[BassNator 1]

I just found this site and it is by far way cool and Ive learnt a lot. I want to thank Chip for his post on the GYCB Forum and I made my way to his tutorial on Crankbait making. Chip... YOUR SITE INSPIRED ME TO DO IT MYSELF AND I THANK YOU FOR THAT! Very easy to understand and work with and it gave me an EASY HOW TO DO IT EXPLANATION. Chip I didnt do it EXACTLY like you did, but the info sure was helpful to get me started. I think I will eventually show the INITIAL FROM WOOD BLOCK TO FINISH at a later date since I am taking photos along the way. I started a few cranks last week (For Christmas Presents for my fishing buddies) and Im up to the painting stage. I must say, as I toot my own horn, I did a pretty decent job on the carving and will be showing them off not to soon. Im gonna have to invest in a new compressor for my airbrushes the one I got IS HUGE!! and Im blowing the dust off the brushes as we speak. I havent used them in a few years but I did Airbrush T-shirts... so itll be like riding a bike. Now my next big question to Chip or anyone else who is hand carving and doing lures, are you producing a lot of baits per week and are you hand carving each one AND how are you maintaining your consistency on them. I am talking about keeping each lure "CLOSE" to each other in size and shape. I am close to each one, I made 3 baits so far, but they are each different in one way or another. I think if I started to do more and produce some it would be a small issue. Or maybe its not an issue at all and just allows the fisherman to have a one of a kind lure. Granted I do know that each lure is unlike another, but its just a question that someone could answer. I also visited a site from Thunder Shad, and granted they are carved Blasa lures, to me they are being done (CUT) by a machine. That takes the fun out of it. All I can say is that I finally found a way to put my fine arts degree to use in the off season of fishing as I await for the 10 inches of snow here to melt! lol. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Cody

[Mylures]

Hi there, always glad to hear we hooked another fisherman into an awesome pastime. I am going to show you how I do a batch of lures. If you have any questions ask away or email me and I would be more than glad to help if I can. I always start out with a certain size blank in mind and do each step to the whole group. This helps to try to keep them as close to the same as possible. Thanks Ken Schmitz Mylures

[Skeeter]

Thunder Shad is in it for a living. They have to turn out alot of baits for several men to draw a check off of the business. Hand carving is out of the question for those guys. However, it appears that they build them right. That machine that they use is a $20,000 duplicator. Just think, if you had to turn out about 1000 baits a week by hand, what that would involve. You cannot make a livable income from making crankbaits unless you automate. Also by turning out that many baits in a week you will probably have to change some of the materials that you use for something that works, dries, etc. much quicker. Most of us on this site "Overbuild" our baits. We use stronger and tougher materials than they do in industry. It usually takes us alot more time to make a lure because of the materials that we use. The most baits that I have done at one time in a group is 30. However, I usually only do about 10 at a time. That is a comfortable number for me and it keeps me from getting bored repeating a process over and over again. One of the guys on this site (Tim Hughes) does baits for a living. He posted a beautiful minnow lure that he did in the gallery. The thing is really beautiful. Then he said something about painting 400 of them in one week. My jaw just dropped. Now I am sure that he has his sh@t together and can shoot much more proficiently than most of us..... But son, that's alot of baits in my opinion for anyone.
Skeeter

[Hughesy]

And its boring as hell tooo!!!!!!!!

[Skeeter]

I know. I know. But you do it so damn well!! Do me a favor Tim...... Screw one up like the rest of us do every day and post it on the board. It would make me feel so much better.
Skeeter

[BassNator 1]

I think Im just trying to learn a little on this site and see what everyone is doing on handcarving from the group out there, and how they do it AND PICK SOME BRAINS AND LEARN SOME THINGS. I think I surf the web too much, but I would rather learn something than be distracted by the porn. LOL!
I dont think I could EVER make a living doing this.... I might make a few bucks, BUT IM FINDING IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME TO MAKE A LURE ....AND I would rather make it (money that is) out on the water fishing!! HAHA But Im gonna tell you what, I am having a blast making up the lures that I have done. I can see how it can be boring and all, but you gotta enjoy it, to do it. I started some balsa wood cranks 3 of them. I started the first one to get a feel for it and all and I actually screwed it up. Im making deep divers and I went to cut the hole for the bill and I cut it too wide. Thanks to you guys, I read back posts, filled it in with some epoxy and its good as gold! I was so mad that I screwed up and I kept saying what a waste of time! I spent 1 day shaping the wood with a rasp. 1 day coarse sanding and 1 day of fine sanding, 1 day of clear coat, anther day for fine sanding and adding clear coat, then 2 days more to apply the primer and fine sanding before each new application. So after all that, I was ATTACHED TO THE LURE so when I cut the hole big, I was devastated. Granted its not a true full day of work, sometimes a half an hour to an hour here and there, and how long does it take to apply a clear finish, but I was attached just the same! The only advise that I can give is going back to my art days in college. We are not Rembrandts, or Michaelangelos so we cant be perfect every time. Even they werent perfect! But they spent hours of training themselves with their tools. Most true works of art take TIME and Studious attention to details. The details that you become attentive to must THEN BE SIMPLIFIED TO OUR OWN SKILS AND DESIGNS! With that being said, we cant always be perfect, nor can our materials. If we arent perfect or the wood has knots in the wrong places, we have to find a way to be a McGyver and fix it to get it through. Gotta love that epoxy and wood filler! My valuable lesson I learnt is
DONT BEAT YOURSELF UP!
Sorry Im long winded and GETTING DEEP!!
But for those who are making a bunch of lures at a time.... I give you big high fives. Im finding its a lot of work! With that being said, I cant wait til spring to see if they catch fish!! Ill keep checking back in and learning more. As I said Im in the process of getting a new Compressor for my airbrush setup, and thank goodness for Sears they got a decent one for $99.99. Ill post pics of the lures .. HOPEFULLY BEFORE CHRISTMAS!! Again thanks for the answers and input. Its good to know this old dog can still learn new tricks! Cody

[Littlebear]

Great bunch of post.. I think it expresses what most of us feel..Making fishing lures is not just a way to sell somthing.. its a art form..in every way.. you make ideas come to life.. you give them color and form..
the big pay off is when they catch fish..

they are some real artis on this site..when you go through the gallery I am impressed at how many good lure builders they are out there..

we all enjoy selling some of our work it helps me to fund more ideas..
I also enjoy visiting this site.. its well done and has some friendly people here that are not afraid to share know how...

Trimmer

[Jell0b0y]

I am new to this forum and only posted a couple of times but I have been reading alot of the post for quite sometime now. I have enjoyed alot of the information that I have read here and it also has got me started on painting crankbaits. I haven't yet carved and finished a wooded crankbait yet but have been painting alot of plastic ones. I am now in the process of learning how to carve lures and hopefully will have some great conversations with alot of you in the near future. As littlebear was saying I am also impressed with the quailty of craftsmanship that some of you guys have with your lures. Hopeful with time and patience I can beable to make some fine lure with my own hands.

Have a great day

[Joe]

Ken, Were the lures shown in your pic carved on a machine? If so, What kind? Thanks Joe

Thank You So Much for such a thoughtful post. I tell you I would love to sit beside Tim Hughes for a day.... He's a baitmaker! What wonderful paint jobs!

By the way... I bought several of Hughes baits at BPS!

Anyway, I hand carve several of my lures, but to pick up the pace, I have invested in equipment that alows me to turn out about 20 baits an hour all the way to the "add weight and wire" stage. I did 85 lures in one week filling Christmas orders, but i was worn out!

If I wanted to go bigger production, I would need to purchase a duplicator!

I also custom paint plastics, tie wire baits and bucktails and harnesses. This is a much quicker process.

So diversification is the ticket... I involve myself in several fishing ventures. Also t shirts and hats are nice items to sell.

Wood lures is my number 1 love. The other venture help afford that opportunity.

Email me directly if you have any questions, I am always happy to reply. By the way...as you know... this site is full of very talented folks! I admire them all and all the different styles of painting , carving and assembly methods!

God Bless!

Regards

Chip