameter. If you use hand tools to shape lures you have to develop a sharp eye to keep them symmetrical and consistent. That just comes with experience. But I think the key is to become very standardized and consistent with whatever method you choose. My last choice would be hand sanding with pieces of sandpaper. That has been the slowest and least consistent method for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliders Posted December 1, 2017 Report Share Posted December 1, 2017 Combination belt /disc sander very useful for me sfrye, A lot depends on which style and size of lures your hoping to make in numbers consistently , and also type of timber. Like bob says, if you're lure design allows it , a table mounted router can give consistent curved radius on edges. I regularly use this method on big flat sided lures, I use freehand with no template or whatever - I hold the blank in my hand , but there are methods of doing it more safely - Doing it this way is faster , but especially with smaller lures is dangerous ..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman03 Posted December 5, 2017 Report Share Posted December 5, 2017 I've been working on the same dilemma. Sure takes a keen eye to hand sand/carve lures that are all exactly same. But I've learned lots from youtube and forums like this. I like some of this guys ideas on making simple jigs to replicate shapes and angles. Tough thing for me is that I like to make different sizes and shapes and stuff. https://youtu.be/Y7_asjtI2UQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted December 6, 2017 Report Share Posted December 6, 2017 build your master lure copy from that. we use table saws,bansaw for ruff cut. then belt sanders, and yes finish hand sanding. yep my hands hurt some days. repetition does take its toll. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted December 6, 2017 Report Share Posted December 6, 2017 This depends on the lure itself, if round for most of it then a wood lathe will do, I have a Vega duplicator for turning down the lure with good duplication but the best way for consistently doing a lure would be to make a master then a rubber silicone mold and pour it out of resin. I do musky lures within a gram of each other. It is nice working with wood, but each lure will be a little different from the other. Flat glide baits are a little more easy to work with. Wayne 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StriperCandy Posted December 6, 2017 Report Share Posted December 6, 2017 I'd like to go the casting route, myself. It's way more time efficient, but doesn't seem anywhere near as fun as lathe work... Guess it really depends on how much volume I need to put out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted December 7, 2017 Report Share Posted December 7, 2017 we lathe lures . that's easy .sanding while in the lathe .its flat side shads that get my hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Skeeter Posted December 12, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 12, 2017 "If you use hand tools to shape lures you have to develop a sharp eye to keep them symmetrical and consistent. That just comes with experience." Words of wisdom there. There are many Crankbaits that are made by companies that have put out the money and paid the engineers to make them by automation are not as good as one that is made by a skilled craftsman. Their 'sharp eye" and "experience" is what makes them that exceptional. Look at the old Poes, Zoom, and Bagley crankbaits. Really look at the symmetry and the way that the screw eyes, ballast, and lips are installed. 95% is garbage, I don't care who makes them. I have always remembered one lesson that I learned many years ago. I was at David Fritts boat dealership. His tournament boat was there and I looked inside of it. There were probably 25 crankbaits laying in the floor of the boat. Many of them were vintage Bagley squarebills. Many of them would have fetched a pretty penny on Ebay. I looked at one of my friends that worked there and said how surprised I was that he left such expensive lures laying around out in the open like that. His reply was simple, "Believe me, if those baits were any good they wouldn't be laying there in the bottom of the boat." Money can kill you as a bait maker. The desire to make as many baits as you can to maximize your profits, will most of the time, result in taking shortcuts or downgrading they quality that you make by hand. Once that starts, you are on the way of loosing your reputation and you will soon go by the wayside like many before you. In my opinion, Greed is the number one killer of excellent work. You won't get rich making crankbaits, but you will have your name and reputation. Choose wisely. Skeeter 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted December 12, 2017 Report Share Posted December 12, 2017 All so true Jeff!!..Good to see you around..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted December 12, 2017 Report Share Posted December 12, 2017 It is always a balance. I don't make lures to sell; well not really. Each lure, even though I do mostly resin lures, still takes so much time that I would need to charge to much to make it pay. I give lures to friends and family, but somehow that seems different. Still, I can't keep up with that demand. Were I to sell lures, I would either need to charge more, or make cheaper. Now, that is a tough problem. Not one of greed, but one of flat out logistics. I realize that I am an old timer and I still remember paying the extreme price of $1.95 for some of the early crank baits in my youth. They were not called that in those days. LOL When lures went over $5.00 each I was sure the fishing industry was over! Now a $20 bait is pretty common and I see some custom baits at over $200. Still, I think the price point is such that we all are looking for the balance point. I know that the average fishermen has little knowledge. They will walk the aisles of the store and pick a lure based on price, color, shape, in that order. The average fisherman, the 90% that catches 10% of the fish, would/will never spend the money for a "quality bait". So, what do we do to locate the 10% that do look for quality and craftsmanship? And, when you think of it, WE may be the 10% on this site so we may be buying each others baits. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonoman Posted December 13, 2017 Report Share Posted December 13, 2017 I believe you find a lot of them at lure collector shows because they appreciate the quality, also they tend to be tournament guys, looking for an edge or to have something that the others don't have...I can tell you that most do not show the general public what they actually use unless its on purpose and the cameras rolling, sponsors need love too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted December 13, 2017 Report Share Posted December 13, 2017 we build baits in many aspects. molded baits,and lathe baits to flat sided bandsaw baits. one major factor is WOOD. even after 40 years of this craziness I still feel wood is the holy grail.theres always a magic bullet in every batch of handbuilt wooden lures..thats what every fisherman seeks lol..as for pricing lol. yes years ago 1.99 was big money for a lure.,usually those were in dads box and you could only look and not touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted December 13, 2017 Report Share Posted December 13, 2017 I got out of making crankbaits for the past 2 yrs. I just plain got burnt out. I am going to get back at it again soon. What I have decided to do is make baits and just enjoy making them again. What I make is for sale if someone wants them. Anyone that really makes baits for sale can tell you is that you have to be there for your customers. Even if you aren't making baits at the time, you have to make yourself available in case someone needs something. This is especially true for pros or the truly dedicated. My phone blew up so much with calls that the fun went out of making the baits. When I got to the point that I was having trouble keeping up with demand I sat down and re-thought how to do business. For me, when I got to the point where most of my free time was ate up with making baits, the fun went out of it. So my new plan is to just make them when I feel like it. The fun needs to be put back into my hobby. That is one of the reasons that I started making baits in the first place. Skeeter 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 14, 2017 Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 10 hours ago, Skeeter said: I got out of making crankbaits for the past 2 yrs. I just plain got burnt out. I am going to get back at it again soon. What I have decided to do is make baits and just enjoy making them again. What I make is for sale if someone wants them. Anyone that really makes baits for sale can tell you is that you have to be there for your customers. Even if you aren't making baits at the time, you have to make yourself available in case someone needs something. This is especially true for pros or the truly dedicated. My phone blew up so much with calls that the fun went out of making the baits. When I got to the point that I was having trouble keeping up with demand I sat down and re-thought how to do business. For me, when I got to the point where most of my free time was ate up with making baits, the fun went out of it. So my new plan is to just make them when I feel like it. The fun needs to be put back into my hobby. That is one of the reasons that I started making baits in the first place. Skeeter That's why I stopped selling baits. It took the fun out of making them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted December 14, 2017 Report Share Posted December 14, 2017 I got a whiff of what making baits for sale was like years ago when I gave a BASS pro some baits as a gratuity for a guide trip. A few months later, he asked me to build a dozen for him. Looking into the commercial abyss, I decided customers and delivery schedules were not what I wanted, so built and traded the new baits to him for some custom commercial baits he had shown me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty's Posted December 30, 2017 Report Share Posted December 30, 2017 On 11/30/2017 at 9:14 AM, Sfrye37 said: Guys I am just curious of some of your setups for getting the same wood lures consistently the same. I want to produce multiple lures at the same time and am curious about how you guys do it. Currently I am cutting a few blanks out with a band saw and then using a regular drill to drill holes for hook hangers and belly weights. Then sanding each lure by hand with sand paper. I am planning on getting a small drill press soon and trying to make my mind up on a sander of some kind. Sanding each lure by hand is a pain. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. ;(work offset X12 Z42) N20 G21 G18 G64 G80 G90 M49 G40 G49 ; TOOL definition N40 G94 G00 X20.0 Z50.0 N50 M05 M09 N60 ( Turning tool ) N70 M06 T2 N80 G43 H2 S0 N90 S500 M03 F200 M08 N100 G00 X12.0 Z42.0 N110 G01 X12.0 Z41.6 N120 X0.0 Z41.6 N130 G00 X2.675 Z42.6 N140 X12.0 Z42.6 N150 G01 X12.0 Z41.2 N160 X0.0 Z41.2 N170 G00 X2.675 Z42.2 N180 X12.0 Z42.2 N190 G01 X12.0 Z40.8 N200 X0.0 Z40.8 N210 G00 X2.675 Z41.8 N220 X12.0 Z41.8 N230 G01 X12.0 Z40.4 N240 X0.0 Z40.4 N250 G00 X2.675 Z41.4 N260 X12.0 Z41.4 N270 G01 X12.0 Z40.0 N280 X3.141 Z40.0 N290 X3.071 Z40.071 N300 G03 X3.0 Z40.1 I3.0 K40.0 N310 G01 X0.0 Z40.1 N320 G00 X2.675 Z41.1 N330 X6.687 Z42.6 N340 X12.0 Z42.6 N350 X12.0 Z42.0 N360 X12.0 Z40.0 N370 G01 X11.508 Z40.0 N380 X11.508 Z8.01 N390 G00 X12.508 Z8.384 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 30, 2017 Report Share Posted December 30, 2017 Salty, Wood is too inconsistent to get every bait the same. Even if you cut all of your blanks out of the same part of one tree, and dry them all exactly the same, there will be variations in grain and density. I am assuming you already have one of your baits that works the way you want it to. Since you already get your blanks as similar as possible, I'd suggest that you weigh one without any hardware, hook hangers, lips, or ballast, and mark down that blanks weight. Then finish that bait, with ballast, hook hangers, lip, paint and finish, and the trebles and split rings. See how much the finished bait weighs. If it s the same as your already successful bait, then you'll know what weight your blanks need to be. If it weighs less, you'll know how much more ballast to add. If it weighs more, you'll know how much ballast to remove. Most importantly, you'll know the target weight for the bait blanks, and can adjust your ballast weight based on each blanks weight before finishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty's Posted December 30, 2017 Report Share Posted December 30, 2017 Mark you missed the point. Happy New Year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 5 hours ago, Salty's said: Mark you missed the point. Happy New Year. Probably. That seems to be my new normal lately. Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 The wood is the weak link in consistency as the density varies. I overcome this by controlling the final density and adjusting the ballast accordingly. This does not mean that you have to do Archimedes on each lure. You just need to know the density of the plank, and keep notes. This is all particularly important if you are going for a lure close to neutral buoyancy. My prefered buoyancy is a 10% floater. If you are copying a favourite/successful lure, it is a good idea to measure the final buoyancy, this gives you a reliable number to aim for. This may sound complicated, but with practice, it becomes second nature, with of course an accurate gram scale. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 11 hours ago, mark poulson said: Probably. That seems to be my new normal lately. Hahaha Press a button and let the lathe, mill, etc... do the work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
