Shad Style Lure Profile Tapering

[muskyslayer96]

Hey fellas,

I'm fairly new to making bass/walleye sized lures (usually make musky sized lures). I'm wondering how everyone is getting the lure taper (from head to tail as well as top to bottom) for a shad rap or flicker shad style lure?

I tend to band saw my shape and then router the edgs and not taper them on my 6-12" musky cranks.

Just wondering what type of material is being used and a preference for thru wire vs screw eyes and one or two piece baits.

Sorry for all the questions

Best

MS

[spoonpluggergino]

For me to taper the bait I found out that to make sure I am centered I draw a center line than I draw the taper line, front and back. I tried the belt sander for me does not work. I purchased couple of good wood rasp and they do a grea job you have total control versus the belt sander, I do all this and drilling holes while I still have square edges. Also on the smaller baits I use .051 wire and the .072 inch screw eyes. Hopefully this helps

 

Gino

[muskyslayer96]

Gino

Thanks...can you point me in the right direction as to the wood rasps?I have a couple but they are junk.

Thanks again.

MS

[mark poulson]

I shape my baits with an oscillating belt sander with an 80 grit belt.  For removing a lot of material, I'll use a 50 grit belt first.

I fine sand with a palm sander, first with 80 and then with 120 grit paper.

I touch up with hand sanding, using the old paper I've taken off the palm sander.

If I use a wood rasp, I find I need to hold the bait in a vise, but I do use files for hand shaping, too. 

[diemai]

..........basically I do mine as shown in this video put out by my friend Hubert , ....I just would not use a rasp to round off the edges , but utilize my "Dremel" with a coarse sanding drum , ........also I do not have a belt sander , but using a 5" sanding disc 40 grit for basic shaping work .

 

Material shown is not timber , but some PVC hardfoam stuff originally used for refridgerateor insulation purposes .

 

 

                                              Cheers , diemai

[RayburnGuy]

It's my opinion that to successfully duplicate a bait it takes more than a good eyeball to do so. If you shape a bait entirely by the eyeball method and it turns out to be a great fish catcher then how are you going to duplicate it? That's why I make templates for the side profile as well as the top and bottom. Like a lot of folks here at TU I first started out building wooden counterparts of popular plastic cranks. I would find a picture of a bait and save it to my computer. I would then open that picture in a photo editing program (quite a few free ones for download on the 'net) and edit it to whatever size length I wanted. With the photo editing program you can change the length of a picture and the software will automatically adjust the aspect ratio for the rest of the lure. When the picture is sized to what I want I glue the image onto stiff paper backing and cut it out with scissors. This gives me the side profile. You can do the same thing with the top view if you can find a picture with that view. Most times you won't be able to find a top view, but here's what I do to solve that. On the bass sized lures I build I like to leave about 1/4" width at both the head and tail. I then figure out where I want the thickest part of the bait to be. This is usually where you'll end up placing your ballast and I usually want that to be anywhere from 5/8" to 1" thick depending on the size of the lure and whether it's going to be a flat sided bait or not.You'll need to measure the distance along the back to see what the length will be. Given the curvature of the lure this measurement will be longer so be sure to measure on the curve of the bait. Once you have this measurement take and draw a straight line on a piece of paper placing marks for the head and tail. This will be the measurement along the curve of the back. You'll then need to draw a line that intersects the first line at a 90 degree angle where you want the thickest part of your lure to be. If you want the thickest part to be 3/4" then mark 3/8" on each side of the long line. If, like me, you want the head and tail to be 1/4" thick you'll need to mark these as well. You can then use a french curve to connect these 3 points. Just move the french curve around until a section of it hits all 3 marks and draw the curve. Repeat the process for the other side and you have now made a template for the top profile. The long line you drew for the length of this template will also serve as a centerline when you go to position it on your lure blank. Just be sure to draw a centerline around your lure blank while it's still flat and this will be where you line up the centerline of your template. You can now carve, sand and shape your lure using whatever means your most comfortable with.

 

By making templates you can consistently build lures to the same size and shape. You can also mark where belly weights and hook hangers go as well as drawing lines for different lip angles. If you decide to build some templates just remember to mark them so you'll be able to keep them in pairs so when you build that bait that catches fish like no other you'll be able to repeat the process.

 

If there's anything you don't understand or that needs more explanation just holler and I'll try to help.

 

good luck,

Ben

[spoonpluggergino]

MS

The wood file I like it's Nicholson by Woodcraft. Has two sides, the rough side can really chew the wood in a hurry and the fine side does a nice job smooding out. Of course final smooding with sand paper. If the ammount of wood is a lot I will use the belt sander or the band saw to get close to my pencil marks. You can get the file at Home Depot. Nice to see another muskie hunter on this site. I also use a good carving knife

Gino

[muskyslayer96]

Thanks a lot fellas...great info. I hope to be able to report back with some success.

How many are using balsa vs. Cedar vs. PVC. Never used PVC but might be a good time to give it a try. Aztec board at HD?

Thanks again

MS

[spoonpluggergino]

I started using PVC for muskie baits, Mark got me started, great stuff. I am thinking doing a tutorial on my Hard Wood Dowel System especially for soft wood. I done wire through several different ways and the dowel system for me is by far the best way and less hazle to do and fast

 

Gino

[muskyslayer96]

Gino

I saw your posts on the dowel system, I would love to see a tutorial on it.

Cool, cool

MS

[spoonpluggergino]

MS the tutorial is done

Thanks for asking Gino

[wavewalker1945]

ok i got to ask wht is pvc you use it 4 muskie baits ok  i am all ears. can you turn, does float or sink an so on . thanks

[spoonpluggergino]

With PVC deck boards I build glide baits and crankbaits it floats and it is very consistent, someone here has the density of the pvc posted, I believe there is a thread on PVC on the hard bait forum. I really love this stuff my glide baits work better than the one that I made from red oak. I use the white trim board pvc for the smaller baits under 6 inches, baits larger than 6 inches I use one inch deck boards it's a lot stronger. Because I'am building muskie baits with PVC I developed a system for my hook hangers and the tow line using hard wood dowel pins, wich I summited a tutorial on how to on the hard baits page. I am not sure I would use this stuff on baits that you turn on a lade, I do not know how that would work. On this site there is a gentileman called Mark Poulson he could answer that better than me. I made Hell hounds and these are fairly skinny and they work great. The biggest thing is fast no sealing required, even dough on the deck boards I think they have some kind of wood fiber mixed on the PVC to give the board more strenght, so I put a thin coat of sealer to keep the wood fiber from raising up

Gino