RayburnGuy Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 This may not be new to some of you, but it is for me and I haven't seen it mentioned here before. I just got done cutting out some square bill lips and used the blade out of a utility knife to do the cutting and it worked great. The cut left no burrs or rough edges and they were straight as they could be. This won't work on lips with curves, but it is the best thing I've tried yet for lips with straight lines. I first lay out the shape and size of the lip on the computer with Power Draw freeware. (thanks Bob) It has modes for both millimeters and inches and it draws everything on a 1 to 1 scale so once your done all you have to do is hit print and your lip drawing comes out to actual size. And it's relatively easy to use. It only took me about 30 minutes to learn how to draw lips which is all I really need it for. After the lip shape is printed out it's just a matter of using spray adhesive to affix it to your Lexan. (not sure if this process will work with micarta as I haven't tried that yet) Once your drawing is applied to the Lexan use whatever is easiest to cut around the outside of it being sure to leave at least a 1/4" border so the knife blade will make a true cut. Now you just line up the blade (you have to take it out of the utility knife) with the lines and use a hammer to drive the blade through the Lexan. Like I said, this won't work with rounded lips, but it's the easiest and truest way I've cut out lips yet. If anyone wants to try this and has any questions about the process, or the software, just holler back and I will try to help. Ben p.s. The Lexan I'm cutting is 1/32" and was quite easy to cut. Might be a little tougher with thicker material. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 Ben, Would a sharp wood chisel work, and be easier to hold and hit? I've gotten lazy with square bills, and cut my bills with a pair of bullnose dikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 I have been cutting lips with tin snips for years, makes short work of coffin bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 sounds kinda silly but thin lexon like that cuts on impact pretty easy since we used to do stuff like that in sign building alot... a total random thought for some one to try would be to take some 18gauge sheet metal of some sort role it in a circle put a board on top of it and wack it with a hammer... if I had to take a guess it would cut a nice circle out of 1/32'' which would make some nice round nose bills just my thoughts I don't have any of the material handy to try it though... I know we used to have half moon shaped chisel type tools for cutting out letters of lexon on the corners and stuff at the sign shop... used them more in the field for repairing broken ones vs driving back and forth alot to cut a new one out with a band saw... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yeah it does cuts easily on impact. Years ago some were using dies and arbor presses for lips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 The chisel would probably work Mark, but seeing as how the replaceable blades I'm using are about 5" long you can make a long cut without having to reposition the blade. Other than that I see no reason a chisel wouldn't work. There are no doubt countless ways to cut lips and I've tried several including metal shears, bandsaw, tin snips, diamond blade in a Dremel, etc. The thing I didn't like about these was it left an edge that needed to be cleaned up by sanding it smooth. The method I described above leaves a clean, crisp edge that needs no further work. Of course I can be a wee bit anal about certain things in that I don't like imperfections no matter how small they are. That's not saying the baits I build are completely free of imperfections. I have my fair share of them. It's just that I don't like them and am constantly trying to come up with different ways to avoid them. If the process I described above helps anyone that's great. If folks are happy with the way they're doing things then that's great as well. This is just something that worked well for me and I wanted to share. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) Yeah I know what you mean about the edge with the tin snips I get a slight burr, a blade ran across the burr shaves it right off. I will check out what I have in the way of blades in my box and give it a try. Edited September 11, 2013 by Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedyarb Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Griffond posted a YouTube video on the wire line ties post, the guy in the video used a craft knife and whacked it with a hammer to cut lexan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trout Tramp Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Using the blade and hammer is a great way to cut bib's/lips but always remember to wear safety glasses as the blades can shatter Cheers Trout tramp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trout Tramp Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Using the blade and hammer is a great way to cut bib's/lips but always remember to wear safety glasses as the blades can shatter Cheers Trout tramp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Oh yeah Paul Adams video when he was making his baits yeah I forgot about that been awhile since I have watched them... the other thing alot of people don't know is a fine tooth metal blade in a jigsaw cuts the stuff like butter... and if you need to cut circles just use the jigsaw as the end of a compass with a board and you can cut perfect circles with them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Griffond posted a YouTube video on the wire line ties post, the guy in the video used a craft knife and whacked it with a hammer to cut lexan! And here I was thinking I'd come up with something new. Not really. I figured if it had anything to do with building a bait somebody had tried it already. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 New or not you pointed it out and apparently tons of people appreciate the info ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedyarb Posted September 13, 2013 Report Share Posted September 13, 2013 It works pretty well, I tried it last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crankie221 Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 I use a router upside down with a template made from oak if you would like to now more let me know and I can take some pics 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Thanks Crankie, but I've seen how this is done and there are several people here at TU who use the router method. Gene even posted a tutorial about doing it with a router a while back. This is indeed a great process for those who are making the same type of lip in bulk quantities, but for those of us who are continually building different types of lures, and lips, going to the trouble of building hardwood templates just isn't very practical. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crankie221 Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Hi RayburnGuy OK I see In this case I purchased a olfa plastic cutter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Haven't heard about that cutter Crankie. Will it cut 1/32" and thicker Lexan? Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crankie221 Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Hi ben not to sure about 1/32 but what I do with thicker lexan is I use a paper template with double sided tape for the size required .Then cut rough with jigsaw and sand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Yeah and if you want straight line cuts if you buy a 4'x8' sheet of the stuff just put a trim blade in the table saw and run it thru that I am not sure about if I would bother with a 1/32 sheet 1/4" and up it worked like a champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Making a finished cut without doing all the sanding was the whole purpose of this post. As I said earlier in this thread I have used many different ways of cutting Lexan to find out which worked best for me and they all required sanding or polishing to smooth up the edges after making the initial cut. The method described above is the only way I've found so far that leaves a clean, smooth edge that needs no sanding or polishing. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crankie221 Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Ben I wonder if a converted Guillotine Paper Cutter would work ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffond Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Tried it in the shear with a new blade when I worked at the sign shop years back and it chips at the starting edge and still needs sanding you need something under it to get the clean cut. You can buy a sliding cutter that cuts pretty clean but it costs allot same thing the hardware stores have for glass and plexy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
