Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 My first attempt at making a swimbait. Decided to go with a bluegill type bait since most of the fish feed off bluegill and sunfish. Carved out of PVC molding board I got from Lowes for 20 bucks. I'm still trying to figure the easiest way to hinge it togeter without splitting it in half. Any thoughts or help on making this type of swimbait would be greatful. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfly Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy01007 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have never tried to make a swimbait from a solid peice. I always glue 2 halves together. But my guess is you should have drilled a hole for the pin before carving on a drill press. This way you have a square peice of wood to work with. If you have a drill press, maybe you can find some way of squaring it to the bit. Otherwise, maybe you should consider using two screweyes as your hinge. If you search around, I know I have seen dicsussion about drilling the hinge pin. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfly Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I'd use a bandsaw to bisect it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 OK so I ended up using two screweyes together to hinge it together. Two sets are used. Had to add five weights to balance the bait. Swims pretty good, time to paint... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 When I make jointed swimbaits, I also use screw eyes and hinge pins. I use either .072 or .092 stainless steel screw eyes, and stainless bicycles spokes for the pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crankpaint Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 i never thought of the spokes for hinge pins nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I got that from another TU member, David Sullivan, or CaptnSully. Almost everything I know about building baits I learned from others here at TU. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I went to both Lowe's and Home Depot and neither had small enough screw eyes in stainless steel, only zinc coated. I'm guessing zinc will work for a little but will rust in the long run. Where can I find stainless steel screw eyes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimb8s Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Jann's Netcraft, Barlows Tackle, Lure Parts on Line , should get you started, good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted March 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thanks everyone for the info. I'm ordering all the correct parts soon. Now, should I paint this bait a bluegill pattern or a shad pattern? I live in Colorado. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 To me, the bait design says bluegill, crappie, or tilapia. Pick the one that's in your local lakes, and have at it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted March 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 I'm pretty sure there are crappie in my local lakes. We might, MIGHT, have some sunfish or bluegill. No tilapia that I know of. Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 24, 2012 Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 The black crappie in our SoCal lakes have a green/gold sheen. I use a sparkle white base coat, a light green (peridot) over the back and shoulders, add the black markings with a sharpie, and then mist with a metallic gold. It gets bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted May 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 This is the final swimbait, turned out pretty good and look...catches fish. Need to get a better hook up front, i'm losing too many fish on the front hook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 (edited) Has anyone ever tried a small piano hinge? Just a thought that popped in my head while reading this. If you loosen the female side just a little it should swing quite freely. To install it I would make barbs in the plates and epoxy it in. Just a thought; what do you guys think? www.novalures.com Edited May 13, 2012 by nova Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 (edited) FuzzyWuzzy, That crappie looks great. I have found that the KVD EWG short shank trebles really hold the fish. Nova, Barbs on the leaves would give the epoxy something to hold onto, but I don't think it will work for a swimbait hinge. I would think that piano hinge would have too much friction for a good swimming action, and would add too much weight. But I'd love to be proven wrong! Hahaha Edited May 15, 2012 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 FuzzyWuzzy, That crappie looks great. I have found that the KVD EWG short shank trebles really hold the fish. Nova, Barbs on the leaves would give the epoxy something to hold onto, but I don't think it will work for a swimbait hinge. I would think that piano hinge would have too much friction for a good swimming action, and would add too much weight. But I'd love to be proven wrong! Hahaha Mark; wasn't sure. It was just a quick thought. www.novalures.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 Has anyone ever tried a small piano hinge? Just a thought that popped in my head while reading this. If you loosen the female side just a little it should swing quite freely. To install it I would make barbs in the plates and epoxy it in. Just a thought; what do you guys think? www.novalures.com There's a tutorial somewhere about using nylon piano type hinges. It went into great detail complete with photos. If I can find it again I'll post the link. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 I remember that tutorial, too, but don't know who posted it. I just think screw eyes and pins, or sst cotter keys and pins, are way easier and less complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedyarb Posted May 15, 2012 Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 This one? http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/15916-pvc-trim-board-shad-swimbait/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Posted May 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2012 I'm a sucker for just a plane screw eye to screw eye hinging. I love the sound it makes, real quite clacking sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyo1954 Posted May 16, 2012 Report Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) That is a nice tutorial on hinging. Not sure if it is the best idea to use an acrylic with a nylon hinge pin. Back when diemai tested the nylon hinges used on RC airplane and boats. Even with a stainless steel hinge pin those proved weak around the hinge joint. The hobby metal ones will rust. Diemai has a tutorial on making this style hinge. When I use these, I bend the end of the wire back into the space and embed it in the epoxy used to hold the hinge in place. That type hinge is time consuming when you consider the options. Barrel swivel - in my experience those fail more often than a fishing knot. Screw eyes or screw eye with wire or bicycle spokes. I haven't tried those yet, but it is on my agenda. Figure 8s - haven't tried those either. Seems like a patience tester. Cotter pins - Another good alternative worth exploring. Considering all the options, acrylic hinges bearing a nylon pin are not the best solution. Just my 2 cents. Edited May 16, 2012 by garyo1954 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny.Barile Posted May 16, 2012 Report Share Posted May 16, 2012 If im not mistaken, Diemai had a tutorial on forming a hinge from some sheet metal or metal from a can or something like that. (Im getting old.....They say the second thing to go is the memory, and I cant remember what the first thing was.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy01007 Posted May 16, 2012 Report Share Posted May 16, 2012 Joints have been giving me a hell of a time with swimbaits. I can't recall how many swimbaits I have tried to make and failed. I keep saying I'm "giving up", make a couple lipped cranks, get borred, and go right back to trying another swimbait. I liked the acrylic piano hinge joint. I think it looks nice and is very consistant, and consistancy is key! The only reason I did not keep up with it is I wanted to make 4 peice 6" swimbaits, and the hinge is simply to large to allow for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
