Lure Making 101

[Deep C]

So you wanna make a lure? You must be nuts!!!! A little more detailed than it may seem. I had some requests to see the processes so I figured since I'm doing some multi cavity pours this week on some of my econo series I'd give a quick how to on these very "simple" lures...

Since lures are three dimensional we need to start with a design. Then we gotta figure how we can make lots of "econo series" baits quick... So first we start with a piece of wood and start carving prototypes. For the purpose of this piece we are going to settle on a very simple 90 degree flat face. Actually two sizes... My "Squasher" and "Destroyer " models will be shown here...
Ok after a bunch of proto types have been made we go test drag them and pick the ones that do what we want as far as tracking,smoking, popping, etc. at certain speeds. Bingo ! A hundred or so vaying designs got tried and two tickled our pickle. We then take it to a shop where its measuremenst are scanned and plugged into a program. The we take very expensive aircraft grade aluminum plates and have cavities bored using computer driven guidance from your scan and some way expensive drill bits into multiple layers of the plates... This process is pricey and when its done you have a 16" square mold that ran you about $6000...
Yay that part is done. Now lets get to work...

Now working wityh that three dimensional idea in mind we need to come up with an insert. Since these are "econos" it has to be cheap but effective. We settle on 1.5" nylon electrical spacers. . We measure the hole in them and drill our molds again, centering the hole to take a pin. We weld the pins in place and the mold is now really ready.

Now these spacers come in one very boring shade of white . We need to make them pretty so we dye them.

After dying and drying we need to pretty them up some more. So we add eyes. First we need to make a jig to set the eyes at the right place on the spacer. This is a time consuming *****! Then we load the now colored spacers on the jig.

Next we need to dab super glue on the backs of the eyes and center them on the spacers...
Soon we start to build a pile of inserts... We only need about three hundred in three different sets.

[Deep C]

Now that we have a few hundred of them done while watching tv at home we take them to the factory and start setting them on the pins of the base plate of the mold...

Get them all loaded in and start closing the plate with the other layers...


Once all the layers are in place they get bolted together... Since resin is liquid the bolts arent enough and we add c clamps around the edge and really squash the sit out of it. They gotta be tight or all the resin runs out and all you have is a mess...
Once closed we give them a shot of mold release in each cavity. Too much and the lures will be all wavy and unusable. Too little and it will take a couple sticks of dynamite to crack open the mold later.


We mix resin and add hardener in 16 ounce cups. It takes three cups per mold and 1/4 ounce plus 8 drops on a warm day and up to 16 on a cold day. The stuff starts setting in just over a minute so you gotta move quick. Each individual cell is filled and as it settles you add more til the resin is even with the top of the mold...
Usually theres a few ounces left over and when there is, I use the extra and pour some small single cells like my teardrop series. Those molds are rubber. We'll discuss that another time...

Thats it now they're cooking... Its just a start though...

[mrfishy]

sweet thanks for the info

[Jesse Lockowitz]

very imformative Mr.Deep, very cool indeed.


NOW.....get us some vids of you in that skiff of urs gettin some bigguns!!!




Jesse

[Deep C]

Since todays batch is only now curing I have no pictures of the mold break open but that is an art itself.
After roughly 36-48 hours in the mold curing... We need to tap in screw drivers and even chissels evenly around the perimiter of the mold to start the "break". Once cracked, the plates must be lifted gently and directly vertical. Some pieces stick to their pins. Others stay stuck in the top layer.
That top plate is set over a shallow bucket. Using a mallet and wood dowel thet are tapped through the holes gently. The ones on the pins are gently turned and lifted straight off.
Now you have some very ugly looking pieces of plastishit...

First step is to run them up a drill press to clear the center of the tube to clear the resin that may have seeped in there...

Next , were gonna grind off the flash from the mold on a belt sander... 320 grit...

From there we give them a hand sanding with 400 grit and then 600 grit... After that we move to our buffing wheel . Using white rouge of roughly 1200 grit we knock off the rough spots.

Now since we are making these in bulk we have to really polish them out the rest if the way in bulk. We use a vibrator bowl with wooden pegs and two measured scoops of 3200 grit polish specially formulated for that machine...

[shoefish]

Deep,
Thanks for taking the time to share all of this...very informative stuff. When you start to see how much goes into it, you get a good idea of why these things aren't cheap- a lot of time and attention to each one. Boy it's too bad there wasn't a wax product you could coat the inside of the forms with before you poured the resin, then all you'd have to do is pop them out and apply some heat and the wax would come right off without having to go through all the steps you do now. Keep this going, it's neat to see a product go from start to finish.
Shoe

[Deep C]

Ok after 24 hours in the tumbler... We finally have heads... We need to grade them now.
Some are first run gems... Others are good seconds that with a little work will be gems themselves. Then we have just plain seconds that look pretty good but not quite top shelf. They go to ebay... Then we have the thirds... Boy are these ugly but I have a lot of guys lining up to get them. I flush em out cheap and they still work great. Some including myself think that they may work better than finished product because their rough finish grabs more air for smoke and creates more turbulence...
Then we have the rejects. All the way bad. They get saved up and get the hammer to recycle their very pricey insert spacers...

Now we have a good head in hand... We need to precisely measure and cut a hand painted top shelf vinyl skirt.


Now we slide the skirt over the neck and slide up to the head sealing in place with a couple drops of super glue...

Some of my customers want neck tape so we add a strip of varying designs and width depending on what the shop wants...

Then some get just raw lures to display. Some want packaging. It can be with our name., their name, backed or unbacked, punched to specific size pegs or hanging hooks... We can even rig on request...


So thats how just the econo series lures are created... One day I may walk you through a custom bait or two...

[Dave Sikorski]

That's a damn good post. Thanks for sharing Deep. It's cool to see how these things are made.

Now get out there and get us some pork!!

-D

[Deep C]

Yesterdays hunt was a bust... Too many buggies running around. This morning I saw some does (not legal now) but no piggies. Rain showed up this pm so I concentrated on the lure stuff.
I was gonna pour all three molds and found that one can of resin (5 gal) had kicked ioff by it self and left me with about a 60 lb $125 block if useless plastic... Just part of the fun of being a lure maker...

Now I get to photo and list some pieces for ebay...

[Admin]

Deep C thanks so much for posting this up ! Very good info and interesting!