[diemai]

@ MINESAPINT

Obviously you're on the right path and already hooked into lurecarving , won't let you go anymore !

Nice blanks you got there !

The problem about glueing in lead sheet together with the wireharness is , that you cannot accurately determine about the weight required for possible best action and/or balance of lure .

You are forced to estimate for the start , lateron , when making more cranks of one size and shape , you already would have an idea about how much weight needed and on which location .

It is also of advantage to keep records about it(To my shame I must say , that I don't do , only have my sketches . I just don't make too many lures of one kind , I like experimenting with always new shapes) .

Talked about the best weight location in a previous post , and if I look at your blanks shape , it should work out like this .

If your lead sheet weight should later turn out to be not enough , you could always drill some small holes left and right of the slot to glue in some more lead shot .

Surely I can't determine about your wood's density , but from a distance I'd say , that your lures might require at least 1/3 ounce of belly weight , maybe even 1/2 or slightly more . They are reasonably large .
But this is just a guess from afar , the more lures you make , the more you would get a feel for estimating the weight , but trial should always be paramount !

Keep on carvin' , Dieter

[philB]

Minesapint

The pictures of the blanks you posted are excellent as a picture says a thousand words. If this is the size of lure you are talking about they are in the size range that I make (Jerkbaits). I would have thought a bait that size would not be a bait that would be used for bass, maybe I am wrong I do not know anything about bass fishing but I would have thought a 3" to 4" would be the kind of size. You would be able to put a screw eye into those with upmost confidence as from your post beech is used among others. I have started through wiring not because of lack of confidence in screweyes. Have a look at Lurebuilding101 for templates and lead positions just for ideas.

diemai

What size of hole would you drill for your twisted wire eyes ? at a guess I would think a hole very slightly larger than the overall diameter of the wire so as it slips in nice but does not wobble about in the hole, is this about right ??

[diemai]

@ philB

Since this eye is made of SSt welding wire dia. 1,0mm , it would have a diameter of 3,0 mm at its shank .

I placed these into the holes by twisting them in , not pushing , so in softer woods the hole could be maybe 2,6 to 2,8 mm , since these woods could "squeeze" a bit under tension , in hardwoods the holes must be 2,9 or even 3,0 mm , but in every case I would go as tight as possible with the eye's bore .

The hole affair stands and falls with the quality of the glue bond , so I thoroughly fill up the hole with glue , by slowly twisting the eye in the liquid glue "climbs" into the gaps of the wire coils .

I haven't yet tried a slightly larger hole , like you described , but I am convinced , that a hole diameter , in which you can just push in the shank snugly , would be OK as well .
The twisting-in of the eye is rather more important for perfect glue flow and coverage than for physical stability of the bond , this stability is achieved by the glue for the most part , anyway .

PS : I wrap these eyes around a nail fixed vertically on one edge of a vise , first make an "U"-bend , then shape the eye around the nail , hold one tag end(shank) in your guide hand and twist the first half coil under the eye by hand around the shank end to attain a first loose closure of eye .
Then firmly grab the coil end with pliers and wind around the shank in possibly even coils , leaving a gap of approx. wire diameter inbetween each coil , apparently a kind of thread evolves .

With each winding you have to change grip on your pliers .

The shank of above pictured eye is 20 mm long , but you could also go longer , but the longer your shank gets , the more finacky the winding of the coil becomes .

After completing , I cut the two wire ends off with gate cutters , the coiled end would always potrude a bit over the shank diameter , so you need to press it somehow tightly against the shank , but I have a small grinding wheel in my workshop(a sanding disc works as well) , so I just grind off the potruding piece .

All in all it's not that difficult , once you get the hang of it .

Well , long text about a little thing , hope its understandable !

greetz , Dieter

[MINESAPINT]

PhilB,

I also know nowt about Bass fishing! I think I read that all Bass will take a big lure but only small Bass will take a small lure in Mike Ladles diary. My blanks are 6 inches long and as you can see fairly deep (about the size of a small herring or mackerel) and I am now thinking these blanks will need quite a lot of lead to balance them. I assume you need to add lead to the belly until the lure sits upright???

I have plenty of suitable wood and can easily make more blanks so as Diemai mentioned trial & error is the only way forward.

I am going down to Whitby today and hope to pick up a book at the library about Bass fishing and see if I can purchase any supplies for lure making.

Thanks

MINESAPINT

[diemai]

@ MINESAPINT

You are right to assume adding sufficient weight to let lure swim upright . In addition the weight must also balance the wobble of the lure .
It might happen on first trial , that a lure swims upright at rest , but when retrieving it , it would swim on its side , in this case still more weight is needed (or the lip has to be shaved) .

Round ,-or sligthly oval bodied lures are a bit easier to handle , they most likely already provide a certain kind of swimming action , a weight most likely improves that already given action .

High-bodied cranks like yours are bit more difficult , in my opinion , since they must at first be balanced to swim upright and ALSO balanced for action .

But you will certainly achieve this as well !

Good success in finding , what you need , Dieter

[philB]

Diemai is dead right, high bodied lures can be a nightmare to balance. I have found an easy solution to that problem, I dont make em anymore

[MINESAPINT]

OK. I have given this weighting problem some thought. There are 2 considerations in my estimation. 1 How much weight. and 2 Where to put it.

I decided to establish how much weight would provide negative buoyancy as follows:

I screwed an eye into the end of a lure. Filled a deep bucket with water. (Tap water as had no sea water to hand, will give slightly different results). Hung various items on the eye and lowered into the water. Ended up with a piece of wire hanging from the lure and sliding a selection of washers onto the wire until desired weight achieved.

Can now weigh the bunch of washers & the wire which in fact weighed one and a half ounces exactly. So in sea water this lure would float (just) providing the eyes, wire, hooks & lead weighs no more than one and a half ounces. I now have to decide on a % of one and a half ounces on a trial & error basis and I thought of 66% for starters. So the lead & hooks etc need to weigh one ounce.

As I will be using woods of different densities and producing different size & shape lures by squint of eye and skeg of gob I thought I would try to come up with a formula to help with this weight problem.

Photos as further explanation:

[diemai]

@ MINESAPINT

Quite a unique way of determing about the weighting , I'd say .

I wonder , why you use different materials for it just to weight them up against lead later on your scales ?

I use lead straight .

I'd cut rectangular stripes of roofing lead sheet , 15 mm to 20 mm high , about 120 mm to 180 mm in length , "U"-bend them and hang them onto the belly hook of the temporary readily rigged lure blank .

In the water bucket I can now test the sink rate , I would shorten that stripe until desired sink rate or floatation is accomplished .

Now I use that stripe as a template to cut out a second one of same size(just in case , I'd mess up the first one by false separating , when two weights are needed fore and aft , most likely on glider jerbaits) .

Now I'd roll up that stripe as tight as possible , even comprime it by slight hammer beats on a steel surface , constantly rolling it to keep it round .

Now I tape that lead roll onto the blanks belly with some plastic tape(cable insulation tape) , at a location , that I believe to be best .

A test run in my bath tub shows the results in terms of lure action , I can always fool around with different locations , until I am satisfied .

After I'd hang the blank to dry , remove harware and mark weight location with a felt pen .

In my drill press I'd then drill a hole of approbiate size and glue in the lead roll with two-component glue , as close as possible to belly outline .

You only have to consider a little fraction less buoyancy on the finished lure later due to drilling out buoyant material from the blank and various paint coats to be applied .

For instance , if you want your lure to slow sink , the blank's back should just stick out very slightly of the water whilst the waterbucket testing , so it would sink later , also put a larger paperclip or wire piece on the toweye to resemble the steel leader(if intended to use later for fishing) .

You could still do a little fine-trimming with thicker wired hooks , but that is very subtle .

It is essential to apply one or two simple clearcoats prior to putting the blank in water , so it won't soak water , at first this could render your tests inaccurate or even do damage on the lure , certainly it would slow down the proceeding of the lure , since it would take days to dry it thoroughly prior to painting .

I use acrylic clear paint for this , prior to priming the lure later , I'd just buff it a bit for good adhesion of following paint coats .

Sometimes certain lure shapes won't accomodate the size of a required weight hole , in this case I also furnish elongated slots on my hobby routing machine , and shape the lead roll not round but somehow cubic .

On smaller lures I don't use lead sheet , but small round in-line sinkers or leadshot , I'd rig these on a looped piece of mono line to hang them onto the belly hook for testing sink rate , after I procced same way as described above .

good success , Dieter

[MINESAPINT]

Diemai,

Thanks for your further advice. Makes a lot of sense! Will post again as soon as I have anything new to report.

MINESAPINT

[MINESAPINT]

Just to let you know I am still here.

A bit more progress although there are not many shops round here and I am having difficulty obtaining supplies.

3 photos showing lure hopefully taking shape:

You will note the lead ready to glue into the holes in the belly.

MINESAPINT