|
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | I thought I would post a few pictures of the new shop in case any of you guys need some Ideas on tumblers and paint booths and such. Also some pics of the Wire thru process on the 12 inch Deepthreats. Kingfisher
Attachments
----------------
 booth.JPG (12KB - 86 downloads)
tumbler.JPG (22KB - 88 downloads)
rack1.JPG (16KB - 80 downloads)
paint.JPG (17KB - 90 downloads)
baits1.JPG (20KB - 79 downloads)
baits2.JPG (17KB - 83 downloads)
baits3.JPG (18KB - 90 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | Here are some more shots of the baits.
Attachments
----------------
baits4.JPG (15KB - 77 downloads)
baits5.JPG (9KB - 73 downloads)
baits6.JPG (14KB - 71 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | The Tumbler rack that holds two tumblers was welded up by my brotherin law. I have 3 of those racks with 6 tumblers. I was going to make one huge one with a gear box and belts,pullys and such but the way I have it I can run just what I have to. Saves on Bearings and such. The Booth is 4 feet square and has a 600 cfm duct fan that sucks the overspray into those filters. Works real nice. Kingfisher |
|
| |
|
Posts: 309
Location: canada | awesome baits and set up, big fan of your work
Etch |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | I must say that looks great! Beats my cardboard box that I spray paint into! Really like your spinning racks and your hood setup. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1530
| cmon mike its to dam clean. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 28
| Very nice set up you've got. Thanks again for all of your expertise on the through wire debate.
Johnny |
|
| |
|
Posts: 390
Location: Ohio | Very nice, just like your baits! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 399
Location: Burton, Ohio | Now that is a sweet set-up. That is not a shop that is a science lab! You did a nice job for sure! That also shows in the quality of your baits.
John |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | Thanks guys for all the kind words,We still have a long way to go finishing the building. It started as a 30 by 40 three stall garage that had never been finished. We had to build the rooms ,wire,insulate,drywall, paint. I had to run water and power 80 feet from the house. Just getting the paint room and assembly room done took most of the summer. But at last its ready for business. Next spring I have to build the final part of the operation and that is the wood shop. Dust collection at every machine and an outside dust collector. The room is 15 by 30 and will have a dipping station ,2 band saws, 2 disc belt sanders and 4 router(Shaper) tables. Right now it looks like a sawmill back there. Saw dust every where and the machines all lined up against one wall. I dont have any heat back there yet so its ccccold in the wood shop. I am heating the paint shop with a small oil radiator electric heater. So far its working great. When temps get into the single digits I may have to add more heat of some kind. We did pretty good to get up and running again after we moved here. I started June 3rd building it. The trade off was I have not caught one decent Musky all year and have only gone out twice. There will be more time for fishing next year. My wood man has a custom sawmilling operation and can cut any thickness wood with the grain going the way you want it. He built this plaque for the shop. Kind of neat. Kingfisher
Edited by Kingfisher 10/26/2008 10:31 PM
Attachments
----------------
plaque.JPG (15KB - 85 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | John, one of these days I am going to try my hand at painting like you do ha ha ha . Most of your paint jobs baffle me. I dont even know where to start. I think its the Foil work that you guys do though that is freakin amazing. I really do want to learn to paint like that. I shoot pretty standard stuff now and am getting a little bored with that. I sure would like to see how you use that foil when building those awsome Carp patterns. Mike |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | What a great set up.......love how you are doing those cedar bodies.
Jed V. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 47
Location: Québec, Canada | Thank you Mike to show to us the pics of your shop.
Yvon |
|
| |
|
Posts: 76
| Mike,
Very nice, you set the standard for all to follow and man am I following. No pictures of my mess will ever be posted here.
Don
www.hoosierhandmademuskybaits.com
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 408
Location: Omaha, Nebraska | That is an awesome basement 
You should really be able to crank out them baits in that factory
Edited by DEMolishedyou 10/27/2008 6:54 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | Just over 5 months ago I was crammed into a three room basement and an 8 by 16 outhouse of a wood shop. We moved so we could expand the business. I hope to help some others grow out of thier basements as well. Its not quite a factory but it does use 3/4 of a 30 by 40 garage. I call it a small business  . Kingfisher |
|
| |
|
Posts: 432
Location: mpls | Whoaa!!!
Freaky, I had a dream that had a room that looked just like that. I was strapped on a table and there were these Green little guys with big heads and big eyes hovering over me.
Nice looking shop Kingfisher! I wish you the best of luck expanding your business!
Joe
Trueglide.com |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2024
| That booth is immaculate! Beautiful! Looks like you could perform open heart surgery in that space!
As a quick aside, I'm not a lure builder (bucktails but no wood/plastic baits) but was curious, do you take two halves of a bait (like RJ bass in the thru wire construction thread) and fit the wire through the bait then fasten the two pieces together? It sounds like you use some sort of drill. If so, do you drill straight through the bait from one end to the other then drill perpendicularly where your hook hangers are? How then do you manipulate the wire into the shapes you want? Seems like magic to me! (I also understand if you wish to not divulge your method here). |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | I use a 1/2 inch paddle drill to place the hook hanger holes. Then I start at the nose and drill to the first hanger hole. Then when I am sure the bit is straight I continue to the second hanger hole. Then I come in from the tail and hit the first hole. I use a 3/16th bit that is 12 inches long but I shorten it and resharpen the tip. The longer the bit the more they tend to wander and follow the wood grain.
The wire forms for the hook hangers is simple. Bend the wire into a U shape and then bend the two ends again into loops. The center wire threads through the loops and then you fill the hanger holes with Lead and epoxy. I use .078 wire ,its very strong. Mike |
|
| |
|
Posts: 60
| Hey Mike, Looks nice I can't wait to check it out in person.
Brad |
|
| |
|
Posts: 292
Location: SW MI | Cool shop Mike. That would make my hobby a lot more efficient if I had half that stuff! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | for the guy who wants to know about wire thru. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4266
| Mike, that is better looking than my garage for sure. I'm going to take the ferry across the big pond one of these days just to meet you and see that set up first hand. Are you offering any apprenticeships? I have much to learn.
Thanks for making us all jealous.
Beaver |
|
| |
|
Posts: 921
Location: Apollo, PA | Mike,
I love your little claws, both models, cant wait to see some of your newer designs, especially the little shad...
Congrats and Good Luck!!
Hey, is any of your stuff going to be at the Butler, PA fishing show??
Also, will any lures be at Columbus?
Thanks, PS |
|
| |
|
Posts: 355
Location: Wausau, Wisconsin | Very cool stuff Mike! Ditto on loving Little Claws, super twitch bait! Nice shop. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | I am going to be in Ohio at the Columbus show. I will have lots of Lake St. Clair and Ohio lake stuff like the Slashers and little Shads. Ill also be bringing some of the new 7.5 inch shads and a few Little Claw twitchers. I WONT HAVE MANY BIG BAITS THERE. I hope that is the right choice. The head guy of the show tells me that I should concentrate on St. Clair stuff. Ill bring as much as I can carry in my car. Beav, you can take the lake expess(Ferry) over and Ill pick you up in Muskegon eh? W e can do a weekend of Musky fishing on my local puddles and then Ill drop you back off at the ferry. The wife says she would like to meet you as well. She likes that brown trout you painted I posted this back to the top because a guy was asking about wire thru and there are some pics in this thread. Mike |
|
| |
|
| I'd love to come on a week when I have my daughter. She is muskieless so far, but I can feel a change coming. I think she could learn a lot from you and the misses. Any chance of meeting the wood guy?
I would really like to see how professionals do it. Some of the exotic wood I am buying is leaving me with 3/4" of the board left over. Maybe I should be learning to thru-wire and glue 2 halfs together instead of wasting lumber.
I think any time over there would be very memorable.
I'll keep in touch. BTW, I'm sending someone as a buying representative to the Butler Show. Perhaps I better have him stop off at your place. I'll contact you when I get home and see it there are any Gay Trout left. I'll call you early next week.
Beav |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | I am bumping this back up to the top so the guy can see the drying racks or tumblers as I call them. I am still using grill roticeries. But I take the weight off of the motor and suspend the rack in between two pillow bearings. I have 6 racks running at one time. I can turn every bait I build from the 4 inch shads all the way up to the 21 inch deepthreat. Its the holders that make it all work. The rectangle rack holds the lure holders. 12,15 and 21 inch lures are held in single lure holders that set in the racks. I can turn 8 to 12 single big baits on one rack or 24 to 36 smaller baits on one rack. I can do 100 baits a day most days. My oldest moter is going on 4 years now and has not burned up. The trick is to balance the rack so it turns without any resistence then mount the motor and it will last for many years. Anyhow I got some pictures all over this website some from years ago with the first rack setups we used.
I have researched industrial motors and gear boxes. Very expensive to get slow enough. A boston gear box and belt system with motor and all attachments is over a grand just to do 100 baits. And that is just one big rack. I like my setup because I only use what I need to use. No sense running a big motor when I am turning 24 little claws. . This business is specialized and there just isnt any hardware out there made for it. Bill Crane has a real cool rack system that uses an old gearbox from a rototiller. He turns several thousand baits at a time. Be inventive and try different things. Mike |
|
| |
