diemai Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) Hi , folks , Couple of days ago I ran into this old plug in the internet : http://zigwag.weebly.com/ Just looks like another DIY lure project for me to try , .....accordingly to the Heddon's adverts back in the day this plug model just ought to catch pike over here in central Europe . I certainly do not intend to make accurate copies , that might be confused with the genuine vintage plugs , I just want to employ the general shape and action of that lure model utilizing modern hardware . But what puzzles me , is Heddon's method of joining the two sections of the "Zig-Wag" with a little metal plate inside of it's slots and fixed by two metal pins , ........would be quite time consuming and elaborate to copy this joint , ...also does just not lend itself to perfect sealing of the timber lure ! Would this kinda joint(or hinge , if you will)be essential for the lure's action , ...since it it obvious , that it limits the play of the two sections against one another into any other than the intended directions ? I do not think , that my knock-off would perform the same way , if I would just use a pair of centered , interconnected screw eyes as a joint , .........as these would provide much more possible twist of the two sections against one another , compared to the genuine plate and pin hinge system ? I'm thinking , to eleminate this certain twisting play of the two sections , I might have to employ TWO pairs of interconnected eyes on top and bottom ! I know , that it would be rather unlikely , ....but has anyone swum a genuine "Zig-Wag" before to be able to tell , whether a hinge free of play in unintended directions would be essential for the proper and desired action of this lure ? Off course any opinions of fellow lure tinkerers around here most welcome as well ! Greetings , diemai Edited January 31, 2015 by diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Very interesting lure, firstly because of the hinge. I designed this hinge a few years back, for my swimbaits and called it the double pin hinge. Here is a link to my original post. I actually took the design further than two pins, by replacing the figure 8 link with a lexan link, the same as done on the Zigwag some 85 years before me! I discuss the plate link in post No15 but never took it any further on TU. I did progress the idea further and build the hinge, but considered the 2mm lexan to be too thin. I introduced the plate hinge to control the excessive roll that was allowed from the additional play from a double hinge. I also planned to use the shape of the hinge to control the extent of movement of each section. I never did finish that project. The second interesting thing is of course the action that is described – a hunting type action. I saw a video of a darter made by Rollincoal, a Stripersonline member. It had the exact same action described in the Zigwag advert. I was hoping to link the video, but it is no longer active. I have sent a PM to Rollincoal to ask for a fresh link, so fingers crossed. The point of showing you the video was; that Rollincoal’s lure was a one-piece. Here is a link so that you can at least see the lure. It is the bottom of the group and he goes on to discuss that lure in post No9. At the time, neither of us had solved the hunting thing and so he was unable to reproduce the action consistently. It will be interesting to see whether you can reproduce that Zigwag action with the hinge, or was it that the geometry of the lure was just right for hunting with or without the hinge. Looking forward to the video Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking 56 Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Love the bicycle chain idea Dave! Diemai, if I was to replicate something similar to this lure, I would make a hybrid bait by using pvc and wood. Bond some pvc to the wood body, make the joint into the pvc to seperate both halves and cut the slots in the pvc to accomodate the swinging mechanism. No need for sealing that way. It may be more than you bargained for but IMO it would be worth the extra effort. Just a thought. s56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted January 31, 2015 Report Share Posted January 31, 2015 Rollincoal, from Stripersonline, came back with a for me. From around 30 seconds in, you will see the lure that I was talking about. Thanks Rollincoal Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted February 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) @ Vodkaman Dave , thanks a lot for your extensive reply , , especially the links , ..... I appreciate it very much ! But I must admit , that you're taking me into difficulties , .......so many timber blanks I've got awaiting sealing and painting , that it seems to be impossible to get done until May 1st , the end of local pike and zander closing tíme , ......"Zig-Wag" added and now you're coming up with that lure of Rollincoal , that I just ought try my hands on as well ! And it looks , like it's not the only lure model in that video worthwile to give it a shot ! Thanks a lot ! I've had contact with Rollincoal on StripersOnline about one year ago , he provided some help to me , as I wanted to make a Bottlehead Plug to try for local pike , ...a nice bloke , indeed , .......worked out fine , by the way , even caught a pike on that plug back then ! By your stats I figure out , that my thoughts seem to be correct , that this double pin hinge does limit the roll of the lure sections against one another , which might be essential for the swimming action of the "Zig-Wag" . Maybe also all of that heavy hardware on those vintage plugs has the purpose to reduce buoancy to let the plug swim a bit deeper ? But anyway , I want fast results , .....too many ideas , too little time , ....so I guess , I'd neglect that complicated double pin hinge design , at least for now , .........cracked my brain at my weekend shiftwork yesterday and came up with two rather crude sketches , ...gonna furnish two lures accordingly to these , just using simple screw eyes , .......the fasted and easiest method , I reckon . Belly hook hangers are gonna be made of small metal strips , either brass or stainless steel , bent to an "Omega" shape and mounted with small woodscrews , ........on the larger lure this hookhanger is going to be placed crosswise in a small plane groove cut into the lurebody , so that the mounting screws can pass left and right of the connecting screweye , ...otherwise not enough depth left for centered mounting screws . Had already successfully employed this crosswise hook hanger design on my "WeightShifter Plugs" . I guess , that I'm gonnna turn down the larger lure of meranti and the smaller one of abachi , ..this way the larger one would not turn out too buoyant , I hope . Also I'm hoping to be able to figure out about possible differences in action of both the double joint with less play and the single joint providing more roll of the sections . Anyway , ......I'll report back about my results , ..might take some weeks , as I'm busy with many things , ..but definately I want to offer such a "ZigWag" knockoff to our pike in may ! @ Seeking56 Thanks a lot for chiming in , ......this is a great idea , ...I must admit , that it gets my thoughts spinning , ......I had a similar idea years ago , but never put it to practice , .......it was about some kinda frames of rigid plastic material with cut out pockets in center to accomodate some kind of buoyant material , .....the rigid frames(in shape of swimbait sections) would accommodate the hinges , the material inside of the pockets would provide buoancy . If too complicated going with cut out pockets , one might as well make a sandwich construction , rigid material in center and either side plated with the buoyant material . As said before , ...... so many ideas , so little time ! Thanks a lot for chiming in , fellas , ......greetings , Dieter Edited February 2, 2015 by diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 The drawings look good. It is always a challenge to plan the hardware, to get the strength and security in such small objects. Looking at the first drawing has got me thinking about a new idea; by drilling the opposing screws in the rear section parallel to each other, you could actually get the screws to lock each other. Because you are turning, then drilling along the axis would not work. You would have to drill slightly up from the centre and down from the tail. Perhaps a risky construction method, better saved for a small hand carve, were the holes can be drilled as a first operation rather than in a lure blank that has already received work - just some thoughts. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted February 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Never even thought about such , Dave , ...great idea , indeed ! But as you've said , accurate pilot hole drilling essential ! But I will try this out on this lure , as I've often drilled long holes from either side to meet in center of a longer lure body section , ........and since these holes usually turn out to be a little off to exactly meet one another and thus require tinkering for f. e. a long wire shaft to pass all the way through , they might just come as desired for those interlocking screw eye's threaded shanks ? Hopefully tomorrow I'd find the time to fire up my lathe, ........greetings , Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 OK , ........got done with the blanks , presently they're soaking in propionate : Sadly some smaller grain parts came lose whilst cutting down the head planes on my hobby routing machine , ....but the thick propionate layers to be dipped on would cover most it , I guess . And , .....Dave , your idea about the screw eyes interlocking one another seemed to work , ......when twisting in the rear eye on the smaller abachewood lure , I could clearly feel , that it scratched alongside the inner , interconnecting screw eye's shaft and became harder to twist in , .......they're gonna be epoxied at final assembly , anyway . Greetings , Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 They look great. Gonna be some wild action. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 They look great. Gonna be some wild action. Dave Hopefully , Dave , ........hopefully, ........just started to dip on first propionate layers today ! Greetz , Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
