First Crankbait Prototype

[Stringjam]

Decided to take the plunge and try to put one of these things together.

This is the first time I've ever carved anything - and I must say, I have a new-found respect for you crankbait builders. I carved and sanded and carved and sanded and carved and sanded trying to keep this thing symmetrical. :-X

Going to be a deep crank - designed around the 15' range. IF I can get it together correctly. Let the fun begin. ;D

From bottom:

[Fishwhittler]

It looks good. Can't wait to see it finished.

Is that PVC?

Ben

[bnwcrankin]

uh-o Marty! Look's like your giving away too many hint's!! lol.. Great looking bait String..

[ToledoEF]

I am gonna try some of these as well, I will try it from pvc bc I like veranda weight!

[Stringjam]

It looks good. Can't wait to see it finished.

Is that PVC?

Ben

Yes - - Sintra to be exact.   

[ToledoEF]

looks really good to! Did you trace out a pattern then flip it and put to flat side together and shape it?

[Stringjam]

looks really good to! Did you trace out a pattern then flip it and put to flat side together and shape it?

Not sure I quite understand....

The Sintra was 1/2" stock, so I laminated two pieces together to get enough thickness.

I outlined the side profile onto the Sintra block from a pattern I had drawn and cut out earlier. Marked the lip slot and cut that first, then cut out the side profile.

After that, I marked the curves of the top profile onto the top of the lure blank, then cut the blank vertically to get those lines.

After that, it was just a bunch of carving and sanding.

[BIG M]

Jon, that's look real good like a Poe's bait.   Next time drill the ballast port before carving while the bait has true flat sides.   Sits in the vice better and you can carve out any marks made on the sides of your bait.   Be careful with the amount of ballast weight you use or it will be a fast sinker.   I've built a few of those trying to find the right weight.

[BobP]

Jon, looks like you did a very good job of keeping it symmetrical.  Harder to do than to say, oui?  Nice work!  I tried PVC and Alumite but I'll always be a "wood guy".  Most of the man made materials are consistent but also heavier than stuff I like to use, like balsa and basswood.  You develop a knowledge base on how to work a particular material, how to finish it, and especially how to design baits incorporating it.  When you switch materials, there's a lot you have to re-learn - in other words, you must take several steps backwards.  Most guys build better baits faster if they stick with one or two materials until they master them.  If Sintra's your bag - Salut!

[Stringjam]

Marty - Bob,

Thanks for the advice...you two are definitely my inspiration for wanting to try this out!

I really spent a lot of time contemplating the material, and I hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot.

The Sintra has a specific gravity of .50...which is fairly comparable to yellow cedar (~.45-.50). 

If I can't get the action I want out of the material, I'm going to switch to wood - perhaps hard balsa or paulownia. I'm not going to stop until it behaves exactly like I want it to. Easier said than done, huh.

[BIG M]

Jon,

A nice squared billed shallow runner would be easier to build for your first bait.   I would suggest you try an 1/8oz ballast weight first.   If you get some XPS finess weights 1/4oz those fit nice and snug into a 1/4 inch dia hole.

[Stringjam]

Jon,

A nice squared billed shallow runner would be easier to build for your first bait. I would suggest you try an 1/8oz ballast weight first. If you get some XPS finess weights 1/4oz those fit nice and snug into a 1/4 inch dia hole.

Marty - since this is a prototype, I was considering actually gluing the ballast to the belly and moving it around (or possibly two separate ballasts, as some cranks use - to get a nose-down attitude)......then actually drilling when I'm happy with the response to confirm the location. 

Have you ever tried this or see any problems with it?  I think I recall a guy from TU doing this sticky-weight thing on one of his protos.  It seemed like an interesting idea to me at the time. 

[BIG M]

Jon with that body style there is not a lot of choice where to place the weight.   Several of the magnum divers that I made for you have weight in two locations.   I used your pic to show where I would put the weight in the belly and the chest if the bait was balsa.   With it being sentra I think the belly weight will give the bait the proper nose down attitude.    Don't glue the weight in place until you have given it a float test in the sink.

What style of lip are you going to use?

[Stringjam]

Marty - I worked on the lip design tonight - but I'm not set on it, and I think I might try a few different things out.

I wasn't completely happy with the shape so I'm going to re-cut tomorrow, but it's sort of a rectangular lip similar to the Sisson P-20 design, but with a surface area roughly the size of a DT-16. I'll post a pic as soon as I get it done.

[whittler]

Nice work there Jon. I think you will like the Sintra, drills straight and shapes easily. One other advantage is you can use a small drop of super glue to assemble for testing and not have to worry about sealing. I use super glue on PVC for final assembly, talk about  a time saver.

[Stringjam]

Nice work there Jon. I think you will like the Sintra, drills straight and shapes easily. One other advantage is you can use a small drop of super glue to assemble for testing and not have to worry about sealing. I use super glue on PVC for final assembly, talk about a time saver.

Thanks, John.  I know you have quite a bit of experience with the PVC.

I used super-glue gel to laminate the body. I actually read some sort of test sheet that concluded that super glue is actually stronger than epoxies for joining PVC, so yeah - bonus.

[BobP]

Jon, you're experienced fishing crankbaits so I'm sure you'll be able to float test yours and get it "perfect".  Knowing what you want is the most important step.  An advantage of Sintra is you know its density and that won't change no matter how many baits you build from it.  Basswood is nominally 23 lbs/cu ft, paulownia 18 lbs/cu ft (same as hardest grade balsa), and every batch will vary.  Just one of the "charms" of wood crankbaits.

[Stringjam]

Test fitting the lip

[ToledoEF]

Is that lexan lip? Looks good and is it a through wire design or is the line tie "epoxied" in?

[SkilletSizeBass.]

Looks good String., I'm sure with your crankbait knowledge and painting skills you be a great builder too.

[Stringjam]

Is that lexan lip? Looks good and is it a through wire design or is the line tie "epoxied" in?

Yes, it's Lexan. The line tie's wires are bent along the underside of the lip and end at the back of the lip slot.

[BIG M]

Jon, in my ventures with the deep divers I've found that the line tie needs to be close to the mid point of the lip.   If the bait doesn't act like you want give that a try.   I measure the exact mid point from the nose to the end of the lip and go back 1/16 of an inch.   That is a very interesting lip you have there.   Nice work.

[Stringjam]

Jon, in my ventures with the deep divers I've found that the line tie needs to be close to the mid point of the lip. If the bait doesn't act like you want give that a try. I measure the exact mid point from the nose to the end of the lip and go back 1/16 of an inch. That is a very interesting lip you have there. Nice work.

Thanks, Marty.

The line-tie was a big question for me.....I've had my caliper out all week measuring the distance ratio on all my favorite deep divers trying to find a common thread.

This bait is kind of a mix between the 70's version Bagley DB3, Rapala DT-16, and Imakatsu IK divers. ;D The lip spec was closest to the DT-16 so I used that ratio to start with.

I'll try moving it forward it that doesn't quite cut it.

I picked up some XPS finesse weights yesterday so hopefully I'll get this thing in some water tonight.

[islandbass]

Great job so far, string! That is very impressive for a first time. As one who also built my first one from scratch, I can say from experience that Marty's for weight locations is spot on.  The lowest point in the bait is one of the better places to start.

Keep up the awesome work!

BTW, can you buy this cintra and home depot? I have never heard of this material. 

[BobP]

Sintra is a type of board used for sign making. Mostly you have to get it at sign making shops. You might luck into some scrap pieces for free.

Jon -  I know where Marty is coming from - I thought the line tie looked a little close to the nose, too.  But the closer you can get it without the bait becoming uncontrollable, the better for action, so it's worth a try!  I have a couple of P-20's and the line tie seems slightly further out on the lip.  The P-20 lip also has a down angle of about 10 degrees, plus a lead plug.  And of course, the P-20 is a balsa bait.  Can't really compare them to other baits but I do like that lip shape.