Mike Winthorst Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Just wondered what the thoughts were on shaving lips versus tweaking the eyes for tuning crankbaits. Some say not to ever tweak the eye if it is straight just shave the bill to correct the running problem. If so which side of the lip do you shave to correct the problem IE running left, shave left or right side of bill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 They are wrong. You tweak the eye. If the lure runs left then tweak the eye right. If it runs right tweak it left. Do this untill the lure runs absolutely straight back to you. On a deep running crankbait the lure should run underneath the boat at the end of the retrieve. Some folks shave the front end of lips to get the lure to run a little deeper. They are trying to thin the leading edge of the lip so that there is less resistance as it dives through the water. If you have a thin lip to begin with there is no need to shave it. If it a 1/8 th inch thick lip then it can help some. When you shave the lip you start on the bottom of the front edge of the lip. You bevel the lower leading edge. Do not make it "knife edge sharp" because it causes the lip edge to chip and wear down faster. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellure Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 What Skeeter said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullin8s Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 i have to agree, but also add that if its built so bad that you have to move the eye to an awkward position then maybe shaving down one side of the lip to get it to run might be an option, but only on a bait that you would probably have to trash if you didnt shave the lip. Then next time try to line things up better so only moving the eye will fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrawdadBill Posted December 2, 2005 Report Share Posted December 2, 2005 Hey Dwain, I don't know about shaving, but my grandmother used to put Nair on her upper lip Saturday night so she wouldn't have that mustache on Sunday morning. :-D bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 I know none of us ever installs a crooked lip If bending the line tie fails and you want to try reshaping the bill, you need to shave material off the side of the lip towards which the line tie points after the failed tuning attempt. Think of it like this: bending the line tie is an attempt to get it in the "hydrodynamic center" of the crankbait. If the crank runs right, that means the left side of the lip is digging harder and pushing the crank to the right. So you need to remove material from the left side so it won't dig as hard. But keep in mind that taking material from any edge also throws the rest of the lip shape out of symmetry which is not a good thing. It's easy to end up with crap. In my limited experience, it's usually best to bite the bullet, cut out the bill and put another one in straight. But reshaping can be a useful learning experience. You really have nothing to lose until you end up with a straight running crank with mediocre action that won't catch fish. Then put in a straight lip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
