Does this machine exist?

[UKandy]

Hi all,

I was speaking to a guy yesterday about making lures & he asked if I'd thought about using a 3d printer for making them, I said that for now I would like to stay down the resin/wood master route at present as I am still very much learning that side of things at the moment.

He then asked if there is a desktop lathe/router that would basically do the same idea as the 3d printer but by carving wood spindle blanks, to be fair I was unsure of this, but assume it would be an expensive machine to buy & some kind of cad programme would be needed to run it?

Interested to know if you guys know of any options about this, at least I will have that knowledge then 

Many thanks

Andy.

[Vodkaman]

Several people have posted 'duplicator' machines, I myself have built a couple. Computer NC control is an option, but all the machines that I have seen are manual motor driven.

Commercial duplicators are very expensive, in the region of $50K but I built mine for around $200, not brilliant, but I was very happy with the results. Try a TU search.

3D printing Is a viable option. I have designs, but I have not printed one off myself as yet. To do the job properly, you will need to master a CAD software to a reasonable standard. You will also need to get involved with densities, COV (center of volume) and COG (center of gravity), to have any chance of creating a lure that floats how you want it to do without a lot of tedious trial and error.

I hope to source a 3D printer locally one day as I have so many projects ready for printing, not just fishing. There are local printing services that I have used, but they are just too expensive.

Dave

[Chris Catignani]

I would think that one of the problems with a spindle lathe would be that the piece would have to be symmetrically straight like a baseball bat or a table leg. A lathe would not be able to cut eyes, fins, a lip...or even have a tail curving down.

I have made some lures with a 3D printer (straight PLA) and was not happy with the result. First of all, sanding PLA cant be good for the lungs. It's defiantly harder than wood. I have had some latches I made pretty much just break after a year of so outside (UV). I probably should have use something other than PLA. 3D printing is a little new to me so Im sure there is something about it I'm missing.

I do know they make a wood filament that 70%PLA and 30% wood derivative (haven't use it).

I do think eventually 3D lure making will be popular.

[Vodkaman]

Let me expand on the advantages of 3D printing of baits. Once you have a CAD model that works for you, it is little more than a push button exercise to produce more bodies.

There are various materials available, but I will not discuss further here, it is up to you to research.

The print is slow, but for a small crank bait, 4 or 5 could be printed per run on most budget machines. We are basically talking low volume production.

The HUGE advantage is that you can produce lures that are impossible by injection molding and/or casting. Features such as concave lips, lips with sharp edges, external sharp corners. You can produce 3D pectoral fins as discussed in a recent post on sculpin fish, for that extra realism.

If your intention is to one day hit the BIG time and get your lure injection molded, you can emulate the injection molding and check that the lure works before spending thousands on expensive tools, there is no money back policy on tools that produce duds.

Dave

[SlowFISH]

As most have stated - every process has it's plus/minus as with everything in this hobby - you have to pick your poison and learn to deal with the route you choose.  

If staying with a "manual/hand" method of creating lure blanks is of interest - a carving duplicator is probably what you need to look for.  This was on EBAY (https://www.ebay.com/itm/143953712063?hash=item21844f53bf:g:KpsAAOSw5VFWKTVN).  Not saying get this one - but should give you an idea of what to look for - or DIY your own.

They make CNC lathes - I've even seen small/desktop ones... but You'd still need to learn CAD and programming and unless you want to make "spook" type topwater blanks it can't handle non-spindle type shapes.

3D printing is great - has a ton of benefits - but is labor intensive if you don't already have the CAD skills - and even then you still have to process the part (sand/smooth/etc).

Realistically - if you are happy with resin baits - making one - then a mold and pouring multiples is probably the best method if you want to keep cost down to start with.

 

  J.

[Outlaw4]

I've not seen anything for spindle blanks. But there are plenty of CNC wood engravers that you could make half sides of crankbaits with to make mold masters. You could also probably make halves of any lure to though wire. I've contemplated this but never pulled the trigger and i just do low volume and like to carve lol.

[Chris Catignani]

1 hour ago, Outlaw4 said:

... and like to carve ...

I am loving the carving more and more...

[UKandy]

18 hours ago, Vodkaman said:

Several people have posted 'duplicator' machines, I myself have built a couple. Computer NC control is an option, but all the machines that I have seen are manual motor driven.

Commercial duplicators are very expensive, in the region of $50K but I built mine for around $200, not brilliant, but I was very happy with the results. Try a TU search.

3D printing Is a viable option. I have designs, but I have not printed one off myself as yet. To do the job properly, you will need to master a CAD software to a reasonable standard. You will also need to get involved with densities, COV (center of volume) and COG (center of gravity), to have any chance of creating a lure that floats how you want it to do without a lot of tedious trial and error.

I hope to source a 3D printer locally one day as I have so many projects ready for printing, not just fishing. There are local printing services that I have used, but they are just too expensive.

Dave

Hi dave, thanks for your input my friend, I have been more and more interested in the 3D printing side of things, as always though I don't want to make an expensive mistake, I will have too take a look into CAD design and see how I go with that, I've worked on a whole lot of computer softwares during my career so hopefully I could pick it up at a basic level okay.

The point you made regarding the different types of plastics has got me head scratching though! Would definitely need to do some research as I would have no idea where to start regarding materials.

Many thanks

Andy.

[UKandy]

17 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

I would think that one of the problems with a spindle lathe would be that the piece would have to be symmetrically straight like a baseball bat or a table leg. A lathe would not be able to cut eyes, fins, a lip...or even have a tail curving down.

I have made some lures with a 3D printer (straight PLA) and was not happy with the result. First of all, sanding PLA cant be good for the lungs. It's defiantly harder than wood. I have had some latches I made pretty much just break after a year of so outside (UV). I probably should have use something other than PLA. 3D printing is a little new to me so Im sure there is something about it I'm missing.

I do know they make a wood filament that 70%PLA and 30% wood derivative (haven't use it).

I do think eventually 3D lure making will be popular.

Some really good points, thank you for sharing, the wood filament sounds very interesting.

Andy.

[UKandy]

14 hours ago, SlowFISH said:

As most have stated - every process has it's plus/minus as with everything in this hobby - you have to pick your poison and learn to deal with the route you choose.  

If staying with a "manual/hand" method of creating lure blanks is of interest - a carving duplicator is probably what you need to look for.  This was on EBAY (https://www.ebay.com/itm/143953712063?hash=item21844f53bf:g:KpsAAOSw5VFWKTVN).  Not saying get this one - but should give you an idea of what to look for - or DIY your own.

They make CNC lathes - I've even seen small/desktop ones... but You'd still need to learn CAD and programming and unless you want to make "spook" type topwater blanks it can't handle non-spindle type shapes.

3D printing is great - has a ton of benefits - but is labor intensive if you don't already have the CAD skills - and even then you still have to process the part (sand/smooth/etc).

Realistically - if you are happy with resin baits - making one - then a mold and pouring multiples is probably the best method if you want to keep cost down to start with.

 

  J.

Agree with what you are saying, good points you have made, the link that you shared was interesting, I've never seen that type of machine before, baffles me how it even works! Some more learning is needed I need to swat up on things.

Andy.

[UKandy]

14 hours ago, Outlaw4 said:

I've not seen anything for spindle blanks. But there are plenty of CNC wood engravers that you could make half sides of crankbaits with to make mold masters. You could also probably make halves of any lure to though wire. I've contemplated this but never pulled the trigger and i just do low volume and like to carve lol.

That's a good idea, I like that, so basically make 2 identical half's of a lure and then glue together after insering a through wire etc, makes sense and definitely worth a look into!

Andy.

[Thiskidlikes2fish]

You may look at a copy carver they are typically used for guitars but I think would work for that purpose