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Jointed Swimbaits

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I am having a hard time making the " V " cuts for swimbait joints consistent, I am not glueing two halves together but rather marking and cutting with small bandsaw. Sometimes the cut on the bottom is cut more than the top or too far past center mark etc... How are you guys getting such clean and accurate joints ? :?

Thanks for the help !!

Tommy

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I don't cut a V, I cut a U shape, using the Dremel with a drum sander bit. Examine your joint movement. The object is to achieve clearance and hide the joint mechanics to pretty up the construction.

If I was doing large numbers, I would consider a jig with an angular mounted router.

You have to look at the problem and imagine the solution. The solution may not be what everyone else is doing, but that does not mean that you are wrong. If you cannot see the solution, post pics and a statement of your intent and you will receive a few ideas to choose from or guide you to different ideas.

Dave

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I run into the same problem, I set the angle at 20 or 25* on the table saw and try to set the blade to half the width of my dowel. I think I've overcome this problem by simply testing it out on scrap dowel when I get it close, but holding the bait flat enough to make the angle go in the same way on both sides is proving to be a challenge. I've often ended up having to sand out my mistakes, which can be a very time consuming and meticulous process. I really like the idea of creating some kinda jig!

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I have made figure 8 links, from brass wire, soldered. It is fiddly, but once you jig up, you can produce a lot, consistently in a short time. The most important part is getting the sizes consistent and for this you have to think about a jig. Brass links are not very pretty though.

I am experimenting with hinge plates of polycarbonate in place of the links. Haven't done anything on the project for a while, but will return one day.

All my swimbaits are designed to dismantle. The pins are held in place with soft glue and the top coat. So if the bait needs servicing, the topcoat is stripped and the pin tapped out.

Dave

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I run into the same problem, I set the angle at 20 or 25* on the table saw and try to set the blade to half the width of my dowel. I think I've overcome this problem by simply testing it out on scrap dowel when I get it close, but holding the bait flat enough to make the angle go in the same way on both sides is proving to be a challenge. I've often ended up having to sand out my mistakes, which can be a very time consuming and meticulous process. I really like the idea of creating some kinda jig!

I also use a table saw, set to 25*, and a miter guage with a sacrificial wood fence screwed to it, and cut my joints while my lure blank is still a rectangle. I do a test cut, use a square to mark a line up the wood face to the top, and then align my joint marks with that line, so that the joints line up from both sides. I don't cut all the way through, so the lure body holds together during the shaping process. I cut the joints through with a drywall knife after the lure is shaped and sanded.

If you've already shaped the lure without precutting the joints, I would cut them all the way through, square, and then use Dave's idea of a dremel with a sanding drum, or a spindle sander, to creat concave faces on the back of each segment, and a belt sander to make complementary convex faces on the leading edges of the nesting segments.

It all sounds complicated, but I've found that jointed swimbaits are very forgiving of my errors, like not being perfectly symetrical, or not having perfect joints.

Just try and use a hinge system that's openable, like Dave said, so you can adjust your joints as you need to. For me, that's sst screw eyes and bicycle spoke pins. It also helps me to be able to top coat the segments separately, and then assemble the lure.

Sorry to be so long winded, but it's easy to get frustrated, so I try to pass along what I've already learned, so you don't have to make the same mistakes.

Good luck.

Edited by mark poulson
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