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newcastledrew

My 1st swimbait. any advice would be great.

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I started my first swimbait today. I am making it out of pvc, and have already shaped the body. It slightly leans to the right just a little when it is sitting upright on it's belly. will that effect the motion of the swiming or could i even it out when i add the weights for balance? Also, it is one solid peice, will i have to cut it in half to add the joints?

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never worked w/ pvc, but on my swimbaits w wood i check boyancy after i first seal. i reckon w/ pvc you can throw it in at anytime. I mess w/ putting weight on the front and middle until it sits correctly. most important if it sits straight in the water. symetry helps w/ propper action... every lure has mistakes though and sometimes that one lure thats a little off is money for big sowbellies.

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yes you will have to cut it where you want to put your joints i just did a swimbait with 4 sections and it looks awesome swimming in the water.. but 3 sections work well to.. just cut the bait where you want it, sand it again to get rid of the cut edges and add the joints.. when you weight it a good idea is to tape or use a rubber band to hold the weights to the body sections still it floats good in the water.. than you can drill the holes and melt the weights in where you need them.....

where did ou buy your pvc? is t trim board or pvc decking? i was thinking of getting some pvc decking for my next batch

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Thank you guys for the advice. I taped weights to it to get it to sit straight in the water. it kinda took a lot of weight. I want it to be aq slow sinker but, i dont want it to be too heavy. anyone got any ideas on how to get it to sink without adding a pound of weight? Also, when i cut it into the 4 peices should i do the V cut or just straight?

I bought my pvc at lowes here in Austin Texas. It is the trim board for windows and doors. It was only $10.05 with tax. and it came in a 8ft long peice. after loosing two bbz-1 7" trout baits, this is a way better deal and it's pretty fun

I will post pictures of my progress as soon as photobuchet starts working again. thanks for all the help

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I've found that, in order to have a slow sinking lure, you have to add enough weight in the initial weighting so that the lure sinks the way you want it to in the finished state.

The paint scheme and top coat will add about 4 grams if you do two coats of epoxy, and will add additional weighting.

I test weight my lures until they sink the way I want them to, and then subtract 4 grams of ballast weight when I'm install the ballast, to allow for the finish.

If it doesn't fall fast enough after two coats, add a third, or drill a whole in the belly and epoxy in more weight.

The nice part about using PVC is you don't have to worry about water intrusion when you drill after it's finished. Just use epoxy to glue in the additional weights, leaving it a little below the finished surface, add some belly paint, and put a little more epoxy over that to bring it to flush.

You'll notice the patch, but the fish won't.

If you're trying to add just a little more weight without drilling, stick on lead, lie suspend dots, or fly tying lead wire wrapped around the treble hook shanks will do the trick without affecting the lure's swimming action.

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OK. thanks for all the info mark, I'm soaking it all in. I have a coulpe of other questions. What kind of weights are you useing? I know you want to keep the weight as low in the belly as possiable so is it better to drill them in verticaly or horazontaly into the belly? and last question, What is the best tool to use to cut the body into peices with out loosing too much of the baits length? If thats too much writing i understand. thanks for all the info from everyone so far. everyone on this site inspires me.

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on my baits i drill the holes in verticaly, not to deep in the belly maybe about 1/4 to 1/2" at the most. and no matter what when you cut it you proly wont loose any length if anything youll gain a little bit.. i try to counter sink the joints so that there isnt to far of a gap between segments.. i dont know if you can tell but here are 2 that i did.. you can see in the trout swimbait that the joints are counter sunk into the bait to close the gaps more.

baits.jpg

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I use 1/8 oz egg sinkers with sst cotter pins pushed through the hole for combination ballast and hook hangers. Bend the tabs one you've pushed the pin in as far as you can, and cut them off so they're not wider than the sinker. That way you can push the sinker into a pre drilled hole more easily.

I always add my ballast in vertical holes I drill into the belly of the lure. I use 1/4" lead that I buy from Cabela's in rolls. Just straighten it out, cut it to length with an exacto knife rolled over and over at the cut, and use a 1/4" hole, reamed slightly, for the weights.

I cut my joints on the table saw while the lure is still in a rectangular block. I draw the profile, layout the hinge joint locations, predrill the relief holes for the hinge screw heads and a small through hole for the eyes, so they will be centered on both sides, turn the lure upright, and drill the hinges holes, flip it over, and predrill the hook hanger, ballast, and rattle holes.

I don't worry about losing the saw blade width, since that's about 1/8", and I need that much clearance for my hinges anyway.

I cut my hinges at a 12 1/2 degree angle to begin with, and leave an uncut section in the middle so I can shape and finish sand the lure while all the sections are still connected. After I've finished shaping and sanding, I finish the cuts with a small hand saw, called a dove tail saw.

I steepen the angle on the "male" part, the front of each section that has the relief holes and slots and the hinge pin holes, on the belt sander by hand. Be careful. PVC gets hot and sticks if you use too much pressure on the sander, and the smaller pieces can go flying. Not to mention hurting your hand.

No problem with the typing. Spelling is another story.

Thank goodness for spell check!

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i use the V shaped hinge in my swimbaits. It looks cleaner to me (closes the gap a little) but requires lots of extra steps. It also makes it a lot trickier to put together. I epoxy my bait before assembly and then spot epoxy afterwards. As for the weighting, I cut into the section I want to put weight in. To do this, I cut straight up from the bottom of the section and towards the front. I then cut in from the front of the section perpendicular to the first cut. I then take a drill bit/ dremel tool and bore out the middle throughout the rest of the bottom part of that section. I fill it with weight and glue the "cap" that I cut off back on. Sand it smooth to make it flush, seal the bait, and start painting. An end result is a perfect paint job w/ no evidence of inserted weight (since you seal the seam before painting). Thats my trick and it works very nicely.

p.s. if you are using pvc u can temporarily glue the "cap" back on and play w/ weights in water before any sealing.

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I agree with Mark. I cut my joints in the bait prior to cutting out the profile of the bait while the material is still in a sqare block form. I make my cuts on a band saw and it makes it much easier getting straight cuts. One thing I'll add to this though. If you just make one cut for each hinge, you're finished bait will be longer than the way it started due to gapping in the joints. What I do, is make two cuts approximately 1/4" apart per hinge so the gap is built in if that makes sense. But, I definately second Mark's advice on leaving the joints connected until the bait is completely shaped.

TJ

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o yeah, that all makes sense. Mark's definately a good one to take advice from on lure making.

by trickier on my previous post (making v hinge), i actually got ticked off to the point where i had to build a machine to do it. I just take a dremel once it cuts the bait out and sand in my V into the head and the posterior portion of the middle section. However, it cuts my front V shapes which is half the battle. (better discriptions of this are under homebrew tools)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/amcalexa/IMG00073.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/amcalexa/IMG00074.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/amcalexa/IMG00075.jpg

as for my internal weight and cap method- sorry, no pics at the moment.

Edited by A-Mac
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I agree with Mark. I cut my joints in the bait prior to cutting out the profile of the bait while the material is still in a square block form. I make my cuts on a band saw and it makes it much easier getting straight cuts. One thing I'll add to this though. If you just make one cut for each hinge, you're finished bait will be longer than the way it started due to gapping in the joints. What I do, is make two cuts approximately 1/4" apart per hinge so the gap is built in if that makes sense. But, I definitely second Mark's advice on leaving the joints connected until the bait is completely shaped.

TJ

Ha,ha, I had to laugh when I read this, since you're the one I got the technique from.

That's what's so great about this forum.

I came here initially because I had tried to heat set a one piece glider lure with a rattle can paint job in my oven set at low, and the paint bubbled.

I didn't know if it was due to the wood from the lure, the paint layers being incompatible, or space aliens.

A friend suggested this site, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Granted, I'm a lifelong carpenter and good with tools. And I have a garage full of woodworking equipment, gathered over a lifetime of doing carpentry of all kinds, but the specific knowledge shared here on lure making is a difference maker.

I would have never thought to use an air brush, water based paints, epoxy top coat, sst screw eyes, egg sinker/cotter pin hook hangers, scale netting, mixed color schemes, hinge pin construction, PVC decking, without this site. The list goes on and on.

And the tips on how not to screw up, goofs by others revealed so we all could avoid them ourselves, are priceless.

I've learned so much from this site I can't even begin to acknowledge everyone who taught me something.

So I'm very flattered that someone would think I'm a jointed bait expert, when, in fact, I'm a TU-made man, and my lures are a collection and amalgamation of all the knowledge shared here.

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IMG_0501.jpgsorry that the photo is so big. It was hell just trying to get this thing posted. this is my very 1st attempt ever at a swimbait. I think it's alright for a 1st timer. This is just a prototype and a learning experience for when i build the nest one. There are now 2 weights in the head which makes it sit funny in the water. would it make the swimming motion messed up if i added a small weight into the 3rd body segment? and should i have painted it before i put it together and epoxyed it? Any Info or input would be great.

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This is a very good beginning.

Is it going to be a sinker, or a floater, or a bottom bouncer?

There are different rigging and weighting options for those different designs.

I'd suggest you install your hook hangers, if you're going to use them. That way, you can hang the actual hooks and split rings you plan to use, and see how that affects the floatation.

Of course, as Lili Man's Beater Trout in the gallery shows, you don't have to hang the hooks from the bottom. If you're making a bottom bouncer, you can mount a treble on top, or set a single big jig hook in it's back.

You should be able to tape some lead in different locations, and see how it floats before you actually install the ballast weight.

Don't rush this process. Fool around until you get it to sit in the water the way you want it to, and then, once you have installed the ballast, do some swim tests before you actually paint and finish it. That way, you can tweek it if you need to without ruining the finish.

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