Most people when they decide to get into learning how to make fishing lures at home have done so because of the wonder that is a crankbait. I know I marveled over the contents of my tackle box many times wondering at how those wooden fishing lures were made. I remember trying my hand at it when I was a boy with no help from anyone just plain trial and error in trying to figure out the lost art of tackle making.
Most people when they decide to get into learning how to make fishing lures at home have done so because of the wonder that is a crankbait. I know I marveled over the contents of my tackle box many times wondering at how those wooden fishing lures were made. I remember trying my hand at it when I was a boy with no help from anyone just plain trial and error in trying to figure out the lost art of tackle making.
3 Circular Saw
Learning how to carve fishing lures is something that isn't difficult to learn and here's a few tips to help you so that your first wooden fishing lures turn out as professional looking as the main brand name crankbaits.
Most wooden fishing lures are made of Balsa or Basswood, but that's not to say you can't make a really fine looking crankbait out of such woods as white and red cedar and others. In fact it was only about 30-40 years ago that a lot of top quality wooden lures were made from these woods. So if you don't have access to Balsa or Basswood then give white or red cedar a try, I'm sure you will like the results.
I like to use my scroll saw for the rough in of the crankbait before I get into the carving and shaping out the details. Now using a scroll saw may take a little more finesse then a small band saw, so if you have a bandsaw then use that, I don't so I use my trusty scroll saw. The trick is to draw on the wooden blank the lures profile both side and top profiles so that when you cut the rough shape out with either your band saw or scroll saw you have a real blocky looking crankbait.
From this stage how to carve fishing lures can take a couple different directions. Some like to hand carve out the rough shape into something more refined, others like to use wood rasps and the like to achieve the same thing. For me it depends on my wood choice if I'm using the easier to carve woods like Balsa and basswood, I'll whip out my swiss army knife and whittle out my block rough crankbait into a more refined shape. If I'm using cedar then I might use a combination of rasps and knife work in my tackle making process. Either way the idea is to round off the edges and start to bring the crankbait alive.
Once the shape is basically formed then it's time for sanding. A lot about wooden fishing lures and learning how to make fishing lures at home depends a lot on your skills at fine sanding. Once sanded and shaped then it's time for sealing the wood and painting and finishing the crankbait. The topic of how to carve fishing lures really is beyond the scope of this article and the person wishing to get into tackle making should look up some more material on websites and books to learn more but hopefully these few tips will give you some ideas.
Learning how to carve fishing lures is something that isn't difficult to learn and here's a few tips to help you so that your first wooden fishing lures turn out as professional looking as the main brand name crankbaits.
Most wooden fishing lures are made of Balsa or Basswood, but that's not to say you can't make a really fine looking crankbait out of such woods as white and red cedar and others. In fact it was only about 30-40 years ago that a lot of top quality wooden lures were made from these woods. So if you don't have access to Balsa or Basswood then give white or red cedar a try, I'm sure you will like the results.
I like to use my scroll saw for the rough in of the crankbait before I get into the carving and shaping out the details. Now using a scroll saw may take a little more finesse then a small band saw, so if you have a bandsaw then use that, I don't so I use my trusty scroll saw. The trick is to draw on the wooden blank the lures profile both side and top profiles so that when you cut the rough shape out with either your band saw or scroll saw you have a real blocky looking crankbait.
From this stage how to carve fishing lures can take a couple different directions. Some like to hand carve out the rough shape into something more refined, others like to use wood rasps and the like to achieve the same thing. For me it depends on my wood choice if I'm using the easier to carve woods like Balsa and basswood, I'll whip out my swiss army knife and whittle out my block rough crankbait into a more refined shape. If I'm using cedar then I might use a combination of rasps and knife work in my tackle making process. Either way the idea is to round off the edges and start to bring the crankbait alive.
Once the shape is basically formed then it's time for sanding. A lot about wooden fishing lures and learning how to make fishing lures at home depends a lot on your skills at fine sanding. Once sanded and shaped then it's time for sealing the wood and painting and finishing the crankbait. The topic of how to carve fishing lures really is beyond the scope of this article and the person wishing to get into tackle making should look up some more material on websites and books to learn more but hopefully these few tips will give you some ideas.