Advice on Sanding Round Fat Bait

[Dweller]

I need some advice on how to sand my fat baits a lot quicker. I use a belt sander to get it down quite a bit then I hand sand this is taking forever. The largest round over bit I can get for my dremmel is an 1/8. I had a router but it was to powerful & I was afraid it would take my finger off. Does any one have any ideas?

[VANNDALIZER]

Some type of dupli carver/copy carver will work. I'll give you the details next time we talk. I will send you a pm. MAV

[Hoodaddy]

Hey Ron........jsut have your lady freind do them that way when you get home from work all you have to do is paint and clear.....LMAO

[Jason]

Put your scroll saw table at a 45 degree angle and knock of the edges when roughing the lure. It will save alot of time!

[Lure--Prof]

Great tip Jason! With balsa I'll measure and mark with pencil to keep everything squared-up (as opposed to screwed-up!) and do this on the sander sometimes, but more often hit it with some of that good green 80 grit by hand, nearly as quick, and more convenient for me (just to avoid standing and leaning over, kills my back quickly).

Dean

[smirkplug]

A carpener took a heavy grit sanding belt about 26 inches then cut a 2x4 in the shape of the belt with tapered edges then slid the belt over the 2x4 and it takes lots of time off hand sanding !

[Palmetto Balsa]

Dweller,

What type of wood are you working with?

[Dweller]

I use Balsa wood

[Hoodaddy]

Ron,

We have done a few round bodies out of balsa and basically start the same way Jason mentioned then your options come in with either a belt sander or drum sander on a drill press although we opted for the small course sanding drums on a dremel. Kinda messy but with balsa it removes a lot of product quickly. Just watch those fingers:)

[Palmetto Balsa]

I must be doing something wrong. I draw some symmetrical carving lines, and carve it out with and X-acto. Then I hand sand it with some 120 till it looks nice. I can get about 4-5 bodies in an hour (given they already have the wire through, weight, glued, and lip slot cut). I guess I could get more done if I threw more saw dust but I think the fun would be gone if I did that.

X-acto and hand sanding seems fast enough with balsa for me.

[Lure--Prof]

P. Balsa, sounds to me as though you're doing everything perfectly!

[skeeter jones]

Any body have pictures of how they put their carving lines on the lure. Just learning and would love to be able to carve out three and hour.

[benton B]

I use a wheeled marking guage to put carving lines on my baits.

[Palmetto Balsa]

skeeter jones,

I missed the question of how to put symmetrical carving lines on a bait. Move the bait and not the marker. Flip it over and do it again. If the mark isn't at the correct hight then put something under the marker to raise it up a little. How you use them is up to you, but this helps me keep things even. If you carve enough of the same bait you won't need them after a while.

If you are making a one piece bait and need a center line then draw it the same way. To make sure your center line is centered, keep the marker at the same location and flip the bait and draw it again.