A Swimbait in the Making--FINISHED

[.dsaavedra.]

okay guys, follow along here...

i am gonna make a lipless swimbait and document my progress here.

whether it works or not i do not know.

but here goes...

i started out with a piece of 5"x7"x3/8" basswood plywood. i cut it in half and sketched out the shape of my swimbait on one half.

then i roughed out that shape and then did some refining to get it how i wanted it. i then traced it on the other half, roughed it out with a hand saw and used rubber cement to temporarily attatch it to the other half. then i went in with a dremel and refined both halves so they were exactly equal.

here are the two halves, glued together, and refined (still pretty rough):

leaving them together, i rounded off all the corners, tapered the head and tail with the dremel, and then did some hand sanding with 80 grit paper. i also marked where i will cut the joints.

side view:

head on:

tail view:

later tonight or tomorrow morning i will cut the joints and shape them.

to be continued...

[flippinstick]

Looks really nice so far.

[.dsaavedra.]

Looks really nice so far.

thanks. lets hope it stays that way  :

i think im gonna have to cut the joints vertically instead of at a slant in order to provide for maximum wiggle room.

[flippinstick]

Swimbaits work better for me in slanted joints but, to each his own.

[Korea_Bassin]

Looks good.  I'm interested in seeing it when its finished.  It looks pretty big (top to bottom).  What's the height of it?

Good luck.

[.dsaavedra.]

5" tip to tail, 2" top to bottom, 3/4" thick

[.dsaavedra.]

got a little work done on it this morning.

i drew in the gill detail last night and went a head and carved it out with the dremel this morning.

here is what i have done:

under the chin:

head on:

[.dsaavedra.]

got some fins put on:

[.dsaavedra.]

well after i figured out how to change the blade on my new coping saw (that made me feel like a retard) i cut the joints on the bait.

to my suprise it worked out EXTREMELY well. i really couldnt ask for better considering this was my first time with a coping saw (besides a few practice cuts on scrap wood). i found it was VERY easy to cut in a straight, vertical line, and if i did get off track i would notice it quick and just get back in line.

anyway, here is the butchered bait

after that i ran into problem numero uno. the way i planned on shaping the joints was two V', like this << so that the point of one end fits in the open part of the other end, making the "recieving" side wider than the other end.

the reason this didnt work out is beacause i made the fins and gills too close to where i was going to cut the bait to make joints. if i continued with what i had in mind, i would have cut into the fins and gills.

so i made a very quick change of plans, and left the inside of the joints flat and made the edges very round.

this wasnt a big problem. all it means is that now i have to make my joints spaced out just a little bit more.

anyway, here are the sanded, rounded joints:

its starting to look like a swimbait now

[Korea_Bassin]

That's coming along nicely.  

[.dsaavedra.]

thanks

here is my plan for the inside of the bait. the two lines are where the chain will run, the blocky thingies at the front and back are gonna be where the wires for hook hangers will go. and the weights will be placed where they are. they are steel bearings by the way.

[Bass XL]

Looking great!!!!

[.dsaavedra.]

well i changed my plans a little bit to make it easier for me.

here is what i ended up with (i havent put the weights in yet):

with the other side of the head attached:

[MaxDal]

very very nice !

I have no idea how this little chain stuff is gonna hold up though.

Oh, and maybe you should consider adding weight.

But very nice details on that thing.

Looks like you still love that sand-papper roll on the dremel  

[.dsaavedra.]

max,

the chains are very strong. i gave it a pull test by putting one end in the vise and the other in a pair of vise grips, and i couldnt break it by pulling, i had to push my body weight on the chain before it broke.

and i have found a new love in dremel tool bits its called a tungsten carbide high speed cutter. this thing takes off wood so fast its not even funny. its great for rough shaping baits. it cost me 18 bucks though. :-/

i completed the chain slots, and added weights. i also made the grooves for the chains a little bit longer.

i then soaked them in polyurethane and hung them up to dry:

i might give it a run in the bath tub tonight and possibly in a swimming pool tomorrow.

[.dsaavedra.]

well the bathtub tests were not very good but they weren't terrible either.

there is a problem, but i know what i need to do to fix it.

i could see the lure trying its hardest to wiggle, but there wasnt enough ballast weight to keep it upright. the head was upright, the body was cocked at about a 70° angle and the unweighted tail was about 45°.

so tomorrow i am going to add a few weights to the body and tail and then give it another run!

[BassinAssassin171]

nice man

that sound like its coming along pretty nicely and sounds pretty fun to do

my fingers are crossed for the second test run

[Avalonjohn44]

Wow, very cool.  The only problem is those beaded chains rust pretty quickly and become brittle.  I know this because I tried to use one to attach the flush arm of my toilet to the flapper.  It lasted only a couple of days...  Either way though, very neat.

[Bassboy15]

well the bathtub tests were not very good but they weren't terrible either.

there is a problem, but i know what i need to do to fix it.

i could see the lure trying its hardest to wiggle, but there wasnt enough ballast weight to keep it upright. the head was upright, the body was cocked at about a 70° angle and the unweighted tail was about 45°.

so tomorrow i am going to add a few weights to the body and tail and then give it another run!

Tight, don't forget to tape it! 8-)

[.dsaavedra.]

Wow, very cool. The only problem is those beaded chains rust pretty quickly and become brittle. I know this because I tried to use one to attach the flush arm of my toilet to the flapper. It lasted only a couple of days... Either way though, very neat.

the chain i have is stainless steel so are the wires

and once i get it swimming i will make a video of it

[.dsaavedra.]

re-configured the weights:

[MaxDal]

Hi Dave,

I feel your pain concerning those dremel extra tools !! Those made out of tungsten are freaking expensive   !

Anyway, I think your ballast weights are still not enough.

Plus they look like steel balls ? In case there are steel, you should consider replacing them with lead.

I also think you should put more weight in the head-section. I understand you want to make a S-line motion swimbait without a lip. And I think in this type of bait, it's actually the head which impart the S motion. And the head hast to be the heaviest section.

I second AvalonJohn on the rust point !

These stuff rust like crazy....... And Stainless Stell ..... Well even my leatherman tool rust so  ;D, I thought it was the best stainless steel under the sun.  

[.dsaavedra.]

well the bath tub tests came back positive...IT SWIMS!

it hung vertical in the water and swam. i think it will swim better when i take it out and cast it because as you can see from the video, it doesnt begin its S motion till the end of the pull, once it has gained some momentum. it also does a 180 when twitched. i tried to show this in the video but it was very difficult holding the camera in one hand and pulling the bait with the other. so sorry for the crappy, shaky video, but here it is:

[.dsaavedra.]

Hi Dave,

I feel your pain concerning those dremel extra tools !! Those made out of tungsten are freaking expensive !

Anyway, I think your ballast weights are still not enough.

Plus they look like steel balls ? In case there are steel, you should consider replacing them with lead.

I also think you should put more weight in the head-section. I understand you want to make a S-line motion swimbait without a lip. And I think in this type of bait, it's actually the head which impart the S motion. And the head hast to be the heaviest section.

I second AvalonJohn on the rust point !

These stuff rust like crazy....... And Stainless Stell ..... Well even my leatherman tool rust so ;D, I thought it was the best stainless steel under the sun.

its not the head shape that causes the action, its the fact that the body is interrupted by joints. because there are these interruptions, it creates vorticies in the space where the joint is and it pushes it to one side, and then the flow of the water pushes it back to the other side and starts another vortex which pushes it to the other side and then it continues. at least that is my interpretation of everything i have read about what makes lipless baits swim.

[-HAWK-]

Very cool bait, what are your intentions? Personal use or do you plan to sell these on the web?