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MadisonWI

Musky Crankbait Question

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Jed, for the larger baits that we make you might want to have a face parallel (on the jig) to the surface that the lure blank is resting on in the above pic. That way you could put a large spring clamp across the blank and the second parallel face to avoid having the blank move on you while cutting. Could prove especially useful if you're using hardwood blanks. A spring clamp would go on and off really quickly while changing blanks.

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I do something similar to what Pete does...I clamp the bait to the "pusher" thing and just push it over the blade:

BaitTutorialbody007.jpg

As to the lip question, any lip template can easily be resized with a simple photo program, which is what I do. You could literally make a lip ten inches long if you wanted to. Once you have a set of templates, simply pick the lip you want and resize it if necessary. Print a copy of the lip first, cut it out with scissors and hold it in the lip slot to determine if you think it should be larger or smaller. For anyone without a set of lip templates, I'll post a link for you later.

Also, not to contradict out2lunge, but I have never used stainless steel screws to secure the musky lip to the baits and I've never had one fail in any way. If the lip is properly epoxied to the bait with Devcon 2 ton epoxy, the lip is inextricable from the bait...the wood will splinter and separate before that lip will ever come off the bait.

The lip should be thoroughly scored with a couple of holes drilled in the scored area. The scoring (as shown below) creates a surface which will chemically bond to the epoxy and the holes create a "post" which passes through the lip and is secured to the lip slot on the top and bottom of the slot. It is an extremely strong bond. I've handed older baits to my buddy who is a moose and asked him to see if he could tear the lip from the bait by twisting it, wiggling it, any way he could. The wood on the bait will break before that lip will come out. Stainless steel screws could help, but like through-wiring hardwoods, its probably overkill, in my opinion.

First make the lip template from paper and use rubber cement to glue it to the polycarbonate:

Lipmaking.jpg

Next cut it out of the polycarbonate with a bandsaw. You could also use a coping saw. Just "rough cut" it, it doesn't need to be perfect because you'll be shaping later (read on):

Lipmaking001.jpg

Next, fire up the belt sander and sand the edge right up against the lines on your paper template:

Lipmaking002.jpg

Lipmaking004.jpg

Finally, place the lip in the lip slot and score a line around the lip where the bait touches the lip. Then score the area which will be inserted into the lip and drill a couple holes to form an epoxy "post".

Smear some epoxy down inside the lip slot and carefully apply some epoxy to the scored area of the lip. Make sure you fill the holes you drilled in the scored area with epoxy also.

Muskyshots087.jpg

In the photo above you can see the lines I scribed around the lip after inserting it in the bait temporarily. I then remove it and score it thoroughly before gluing it into the bait as described above.

That area inside the lines, can be roughed up or "scored" with a rotary tool, or a sharp knife. I use a rotary tool with a sandstone inserted.

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One slight mod to the way those lips are cut that I do is to carefully cut the template such that the straight edge of the lip (the edge that goes inside the bait) is accurately aligned on the edge of the poly before gluing down. That way, that edge needs no further cutting or sanding provided your band saw skills are half decent.

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