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Newbie trys to build plugs

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ADTR14

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(I don't know if I'd consider this a tutorial since I'm a complete newb, but this has been my process so far. I still have a lot to learn but thanks to several online resources and norcalkat I'm getting better)
 
Hoping I'll be able to learn a few more tricks of the trade from joining here, being I'm really starting to enjoy this hobby. And hopefully this may inspire others to give it a try.
 
After my Pyramid trip in April, I had several people suggest I try trolling some Lyman lures for the big Cutts. Well, after some research I found out they are no longer made and the more popular colors are difficult to find...
 
This dilemma sparked an interest in me building my own plugs. So, I continued my research on what it would take for me to build a similar product. A simple google search *will help you find the supplies. 
 
I also had to decide if I wanted to paint the lures myself or send them out. I have sent out a couple in the past and as I recall they were fairly expensive, along with taking quite awhile to receive. So I went on youtube for some tutorials and to my surprise it didn't seem all that difficult to paint. I managed to find an Iwata airbrush with a compressor and a bunch of paint on craigslist for $120. And with some old beat up lures I've found over the years, I started practicing a few patterns.
 
List of supplies:
wood - Alaskan yellow cedar
screw eyes - standard and heavy duty
swivels - Rosco Crane, various sizes
hooks - Owner, various sizes
split rings - heavy duty
Painting supplies - Iwata dual action airbrush w/ createx paints
Heres a few pics to show where I'm at so far. I'm still waiting on a burr that I will use to cut the cup shape in the face of the lure.
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Had a little bit of free time today so I headed over to my friends house to mess around in the shop. So heres the basic tools I’ve been using. The two chisels on the right are what I mostly use. The rounded tip I’ve been using for the rough cut at slower speeds and the angled tip for finish work at higher speeds. The calipers are to help keep things in check. I am also using the band saw and belt sander once I’m done with the lathe.
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Decided to try some different lures today, the first being a spook and the second a large popper. Both are thru-wire so they required a little more work by drilling a hole through the center of the block. The website I got the parts from sells pre-drilled wood blocks but I didn’t think I’d build any of these…now I need more parts..
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These pics show the basic process of how I built the popper. The blocks are 12” long and two sizes 2x2 and 1.5x1.5”. I’ve been cutting most in half at 6”. Didn’t take a pic of the drilling process, which is a pain being the bits I have are too short to drill straight through. I’ll need to get a longer one before I do larger plugs. I also didn’t show but I do the majority of sanding while still on the lathe.
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I still need to trim the ends off and shape them, as well as drill holes for the hardware and weights. More of the process later this week.
 
 
I’ve been slacking a little on my new hobby but today I had a little time to work on one of the spooks and a popper. Heres the selection of parts needed to build including stainless wire, screw eyes, various hooks, swivels, weights, split rings, nose, belly, and tail grommets.
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For drilling I basically just eye-balled as close to center as possible and placed the holes where I thought they would be appropriate. I used tape to mark the approximate depth needed. When using weights like these, make sure you place them where they will be flush without interfering with the thru wire. The weights will probably take some trial and error to get the correct action, but at the very least, this first couple of lures will become wall hangers…
 
Belly grommet – 17/64 drill bit
6 gram medium weight – 5/16 bit used on the spook
8.5 gram weight – 3/8 bit used on the popper
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How its going to be put together with the thru wire, nose grommet, belly grommet, weight, and tail grommet.
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Next step was to seal the lures. The spar urethane was thinned by mineral spirits to help aid being absorbed by the wood. I used bailing wire and put a slight bend in it to dip the lures into the sealant. According to others, it is not necessary to let it soak for a long time. I did maybe a minute, probably less. Just watch for when air bubbles stop rising and you can then brush the excess sealant off your lures and hang them for drying.
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I forgot to mention last time, but I also have a small bass popper going through the same process. It uses screw eyes like the lyman style lures will. These particular screw eyes are a smaller diameter compared to the magnum screws I’ll use in the larger plugs.
 
A 1/16 drill bit makes a hole slightly smaller than the screw eye. Along with a dab of epoxy on the threads and inside the hole, they shouldn’t go anywhere. These screw eyes are ¾” long
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This is the 30min epoxy I’m using. So far it has been easy to work with, just make sure to have a 50/50 mixture.
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After finishing the little popper my attention turned to the larger one and the spook. Before I can paint I needed to add the weights, so I put the rest of the epoxy inside the holes and on the sides of the weights. This is the point I caught my first mistake! I didn’t drill the holes quite deep enough so I had a little excess lead hanging out. Not a huge deal and was easily fixed with the Dremel and a little sanding. Then just a little more epoxy over top to fill in the imperfections and let it dry before the final sanding.
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So on to the painting process. I decided on three different patterns: spook - rainbow trout, large popper – redhead, and bass popper – frog. For starters I gave all three a base coat of white then moved on to the individual patterns. Each coat of paint was heat set with a hair dryer.
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For the large popper I sprayed some pearlized silver on the top of the lure. Then I placed the scaling over top and clipped it in place (you can use a womens luffa for smaller scales or I’ve read people use orange bags for larger scales). Next was the red color for the head of the lure. I planned to spray white over the silver and see if the scaling would come through but decided not to.
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I then set the popper to the side and began working on the spook. I first added pearlized copper to the sides. The next color was a mix of hot pink/pearlized white/silver and was sprayed over the middle of the copper. For the top of the lure I mixed a pearlized lime green with a drop or two of black to get the olive green I was looking for. Lastly, I added all the dots by hand with a paint brush.
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This is where my first major mistake occurred. All three lures were painted and ready for epoxy so I mixed a batch and added glitter (a bit too much) to the epoxy and began brushing it on the bass popper. After finishing that one I moved to the spook and the first brush stroke immediately clumped up the epoxy. Apparently 30min epoxy is only 2min epoxy in this heat. Lesson learned. So, I mixed another batch inside and applied it to the large popper. Ideally, from what others state, after epoxy you should put the lures on a lure turning wheel to help the epoxy dry evenly. I don’t have one (yet) so I just set them out to dry. The spook was completely sanded and I just repeated the process above. I finished all three lures with two coats.
 
A few notes I learned from my experience and others:
1. Don’t apply epoxy in this crazy heat
2. Using a torch (short bursts) you can get rid of any air bubbles in the epoxy
3. Like with paint, make sure the surface is properly prepped
4. Get a turning wheel if you want a professional looking smooth surface
 
Next up was the hardware. This includes the thru-wire, nose, belly, and tail grommets. Along with one swivel, split rings and the hooks. Installation was pretty straight forward, just press in the nose grommet, lightly hammer in the belly grommet (making sure to remove any excess epoxy in the holes), and then slide the wire in through the swivel eye. Slide on your tail grommet and then you can make your tail wrap. Mine did not come out very clean, at least up to my standards, but it is tight and will hold up to some fish abuse. I used needle nose to make the loop, then a drill bit mounted in a vice to hold it while I make the tail wraps.
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And I’m stoked to say after a swim test, the spook walks like it should! I got lucky that the action is good and I believe it will catch some fish. The little bass popper works as it should, the large popper still needs its hardware.
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Edited by TimS
Excellent write up but I had to remove the commercial URL, we don't allow them here - thanks.
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Amazing first post and nice plugs. This post would be helpful to a beginner wanting an overview of the lure making process. This forum has an amazing and generous community. You will pick up many helpful tips and suggestions to fine tune your plugs.

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2 hours ago, rrocco said:

Amazing first post and nice plugs. This post would be helpful to a beginner wanting an overview of the lure making process. This forum has an amazing and generous community. You will pick up many helpful tips and suggestions to fine tune your plugs.

Yep, thought I'd start a thread to document my process and hopefully inspire some other beginners like myself. This site is by far the biggest resource I've found for building wood plugs. Just in the short time I've been searching I've found lots of good info and the product that most of these guys build is true artwork.

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DON'T DO IT! building plugs/lure takes over your life like you wouldn't believe! PLEASE! back away from the lathe and put down the airbrush!   LOL!

NO! for real... really good job i myself have been working on that same Yo-Zuri popper shape. NICE JOB! you will definitely learn a lot here. one thing i have to add though, notice flip -flops in one photo, when in the shop cover them feet up. a wood splinter in the foot can cause a really bad infection.... other than that PLUG -ON! my friend....

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2 hours ago, Micodese said:

Nice work. I don't like syphon airbrushes. Paint wise I don't see a problem blending 

That's one of the mistakes I made but I hope to upgrade to a gravity feed.

2 hours ago, rayndogg19 said:

DON'T DO IT! building plugs/lure takes over your life like you wouldn't believe! PLEASE! back away from the lathe and put down the airbrush!   LOL!

NO! for real... really good job i myself have been working on that same Yo-Zuri popper shape. NICE JOB! you will definitely learn a lot here. one thing i have to add though, notice flip -flops in one photo, when in the shop cover them feet up. a wood splinter in the foot can cause a really bad infection.... other than that PLUG -ON! my friend....

Haha I have to agree! I started maybe a month ago and its been quite enjoyable. I grew up mostly doing metal work/welding so the wood work is a new thing for me.

And for someone that works in public safety, you'd think I wouldn't do wood or metal work in flip flops, but its been hot! (I'll probably learn my lesson soon) At least a dust mask and eye protection was worn at all times.

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Had a little time yesterday to run over to my friends shop. While my dad gave some welding lessons to our friend, I turned another spook. I like the shape a lot better on this one compared to the first, but haven't swam it yet. I moved the tail weight a little further back on this one as well. Also attempted to countersink the eyes, however I need to get the proper bits.

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Also went to the local river in the evening to test the "Lyman" type lures. They had better action than I anticipated, other than one that I drilled the screw eye crooked and it pulled slightly to the left. I drilled them free hand so when I drilled the others I used the press and had more accurate results. Lastly I sealed all the lures and let them hang for drying. Might start painting tomorrow or Wednesday.

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6dJ1tdo.jpgWhat bit is that for the popper? I definitely need something like this for my topwater lures!

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."
 

-Doug Larson

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You seem to be using someone else's 'shop', so I am curious about sharpening lathe tools - is that part of the 'shop'.

Using the correct (and sharp) tools is not an easy part of the lure building process. 

Morone Saxatilis... God put them in the Surf to take them, not in the freaking boat!

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2 hours ago, lonellr said:

6dJ1tdo.jpgWhat bit is that for the popper? I definitely need something like this for my topwater lures!

Its a 1" cylindrical carbide burr. Meant for metal but works decent for this application. I assume theres probably better options but you'll have to ask the experts

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1 hour ago, frazerp said:

You seem to be using someone else's 'shop', so I am curious about sharpening lathe tools - is that part of the 'shop'.

Using the correct (and sharp) tools is not an easy part of the lure building process. 

Not exactly sure what you're asking...yes I am using a family friends shop that he has at his home and no I haven't had to sharpen any of the lathe tools, yet.

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