jamie

In defense of the new guys that ask the same basic questions, on epoxy and so on ,they see the amazing work that all the people do here. Its like a student asking the teacher for some help. I see nothing wrong trying to help a new guy out and save him or her a lot of time and a lot of money. Time is a valueble thing and some people just dont have any to spare. Maybe the new guy works 12 hours a day plus being a full time dad or mom and is looking for some help because they have no time for the old school of life like I went through, trial and error. You guys here are some of the best Ive seen and looking at your work for a new guy or a guy like me who has been turning baits for years makes you wonder how? Everybody will agree that lure building is theropy for all of us and lets make this group theropy.

I will try to post some this weekend. My brother has my digital camera

reefslinger its not as hard as you think to make.The one I made was a simple basic router with no perks. A man could set down and really make a nice one thats has adjustable settings but the one I made was really basic, I just wanted to see if the idea would work. You really have to use your imagination when making things on your own. I have a flex shaft attachment for my dremmel ,now take the handle and lay it on a table and imagine the bit going through a fence on your router table.I had a wooden crate in the garage and then I cut 3/4 inch plywood the same width of the box but about 12 inches taller than the box. Secure the plywood to the box ,with screws, with the bottom of the box faceing up and the 12 inch extra length of the plywood standing up. Now look what u have a table with a fence. I took a bit and drilled a hole through the fence were i wanted the bit to stick out. Now all you have to do is secure the handle to the flex shaftand make a cradle for the handle to rest in. make a rack shaped like this |____| out of some scap 1 inch wood and drill a hole through both sides of the posts so your handle can slide through . Now you have a start for your cradle. Measure the the distance from the bottom of your handle that suspended in the rack and the bottom of your rack and cut a spine out of wood with the hieght of the measurement you just took and the lenght of you rack and secure it to the inside of the rack under your handle. I then screwed two hose clamps to the spine then clamped down the handle. Then I secured the rack to the back side of the fence so the bit was sticking through the hole that I drilled earlier in the fence. You have to play with the depth a little till you find the right setting for the cut in your bait. Does this make sense? Like I said a simple design but could really be thought out and made into a real versital tool.

reefslinger I went to the garage and made a homemade horizontal router out of scrap wood. It took me about 30 minutes to make using a dremel for the router and made a perfect notch down the back of a bait. why buy tools when you can make them

Hey mark I just wonder do they make a mortising bit small enough to make this cut. reefslinger a mortising bit is a square chisel with a drill bit that spins inside the chisel. Its used to make a motise joint like in furnituire chairs and so on.All in a nut shell its a drill bit that makes square holes.If you can find one in the size you need ,it would be a lot easier in drill press secured in a jig. Just another thought.

Life as you Know it is now over lol.. Welcome aboard.You will find out there is nothing like making your own baits, good luck and your well under your way to your first group theropy session , you know it as tackleunderground

I have a book with a table design. I will scan you a copy and if the good lord willing and the creeks dont rise maybe with alot of luck I can figure out how to post a picture. I need a 12 year old to help me figure it out how to post pics lol.. Its amazing I can build house from the ground up but cant post a pic. Oh ya Marks right you will have to build a jig to hold the bait.

Use your search and key in horizontal router tables. You can see different desighns. You can make a table out of wood. The router it self is mounted to an oversized fence on a table. furniture makers use these kind of tables. Its a lot of work for such a small cut but you can lay your bait on its side like you would on your table but you have now but it will trimm a slot in the back of your bait . If yor making a lot of baits it might be quicker to have one of these tables ,do some research on horizontal table , it may or may not be the way to go it was just an idea

Thanks for the info

I took the first three weeks off for turkey season. Here in wv you have to be out of the woods by noon, hunt the morning fish the evening. The musky's should be turned on, hell last year sunday before turkey season I put a nice one in the net and I forgot all about turkeys and stayed on the water. My wife said I need therapy with my musky problem, I see no problem.

bruce I was wondering the same on posting pics. I clicked on your tutorial and page can not be found came up.

If your trying to make a number of baits like this try making a horizontal router table. Instead of your bit sticking up through the table the router is on a 90 degree on its side. The router table is really an oversized fence on a table. Use a dado bit this should work.

I have another one for you guys.Take a marking guage, you carpenters will no what im talking about,and make them a little bit more versatile. One one side of the guage there is an awl used for markingbut on the other end of the slide arm drill a hole big enough for a pencil and cut a slot from the end of the arm to the hole were the pencil goes. Place the pencil inthe hole and drive a screw through the side were the slot is and tighten the pencil in. Now you ask how is this going to help me in making baits. Now you have a tool that you can mark a center line down the top and bottom of your bait. For you guys that use a sander or carve your baits instead of useing a router you can mark off how much wood to take off or use the center line to judge how much you need to shave off. On crank baits you have to mirror image each side of the bait, what you take off oneside you need to do the same on the other side. A compass is used to draw circles this tool draws staight lines fast and easy.

I agree with you mark. I like to fish with lures as natural as possible. If the main forage is shad then you throw a natural shad ,spots and all.

try lookig at taxidermy sites they have a huge selection of paints.

IUe had one pull out in the past. It was really my fault it wasnt one of my plugs but I cracked the clear around the tail hook and didnt repair it. I fished with it for a long time I mean two years,it was my favorite bait,and hooked one day lure came back with no tale hook

great work. I love to see the old red and white .

man thats one sharp looking and swimming bait, great work. I cant wait to see more of your stuff in the future.

Hey argarofalo, man thats a sharp look'n bait. I wouldnt mind seeing some of your other stuff.Give me a close up of the scales if you would.thanks

hey mark I forgot to mention in the post above when you go to this site key in fish carving they have different manuals with some crazy stuff in it, for the guy who wants to spend a long time on one trophy lure. I would love to see someone try this and post some pictures. I just dont have the time anymore for such adventures.

Mark I agree it would take patience but what a trophy you would have. Goto WASCO -- Wildlife Artist Supply Company type in fishcarving burning scales in the search. there will be a section called Pat Kennedys burning tips click on it and wow! Wasco is the name of the company and they have a good selection of paint in there as well.

I got another one for you. When useing etex temp, humidity plays a big factor in dry time or even when its safe to turn your dryer off. I dont know about you but I always have to stop myself from touching the bait to see if its ok to stop the motor. try making a test bait it can be a scrape peice of wood rounded over it can only be an inch or two long if you want put it on the dryer with the other baits. For all of us who dont have a heated garage this might save from haveing finger prints on your baits. All right guys whos next.

I was surfing around fishcarvers sites and was looking at some of thier info. Has anybody ever used these wood burning tips used by fishcarvers. These tips look like scales and the effect is amazing. Its sure to be very time consuming but wow! Whats everyone think about woodburning scales.

forstner bits are the way to go it almost looks like you tried to use a spade bit.If you did use a spade bit but it back in the toolbox.

I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who posted tips inthe quick tip thread. This is what I love about TU baitmakers talk, share tips, and give some of the new guys some needed help. Ive been to other forums and seen some nasty comments to new guys who dared to even ask a question. Ive been making baits for years now and I know trial and error was the way I learned everything, but the new guys can now get a little info and save time and money. It seems like everyday that I log in here I always learn a little something . So thank you all