Bowman

A question for the board. I have noticed that there are two different theories on line tie placement. Some put the line tie in the nose of the crankbait body while others put the line tie in the lip. At first glance to the untrained eye(such as mine) it would seem that the tie in the nose would cause a steeper downward angle due to the fulcrum being closer to the center of the bait. I guess my real question is, does the placement affect the action of the bait or is it just a matter of preference? Thanks to all who respond. Bo

Anyone care to discuss the advantages of a band saw over a scroll saw? Thanks in advance, Bo

Please excuse me being so vague here as I don't have the time to properly research the name of the machine I will refer to. A few years ago I worked at a company that manufactures oil drilling equipment. We had to attach lot and serial numbers to each finished piece. We had a machine that we used to engrave the tags. This machine had a place where we could put pre engraved numbers or letters spelling out what we wanted to engrave onto the tag. We would then follow along the letters or numbers with a "needle" that would move the bit along the tag engraving the letters or numbers we had chosen in a professional looking format. If we would leave the needle in one place too long, the bit would bore completly thru the aluminum tag. I would think that if you could etch out or even trace the outline of an existing lip. The bit would cut the exact shape in lexan or whatever material chosen to make lips. Again I apologize for the vagueness of this post. I will try to research and find the name of the machine and maybe link to their website to make my ramblings more clear. Bo

Great info from everyone. To me, the info given suggests that the weakest point of a lure constructed without a thru-wire is the balsa wood itself. A lure constructed with a properly designed thru-wire transfers all of the energy along the thru-wire, removing the stress from the wood itself. How much stress does it take to pull the balsa or wood of choice apart vs how much stree does it take to break the thru-wire harness? I would think that the balsa wood would fail before the thru-wire but that is a theory. If anyone has tested this it would be interesting to hear the results. I may have to run a crude test myself. With all the eyewash above, I suppose the real question I am looking to answer is this. Can a Bass exert enough pressure on a lure to pull it apart? Anyone that can poke holes in my theories or answer any of my posed questions, please do so. As always, I appreciate the information you guys share, Bo

Interesting info. Thanks to all. Maybe I should try a test with one of my finished laminate baits. Maybe rig a devise to see how much pressure it will take to pull the hanger out or seperate the wood. Then see how that compares with the tensil strength of the ss wire I would use for a harness. Anyone done this before? Bo

Hey guys, There was a post a while back linking to Hoosierdaddy's site detailing how to laminate basswood between 2 sheets of balsa for crank building material. Theory is that the basswood is strong enough to hold the epoxied hangers in place without having to install a thru-wire into the bait. I have chosen to build my first cranks using this method becuase it just seems easier than cutting my baits in half and installing the thru-wire. What I am hoping for is to have some of you more experienced lure builders reassure my decision or talk me into making my lures out of balsa only with the thru-wire. As always, thanks in advance for the help, bo

Thanks for the info guys. This line of thinking leads me to a few more questions regarding thru wire vs. balsa/basswood laminate baits. I don't want to hijack this thread so I will start my own. Thanks again, Bo

I've been using elmers wood glue. You'll get no arguement from me that Gorrilla glue is stronger than wood glue however, the bond that wood glue creates is stronger than the wood itself. Therefoe it would seem that anything stronger would be overkill (FYI, I have experience in woodworking but not luremaking. If any of the more experienced posters can disprove my line of thinking I would love to hear it). I just put and ample amount of wood glue down on both surfaces and spread it around with some blue shop paper towels making sure the entire surface area is covered. clamp between a couple of 2 x 6's and wipe away the excess. O.K. I'm a little slow but, it just occured to me that you are probably talking about putting an individual lure back together after installing a thru wire or some other hardwire as opposed to laminating two different types of wood together. If so, please excuse my tardiness on getting the point. However, I would still like to hear the reasoning as to why use an expanding polyurethane glue in place of wood glue.

Hello all, I am new to this art of lure making and I have been pondering the most effecient wat to assemble my cranks. After researching previous posts it seems that most everyone agrees on cutting lip slots and marking tie, weight and hook hangers before sanding. However there seems to be some differing on when to install the hardware. In what order do you guys prefer to assemble/paint your cranks. Thanks in advance for your replies. Bo

BM1974, Check on page one for a post titled "Prep for 2nd coat of 2T Epoxy" there are a few good replies from BobR and Fatfingers regarding multiple coats of Devcon. Bowman

If I use D2T, how long between coats should I wait? Bo

Interesting Ernel, Anyone else have any insite on a laminate balsa/basswood sandwich? Bo

I plan on starting off making crankbaits and plugs. Balsa seems to be the most common wood used for these types of lures. However I'm not sure I understand the full reason for the thru wire harness. Is it only to remove stress form the wood itself by connecting(so to speak ) the hooks directly to the line tie eyelet or is there some other use? If so, do you actually have to build two halves of a crankbait and sandwich them around the harness? Again, I cannot tell you guys how much I appreciate any and all feedback. Bowman

Hello all, I am a newbie to this board and lure making in general. One of the more elementery questions I have when building a crankbait is what are the pro's and con's of the different types of wood used? I have heard of balsa, basswood, cedar, poplar and even pine. Could some of you more knowledgable guys help a newbie out and explain the differences and your preferences for whichever type of wood you use. Thanks in advance for the help, Bowman

Thanks guys, Every bit helps. The more I look on this website , the more intrigued I become. I had no idea how involved lure making could be. Bowman