Wooden Lure

this project was quite fun to make and i think that it would be fun for you to make to if you are into small wood working projects and enjoy creating things. I have made a small crank bait out of wood that can be used as decor or used in the water.

1. small piece of red cedar or wood of your choose

2. clear epoxy https://www.lowes.com/pd/JB-Weld-Clearweld-Clear-E...

3. 19 gauge galvanized steel wire https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-19-Gauge-Galvaniz...

4.treble hooks that will go good with the size of your bait. I purchased mine at my local tackle shop

5. small split rings. also got these at my local tackle shop

6. a small piece of 1/8 inch lexan https://www.lowes.com/pd/LEXAN-0-093-in-T-x-8-in-W...

7. dewalt 1/2 cordless drill https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-1-2-in-20-Volt-Max...

8.sandpaper 150 and 220 grit

9. 14'' band saw http://www.powermatic.com/us/en/p/pwbs-14cs-14-ban...

10. belt sander https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-4-in-x-36-in-Bel...

11.dremel https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-4-in-x-36-in-Bel...

First i took this small block of wood 2x3x6 inches and a regular piece of printer paper, i used the paper to draw out the design i wanted to use as the bait it self and made sure it wasn't to small or to big and once i had that i drew were i wanted the lip and drew out the right thickness so the lexan that i would be using fit in there nice and snug. Once i had the bait drawn out i used scissors and cut out the bait then glued the paper that had the outline of my bait to the wood i wanted to use.

Next i took it to the band saw and started cutting out the shape of the bait by following the line on the paper that i used as guide so everything was nice and even, after i had cut close to the lines on the paper used the belt sander to sand right to line i drew so the shape was smooth and didn't feel rough from the cutting of the band saw. I then took the paper off the side of the bait and set the bait up vertically and drew a line going a long the bait so i could now get more of a better shape so it would start to actually looking like a crankbait.

Once i had my lines drew out on the top of the bait i once again took it to the band saw and cut out the lines i had drawn so it got its shape that actually looked like a crankbait, this step doesn't have to be perfect bc we are going to do more sanding to the bait. Now that i have my rough shape of my bait i used a dremel with a sanding bit and started sanding out the rough edges and tried to smooth out the bait as much as possible. When i was done with the dremel it was still not smooth and had a lot more sanding to do so i started with a 150 grit piece of sandpaper and once i had it smoothed out as much as i could with the 150 i moved up to a 220 grit sandpaper and got the bait as smooth and good looking as possible.

Now that i have my final shape i want for my bait i drew a line all the way down the center of my bait and drew little lines going across my center line so i knew exactly where to drill my holes for my hook hangers. I then took my drill and drilled the holes so i had a holding place for my hook hangers and after had my holes made i took some sandpaper and sanded out the lines i had drew with the pencil it comes out very easy so you don't want to over sand.

For the hook hangers i took the 19 gauge wire and cut of piece and folded it in half and put the two open ends into the chuck of the drill. I then took a small vice and clamped a nail into the vice if you don't have a vice you can just hammer a nail into a piece of wood so the nail doesn't move. Once i had my nail clamped in there i put the wire around the nail into the vice and started twisting it so it looked screw and it formed a small enough eye so it looked good on the bait. Now that i have the hook hangers done i now need to make the lip i put the crankbait onto the big piece of lexan and drew out the lip i wanted for the bait, you will have to experiment and see what looks best for you this took my a couple times to daw out the lip i thought looked best. After i had the lip drawn out i took the lexan to the band saw and cut out the lip i also took the lip to the belt sander to smooth the edges and sand away lines i drew on the lexan.

now that we have all the little things made we need to put it all together i took the wire screw hook hangers and cut them all to size so the fit perfect to the depth of all the holes i drilled for them. I now mixed up the clear JB weld epoxy and put some on the hook hanger and started to twist the hook hangers in bc the way they were twisted when we made them it acts like a screw and holds it in there better then just using the epoxy and putting it in there. Once i had all the hook hangers in i put some epoxy in the slot for the lip and placed it in there and made sure it was straight and tight and let the epoxy set and dry.

Now that the bait is pretty much done it's time to put a clear coat on it so it is water resistant. For this i taped everything i didn't want the epoxy on like the lip and all the screw eyes and found something that i could put it on that rotates so it didn't sit in one place and puddle and look uneven. i was provided with and used some epoxy that would be used for making rods for fishing and it worked just fine. Now that i have my location for the bait to sit and the tape on i mixed up the epoxy and put in all over the bait and let it sit and set.

Once the clear coat is set i put the split rings and hooks on the bait and was finally done with the bait and it is read to be put in the water and catch some fish.