screw in eyes?

[Trim man]

I started making some flatside crankbaits, and I made my own screw in eye for them. When I tired to thread in the eye they would not go. I had to drill the whole the same size as the eye itself. I was woundering if anyone had any sugguestions on how to make it easier to screw in the eyes.

thanks

trim man

[doomdart]

I assume you're talking about the regular wrapped wire eye. I usually would drill a larger hole than necessary and then fill it with mixed Devcon. This is one of the few instances where the quick setting type is useful, IMO. Then drop the eye shaft in the hole, line it up properly (thin strips of masking tape to hold it in place while curing may help), and wait.

I think the quicker way is to use the preformed screw eyes, but as many have pointed out they can be overkill on bass baits and don't look as nice as a smaller diameter wire eye.

[Maypo1979]

Doomart,

Do you think the Devcon Bonded hand-wound screw eyes in a fairly loose fit (large hole) is as secure as a pre-fabricated threaded screw eye. I like the looks of the hand-wound screw eyes also, and have done them that way, but I always worry that a big fish may pull them out. BTW, I have caught (3) Bass so far this year on some Flat Sided Cedar Crankbaits that I made similar to the ones that Blackjack posted a while back. They have my own threaded in eyese and seem to hold fine. I also want to thank Blackjack for posting those diagrams. I also saw that he just posted a Big-O style crankbait schematic. These are excellent starting points for beginners.

Maypo

[doomdart]

Yes, in fact I think the hand wound version will be more secure since they will have a more aggressive thread. But screw eyes will work fine in bait woods except balsa.

Either way I think you want to secure with Devcon (short cure version is fine here, one of the only times you might want to use it). If you do that, then topcoat again, the fish will have to rip off the entire topcoat (OK, that's a stretch, but you get the point).

I must point out that others have discussed this...I can take no credit. The only pullout I've experienced was with a screw eye...I blame that on a defect of production and am still arguing with the maker (LOL).

Having said this, I will say that with thru-wire you absolutely do not have to worry and your bait will be more lively. LaPala, Cheeshead, and Dean kind of worked on my conscience for a while and made me give it a serious attempt. Good results.

[cheesehead]

The hand wound screw shaped wires (eyes) have a much larger surface area than machine made screws. When installing these you want a press fit or slightly loose installation so the epoxy has room to do its job. Unlike most adhesives epoxies need gaps and loose fitting joints to achive maximum strength.

[Husky]

Rowhunter showed his through wire technique (perhaps on another site though) and LaPala demonstrated about 5 methods of through wiring that you may want to check out. When done properly, all the ties and hangers align beautifully and the strength is unbeatable.

[Norcalbassin]

Try making them out of 19ga. stailess wire and make sure you wind them the right direction and tight enough, so they will screw in. I make screw eyes like this and they screw in just fine into a 1/16 pilot hole and with a little epoxy they'll never come out, trust me I tried to remove them once.

[doomdart]

The hand wound screw shaped wires (eyes) have a much larger surface area than machine made screws. When installing these you want a press fit or slightly loose installation so the epoxy has room to do its job. Unlike most adhesives epoxies need gaps and loose fitting joints to achive maximum strength.

Cheesehead, you have just said what I was trying to say in just a few sentences. I agree 200% with what he has said. Perhaps I mislead by talking about drilling the hole "larger" than necessary. I would still want a relatively tight fit. We are talking about tolerances here that are difficult to measure, so I don't even try to measure them. You can drill a hole that is slightly too small and just exert a small wobbling pressure to the drill to get the size you need.