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Mags

Questions about making wood bodies

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First I want to say thank you to the moderators on this site. The information on this site is phenomenal. I've learned alot.

I have gotton into painting baits this summer and have got that down pretty good. I now want to make a few baits from scratch. I'm new to wood working and have a few things I could use some help with. I've searched through the forum and really haven't been able to find the answers to these questions.

1) I want to make some baits fom cedar. I went to Lowes last night and the only cedar they had was the cedar with one side rough. I figured you guys were using a hobby type of high quality cedar, but they don't have this as a hobby wood. Is just a standard 1x2 cedar plank ok for cutting the shape? What size wood (dimensions) is the best for building flat sided baits like a Zoom copy.

2) After I work with cedar for flat baits I thought about attempting a copy of a D-bait II or Brian's B1-2 with balsa. What's a standard stock size for building these baits and do I find wood at a hooby shop or should I order it from www.balsausa.com?

3) After the primary shape is cut, is a knife (what kind?) and sand paper used for the rest? I'm un-sure about exactly how each bait is shaped since on the production type bait company websites (Stanford) they show them cutting bodies with machines they have set up for each bait type.

4) I've got a band saw. Is a belt/disc sanding machine a good investment and the best way to do the initial sanding? Lowes had these for $100.

If some one could help me with these questions I'd be on the way to producing a few baits. I think I have the lexan lip and wiring figured out from the tutorials, but the woodworking stuff is completely new to me.

Thanks again to all you guys who give up your time to make this such a great site. I'm a crankbait fanatic and have always loved wood baits, especially the little known custom made ones. I had so much fun with the painting completing a full bait would make it even better.

Mags

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Mags,

I'll let the boys who deal with smaller baits answer the where to buy certain woods questions, but in general your wood stock should be slightly oversized from the finished bait dimensions.

A bandsaw is a great tool and so is a belt/disc sander. I have those plus a router, table saw, lathe and so on.

Here's some links to some free documents that you should print/download...

1. General lure making book about 70 pages long

http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/download_guide.htm

2. Variety of subject specific (including crankbaits) downloads

http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/download_tips.htm

Read those two documents and you'll find lots of ways to make crankbaits. You can use carving knives, a sander (by hand or electric), routers and many other tools to shape your baits - your imagination is your only limit.

A word of caution though - read and follow the manufacturers instructions for using power tools - some can be very nasty and cause serious, permanent injury or worse. Come back and ask or feel free to PM me for specifics with particular machines.

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The cedar you get at the local big box/lumber store works fine for me. just sort through the stack to find the best looking pieces preferably the ones with quarter sawn grain and few knots.

With a band saw you can cut youre flat sideded baits out of thicker stock like a 4x4 sand out the saw marks then go back to the saw and resaw/rip your baits to the desired thickness. You also can stack thinner pieces with double stick tape to gang cut your baits.

You should be able to make hand carved rounded baits using the same manner but this I havent tried yet.

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Mags,

Most flat baits are either 1/2 or 3/8 inch thick. What you are looking for is white cedar. This is what Poes made their baits out of. Do flat baits first and get the hang of it. Round baits are harder to make because of keeping the body even on both sides and keeping everything straight. Zoom baits are made of balsa. All of them. Personally I would work with the balsa first. It is easy to work with and sand. Hardwood is fine but it is much harder to work with in getting out imperfections. Hardwood is also more difficult to weight. Balsa is very forgiving with weighting. Balsa will still float with a little too much weight where hardwood will sink. Water temperature will also affect a hardwoods ability to float more than balsa. Cold water is denser than hot. Therefore, a bait might float well in 85 deg. water but slowly sink in 50 deg. water. This is all stuff that you will learn with time as you continue to build baits. I personally use 150 grit sandpaper for most of my shaping. Then you can use 220 or finer to get it real smooth if you need to. I would invest in a Dremel tool. I find mine invaluable. You can rough shape hardwood baits with it. It does a pretty fine job with a sanding drum. For balsa all you need is the sandpaper. This site has allot of information on it from some really tallented people. Use the search option for topics and if you can't find your answer, throw it up here on the board. You will definitely get an answer or pointed in the right direction.

Skeeter

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Mags,

I would second Skeeter's recommendation to start with balsa. I'm new to lure making too and balsa can be easily carved and shaped with just a hobby knife. Good luck!

I just ordered some balsa wood blocks from this place (my first time ordering from them): http://www.hobbyplace.com/materials/wood.html Check them out just in case their prices might be cheaper.

Skeeter,

Thanks for the word about the Dremel tool. That'll save me the need to make a post about it. I saw one at Wal-Mart and I was blown away at what you could do with it. My first few lures were all hand shaped, and manually cut (arm power :lol: ) and I'm quickly becoming a convert to getting the help of power tools! I guess I'm going to get an early Christmas present.

--IslandBass

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Thanks guys. I received my lexan and wire yesterday from Mcmaster-Carr and I'm going to go find some wood and kick this thing into high gear. Skeeter, thanks for the tip on the dremel tool. I have one and will put it to use.

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CJ.

I've done it two diferent ways. One is by cutting my shape out of thick stock and resawing it the other is by using double stick tape to "laminate" 6 pieces of thinner stock before cutting my shapes. I prefer using the second method as there are fewer saw marks to sand out. My next attempt will be to bevel rip some baits cut out of thicker stock so that the top of the bait is thicker than the bottom.

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4) I've got a band saw. Is a belt/disc sanding machine a good investment and the best way to do the initial sanding? Lowes had these for $100

This is what I started on is the delta 99 dollar sander . I got my moneys worth !! I just bought the delta 6 X 48 belt 12" disk sander , its 1 1/2 hp and will throw a lure blank across the shop and stick it into a wall if you dont hold on !!

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