Carving Wooden Lures

[bemuum3]

Hi,

I am looking to carve some top water chug minnows. Ideally I would like to try to emmulate the saltwater storm chug bug. Can anyone suggest the best type of wood to use for this? Balsa wood seems as though it would be too light. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! You may reply to the post or via my email at rcola00@yahoo.com

Russ

[black label plugs]

i have been making saltwater swimmers for awaile now . i use poplar it is easy to get .lowes sells itand come 2x2x36. easy to turn. takes a little extra sanding. my second choice is basswood little harder to get . you have to order it.good luck

[BowfinBoy95]

you can get basswood dowels and other shapes at craft stores. its very popular in making things like birdhouses and furinture molding. also ya might wanna try Balsafoam II. 12 lbs per cubic foot. very easy to carve and shape. dont even need woodworkin tools. You can still use balsa for stuff like that. if you think its too light just add some counterweight down the center of the belly.

[Lure--Prof]

Poplar dowels are also available at Lowes in various diameters--perfect for poppers and alot of other "round" lures, especially if you don't have a lathe.

Dean

[jklett]

No matter what wood you use, you will probably have to weight it anyway to get the right action. If you have one of those poppers, use it for a guide as to how yours should sit in the water. Generally for straight sided poppers and chuggers, they should float about halfway down but level. Pencil poppers and spooks should sit with the tail under from 20 all the way to 90 degrees in order to "walk the dog". As far as the wood choices go, poplar works good as long as it's sealed before you paint it as it rots easily when exposed to water. Another good wood is cedar, the natural oils in it make it more rot resistant. Most people use Alaskan yellow cedar, but red is lighter and easier to get. I use pine for most of my stuff right now just because it is cheap and floats high if you want it to, although it is hard to get a smooth finish with it. I seal any wood that sees saltwater anyhow, so even the cheap pine works for me. I took the advice of some other saltwater plug makers and use a mix of mineral spirits and boiled linseed oil to soak the blanks in before I paint them. The mix I use is 60% boiled linseed oil and 40% mineral spirits. I soak them for about two minutes and hang them. Once the dripping stops, wipe the excess off with a rag making sure to dispose of said rag in a metal container with some water(linseed oil creates heat as it dries and could cause the rag to ignite otherwise). I let the lures dry for about a week and then I use an oil based primer letting that dry for a couple of days. Then paint and clearcoat. I am new to plug making too, but have been working with wood since I was a kid(dad was a cabinet-maker). Hope this helps.