a method for thru wire

[finlander]

One mfg uses this for their baits. Two halfs that have a 'track' cut into each half for the formed wire to lay in. They may have some modern technology to help them as these things are very accurate each and every time. The two halves are then glued/epoxied together. The halves are machined and routered first. These are not weighted lures, as they are wider than tall. This does not bode well for a tall, thin bodied lure. There is not much depth for a lead pocket, with the wire running low in the belly. Has anyone dealt with this? I may try to cut a slot with a dremel in only one half, wire it, then glue the two halves together, and finally sand or trim the wood so the wire is on the centerline. Any ideas?? Thanks, Bruce.

[LaPala]

Try running the wire across the top and a drilled hole for the belly hook hanger loop to pass thru.

[BobP]

I Dremel a matching pocket in each side for 1/8" dia lead solder and epoxy it in while joining the two halves. I route the thru-wire to accomodate. Want to get complicated? Throw in a good size rattle chamber!

[finlander]

I have done the drill thru but only on wider, heavier baits. Never even considered it on a thinner wooden bait. I believe the rule is to keep the tru wire and weights in the bottum third or quarter of the lure body. This limits the depth of the lead pocket. I was wondering if anyone has tried the two halfs method. Thanks for the responses. Great to have TU up and running again.

[Jason]

I worry that if you put the through wire only on one side, it may ruin the balance of the lure.

[finlander]

I planned on removing the same amount of wood from the other half, as the slot is deep. Here's a question that ties in to the thru-wire subject...a 2 half lure allows a wire to be loop at the hangers, the line tie, and the tail hanger. If a thru wire is the method used, how do you twist the wire so that it is inside the hole, or is this impossible for the twists to be unseen? this is for the wire ends at the head and tail. Thanks, the Finn

[RiverMan]

I have read where guys will take two equally thick pieces of wood and temporarily stick them together. Trace your lure shape on one side and cut it out, round corners, shape. Now snap apart the two pieces and trace your through wire design on the inside of each piece of wood. Dremel out the channel on each side, lay the wire in and glue the two pieces permanantly together with epoxy. Add weight, sand, and you are done.

I think most of the more experienced "thru-wire" guys have devised a way to drill fun length through the wood blank. They do this in one of two ways:

1. They use a lathe that has a drill bit attached to one side that drills directly through the center of the wood piece every single time, or;

2. Using a drill press. Put a piece of wire slightly longer than your lure in the drill press. Now, secure a wooden base with a nail in it to the drill press table. The nail should line up exactly with the tip of the wire. Now remove the wire, install your drill bit, and put one end of the lure on the nail. Now you can be sure that when you drill down through the wood that it will exit right at the nail...you checked this with the wire.

Once you have a hole through the full length of the bait, you can drill the belly wire holes out. Make a loop in the belly wire pieces and thread the full length piece from nose to tail through the loops and then secure on each end with a loop. Fill all the holes with epoxy. You can learn how to make the loops by doing a search on "striper forums"...striped bass fisherman know how to make these loops.

Or....

3. Use screw eyes, lol.

RM

[Lure--Prof]

finlander, just run your body wire higher, giving yourself enough room for your belly weight(s). It is the height of the belly weight that'll detemine your center of gravity as opposed to the height of your wire harness, even on the thin baits.

Dean

[Camel1918]

I do it like RiverMan explained. However sometimes with balsa I don't even Dremel out a channel, I just lay the wire in and then glue the two halves together using a vise with a little pressure. The balsa will conform to the wire and you don't even have to worry about the channel. Also you usually want the weight as low as possible so it usually doesn't bother the through wire. If so just do as others suggested, run it a little higher in the body. I've never found that it throws the weight off.

Good luck

[finlander]

Thanks ya'll. I have made lures with screw eyes, and by running a thru wire. I free hand with a hand drill. Once drill bit reaches the first hanger hole I can adjust the track of the bit, to try and keep it straight. I also start from the other end and try to have the holes meet. If they are slightly off, it is a nightmare to run a wire thru. Never tried balsa, but it is soft enough to take a wire. It would be interesting to run a poll to see how many use what method to hang their hooks.