making the bait

[.dsaavedra.]

most of the focus on here seems to be about painting and clear coats and all that. what about the actual making of the bait? do you guys just buy blanks and paint them? or do you make the blank youre self? i make my own blanks from basswood and i grind them to shape on a dremel tool and then hand sand them till they are nice and shiny. tahst the part im good at, its finishing the bait taht im not so good at.

[BobP]

There are guys who build from scratch, build from blanks, and repaint existing crankbaits. Some are better at one thing than others and decide to concentrate in that area. It's all about what's interesting to the individual, or what's productive and practical for the custom builder. I think a majority of Undergrounders probably build from scratch or are working toward that goal.

[dampeoples]

A lot of the recent conversation is repeat questions on painting and such, there was volumes of information on the build process lost in the site crash we had in December (I think). If you've got specific questions, do a search for the answer, ask questions, or just start a new topic. You'll find there are plenty of folks here willing to talk about design and such because quite frankly, the paint is the easiest part. Repeatedly building a killer bait from a block of wood is the talent. I sure don't have it

[.dsaavedra.]

HAHA THAS FUNNY CUZ ABOUT ALL IM GOOD FOR IS BUILDING THE BLANKS!!! PAST THAT, CUTTING THE LIP SLOT, MAKING THE LIP, INSTALLING HARDWARE, PUTTING A FINISH ON...I SCREW UP EVER STEP AFTERWARDS! BUT SINCE I MAKE THE BLANKS FROM SCRATCH, I CANT PRODUCE THE EXACT SAME ONE TWICE...DOESNT BOTHER ME AT ALL...ITS A SPECIAL QUALITY!

[.dsaavedra.]

do you think anyone would be intersted in like making a deal where i could make a few blanks and sell them to someone for them to finish and stuff? do people do that?

[Vodkaman]

Paint is scarey stuff!!!!

[longball]

for you noobs, the most important piece of equipment is the notebook. That is how you narrow down your work to something that works how you want it to. I know how much weight is needed where to make a bait suspend, float or sink at whatever speed. It also has lip angles, paint schemes, and anything else I ever done. I make 3-4 baits pretty consistantly and I have a notebook that is thicker than a government tax code manual that details all success and failure of each. And yes, some of the pages consist of threads from TU. You will never know when the next crash might occour.

[smirkplug]

for inspiration i sometimes start with scrap wood items like tapered table legs for big crankbaits, old oval shaped paddle handles for a/c plugs, rounded chair supports for poppers, and walkers, and hickory hammer handles for jointed cranks. as far as painting goes im still using spray cans to blend colors and permenent markers for detail, sometimes i glue on gold leaf and or glitter. im lucky because all my bait are big and easier to let mistakes blend in . good luck !!

[Emmett]

I carve all my baits from Basswood, cut the lips from Lexon, weight with lead. I cut my baits out with a scroll saw, use 80 grit paper to get the rough spots out then hand sand down to 1000 grit. I still need alot of work on the painting part, but, practice, practice, practice is the key. And of course this site helps a lot.

[hazmail]

Emmett

I'm a bit obsessed with making and bending up Lexan lips at the moment, I just have to get them to fit the curve of the lure body and like every other phase of lure building there is this obsession with getting it just right. For me, it used to be paint and colours (colors) then it was back to lure shapes and primers. An old and very wise "French Polisher" (not sure what Americans call them)told me many times "what you do underneath, you get on top" (I was about 23 and he was 82) and from finishing furniture, to tiny fishing lures - he was right, not that I ever disbelieved him, a loverly old guy, who had fought in the 1st World War at "The Somme" in France and survived.

What's "The Somme" and 90 years ago got to do with fishing lures - PERSEVERANCE - Try and achieve every step (and there are many) in building a lure (or house) to the best of your ability. When you think you have won go back to the raw wood and you will find there can be improvements made in just about every step of our lure making, it all comes down to "what you do underneath you get on top" , reminds me of something else.! ! !

I don't use a notebook anymore, I use a camera. I lost 15 years of colours (colors) and lure shapes, to lack of memory and a notebook. I still don't think I am a perfectionist ! !! ! - I'm 57yo, half blind and still learning - Hang in there . Pete

[.dsaavedra.]

great post pete. how do you cut lexan?

[Terrydabassman]

Here's a start to finish Bomber I made a while back.

[hazmail]

great post pete. how do you cut lexan?

DSV- There are heaps of posts on cutting Lexan or polycarbonate (same thing), just search "Polycarbonate".

But in short you can cut 1/16 th with scizors or tin snips. A band saw , if you have one, is the go for 1/8" or just buy the blanks (about 30c each). Whatever you make, fashion a jig for it, so you don't have to re-invent the wheel every time you make one, that goes for any part of a lure as you can see from the previous SUPERB post by "Terrythebassman". Pete