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Posts: 106
| Hey everyone. Long time reader. Long time musky fisherman, but just getting into this awesome world of crafting baits. I love the work and all the help posted on this forum. I'm sure this has all been covered but I have a few questions.
I attempted to cut a groove into my first bait to slide the thru wire in, this was kinda tricky. What tool would you recommend to cut this? Table saw ( I used it but tough to be precise), hand saw perhaps? Or should I cut it right in half and glue it back together?
Also, I planned to use gorilla glue to glue the wire into place, what would I use to fill the notch I made? Just wood filler? Is that strong enough? Or some sort of epoxy?
Anyway I hope you don't mind the varage of questions. I'm lucky enough to have access to an awesome shop (dads) and lots of high quality wood of many kinds. This was my first attempt. Just copying ( sorta) a customX 12"bait. Thanks guys.
[IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/trevorfroese/Mobile%20Uploads/image.jpeg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/trevorfroese/Mobile%20Uploads/image_1.jpeg[/IMG]
Edited by Eastman03 2/16/2016 11:20 PM
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Posts: 7
| I'm a newbie also.....but I cut slot with table saw, filled with epoxy. not sure how others do it, worked for me though? |
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Posts: 106
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Thanks for the tips. What kind of epoxy do you use for this purpose? I will use envirotech for the finish, but there are a bunch of different epoxy on the shelf that I'm not sure which one would work as a filler. 
Edited by Eastman03 2/17/2016 9:52 PM
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| Gorilla glue superglue and baking soda make for a good filler. During the same step of placing the wire sprinkle baking soda in the hole/slot and layer with the glue until filled. Careful it gets hot |
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Posts: 54
| Hi Eastman - Welcome to the madness, try to keep all your fingers...
There are innumerable ways to put a wire slot in a bait, a couple good ways that work include:
- cut the slot with a table saw while the wood you are using for your bait is still square, orient what will be the vertical plane of the bait against the saw fence. Then lay out the bait profile on the wood to orient the slot how you want it to be in the bottom of the bait
- use 2 pieces of 1/2 thickness and make the bait in halves (vertically); while the wood is still square, orient what will be the bottom of the bait against the table saw fence (or a router table w/fence and small diameter bit) and rip a kerf in it - do the same for the other half. Layout the bait profile over the slot on both halves and cut them out, you'll then have to cut small openings for the wire loop to protrude from the bottom of the bait. Lay in the through wire, spread epoxy over the inside face of one half of the bait and fill the slot with epoxy then clamp the whole works together. Doing it this way is the most time consuming, but you can also strategically add rattles/weight inside the bait at locations that are difficult to do otherwise, also, since you didn't drill though the outside of the bait to add the rattles/weight, you don't have to fill in any additional holes.
- get a slot cutting router bit with a bearing guide and use it on a router table, you can change the size of the bearing to adjust slot depth. You can use this after the bait's profile is cut out while the edges are still square and it will provide an even depth slot right where you want it, zip and you're done. Just be careful because zip and there goes your finger... use push blocks.
- A hand saw works really well when you're only doing a couple of baits, specifically a dovetail or gents saw type, they're easier to steer and you can get a much thinner kerf with these if you're doing a smaller bait/using thinner wire.
Good luck!
VW |
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Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | When gluing two pieces together use a 2 part epoxy with a long cure time. The quick set epoxies break down over time so it's best to use epoxy with a slower set time & a 24 hour fully cure time. Loctite makes a 2 part marine epoxy that sets in 2 hours & fully cures in 24 hours.To seal the wood before painting use Envirotex Lite & thin it with denatured alcohol. Thinning it helps it soak into the wood & makes it harder. Put at least 2 coats on it & use the same batch that you mixed up. The alcohol will start to evaporate as you apply each coat & the epoxy will get thicker. Lightly sand after it cures.
Edited by Zib 3/1/2016 11:25 PM
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Posts: 106
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Really appreciate the ideas guys. I had trouble finding any type of epoxy that wasn't quick set like the gorilla glue epoxy. I tried it on a practice slot I cut in the wood and just like the Bondo i tried in the slot, it was a bit to thick to really pour into the slot. I think I need to break down and buy a better epoxy for filling the gap like West system? Next bait I attempt will be a drilled through for the wire, which I haven't tried yet. As for water sealing the bait, I have spar urethane and will dip it in when I make all my cuts/holes. Haven't got to the paint or epoxy stage yet. Would really love to just get an air brush and start playing around with that. Any suggestions there?
Here's my progress. Just need to keep trying and hone my skills. Every time I go work on it I find I leave with more questions. This is the very first lure with bondo (the pink stuff) filling in the slot. Did pretty good actually, if I can find a bit better way of getting it in there. Strong and sandable at least. Sealed. Ready for test run for now. This is lure #2 with the epoxy I attempted to fill the slot in, and stopped about 1/4 the way done. I used regular gorilla glue to hold in the bill. Seemed to work very well. I'm looking at getting a disposable syringe to pump the epoxy into the slot. That would be ideal.  |
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Posts: 321
Location: Glen Ellyn Il | I make similar type of baits, except I use balsa wood and I just use a box cutter to make the slot, but if I use a harder wood than I will use my Dremel tool with a diamond wheel to cut the slot, I do have a Dremel drill pres that makes it easier to set the bait on the table than center the blade on the center of the bait belie and cut the slot with ease. to fill the slot I use water proof gorilla glue to glue the wire, than after it drys I use plastic wood to fill the unfilled slot and the reason I use wood filler is that it's much easier to sand and get a nice even smood finish. The lips I always do them after I paint the bait, I cut a slot onthe bottom of the lip so it goes over the wire, than I scuff the part of the lip that goes in the bait and I use Devcon two ton epoxy to epoxy the lip in to the bait, you do not need much epoxy there will come out nice and neat and the lip will break before it comes unglued, hopefully this helps
Gino |
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