Author Archives: Lure Parts Online

How to Make a Wooden Fishing Lure on a Lathe

For today’s article, you’ll be learning how to make a wooden fishing lure on a lathe. British lure maker Paul Adams will be your host and instructor 🙂

Paul shows us how to build the Fat Head Wiggler, an old-school wooden swimming lure with a metal diving lip. He begins by teaching us how to prepare the template and the wood, cutting the template out and gluing it to a sheet of veneer to get started.

Once preparing the template is finished, Paul sets about the task of actually creating the lure in earnest, showing us how to cut the wood into the proper size and then mark the center of each end in preparation for securing it in the lathe.

Once we get past these few little steps, the power tools come alive and we see sawdust and wood chips flying everywhere as Paul begins to shape the wood.

How to Make a Wooden Fishing Lure on a Lathe

Paul works his skills on a wood lathe to shape the lure

Watching Paul work the lathe is amazing. He also shows us how he uses calipers to measure the wood, to be sure it’s the correct diameter and shape. Again, precision is evident in his methods and workmanship.

And, of course, once the desired size and shape are attained, Paul goes about sanding the wood body to get a perfectly smooth surface, to be painted later on. It’s amazing to watch how the various tools come into play to create the finished product.

There is a wide variety of power tools that are used in this video, including a wood lathe, a drill press, a band saw and a dremel. Other items used include sandpaper, epoxy, paint and various pieces of hardware to finish the lure. We have listed all of the hardware items below the video.

Sealing the lure protects the wood body from water damage

When Paul makes a homemade lure, he typically uses very few, if any, factory-made components. This is a great way to make something that you can say is 100% handmade and your own workmanship.

Some people, though, like to save time, or may not have all of the tools necessary to create the components themselves, so they opt to buy them and then assemble the lure. Either way, you end up with a nice lure that can’t be bought anywhere else.

To complete the lure in the video, Paul fabricates the diving lip from aluminum, creates the belly weight out of steel rod and even hand-draws a black & white emblem to put on the sides of the lure.

Paul is a true craftsman and artisan who has lots of creativity and uses it to create great lures and then teach others how to do the same thing.

So go ahead and enjoy the video below and be sure to check out the list of items needed, at the Lure Parts Online website.

Here’s a list of materials used, as well as links to them on the Lure Parts Online website.

Wood Lure Blanks
Stainless Steel Split Rings
Treble Hooks
Metal Diving Lips
Stainless Steel Screw Eyes
Epoxy Topcoat
Vinyl Lure Paint

You can check out Paul’s blog by Clicking Here.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please be sure to share it with others.

How to Paint a Baby Bass Pattern Crankbait

Baby Bass Pattern Crankbait

In this latest post, we’ll show you how to paint a baby bass pattern crankbait!

Michael Orensteen will be demonstrating, once again, how to take a blank, unpainted crankbait body and turn it into a custom-painted crankbait that you’ll be proud to show to your fishing buddies.

Not only will it look good in your tackle box, but it will catch fish as well as, if not better than, store-bought lures that are owned by the masses. And you’ll fish your new crankbait with confidence, knowing that you created it yourself 🙂

There are a few tricks to knowing how to paint a baby bass pattern crankbait in a realistic way, and the video below will show you everything you need to know to accomplish it with less effort than you think.

As you start, you’ll learn the importance of spraying on a good base coat, before doing anything else. This gives you a good foundation to work from and saves you a lot of time and extra paint when applying the other colors you’ll be using.

About 2 minutes into the tutorial, you’ll learn what Michael likes to do to create the most realistic paint patterns possible. He doesn’t spend a lot of time on this, so be sure to pay attention!

Also, be sure to pay attention to what Michael does in between color layers. It helps to speed the drying process and give the paint a tougher finish. Hint: it involves something you’ll find in a hair salon and in your wife’s selection of beauty tools 🙂

Baby Bass Pattern Shallow Crankbait Created Using Stencils

One of the cool things about this particular tutorial is the fact that Michael explains how he used to use a stencil when first learning how to paint a baby bass pattern crankbait. But because he likes to paint realistic patterns, he kept experimenting until he figured out how to do it without stencils. The results are truly impressive.

And you get the benefit of the time he spent experimenting, as he demonstrates it in the video below. This saves you a lot of work and trials, by taking what he learned and shares here, and putting it into practice.

And wait until you learn how to create scales on your custom crankbait! Get ready to dig into your wife’s beauty supplies again for this one! This one is something she uses to scrub and exfoliate her skin with!

And as you get into the part of the video where he reveals how to create the natural markings on the sides of the baby bass, be prepared to put the airbrush down and use another item that’s not typically talked about when it comes to painting crankbaits.

Toward the end of the video, learn the secrets to getting a natural-looking black pattern on the gill plates. Once again, this doesn’t involve using your airbrush. In fact, it doesn’t even involve using paint!

And as an added bonus, you’ll get a sneak peek at how to properly set up a paint booth, including a proper exhaust fan, and the drying wheel where your baits can dry properly without having to worry about your epoxy coat sagging or pooling in the process.

Enjoy the video and be sure to check out the list of items below that were used in this video.

Items Used in The Video:

Airbrush
Lure Paint
Unpainted Crankbait Body
Stick-on Lure Eyes
Treble Hooks
Split Rings
Oval Line Tie

If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to like it and share it with your friends.

And, as always, if you need any kind of lure-making supplies, be sure to visit our website, at http://lurepartsonline.com

To check out the Lure Me In Custom Painted Crankbaits Youtube channel, Click Here

How to Paint a Crappie Pattern on a Crankbait

How to Paint a Crappie Pattern On a Crankbait

So, you want to learn how to paint a crappie pattern on a crankbait.

Well, we have just what you need, from the instructions on how to do it, to the tools and other items you need to do it with!

Our video tutorial for this post is from Michael Orensteen, the owner of Lure Me In Crankbaits.

Michael has been custom painting crankbaits for a while now and has some good experience under his belt. So he’s a qualified painter to pay attention to when he shows us his techniques.

For the crappie pattern, Michael shows us how he always starts by applying a base coat of white to all of his crankbaits. Next, a light coat of pearl white gets applied. In between coats of paint, a small hair dryer is used to heat-seal the paint and make sure it’s 100% dry before beginning to apply the next coat.

In the video tutorial, Michael reveals a secret technique for creating the black crappie markings on the sides of the lure body, using a special method and special tool. Hint; it’s not a brush!

Using the techniques in this blog post, learn how to paint a crappie pattern on your crankbait.

Michael also goes into depth regarding tips and tricks for adjusting the pressure of your airbrush and working with the density of your paint in order to achieve optimal results and a very natural look to your finished lure.

This helps when blending colors in each consecutive layer, making sure that no single layer dominates the look of the lure.

And once the paint work is finished, Michael gives some great tips on how he uses epoxy to seal the bait and protect the paint, showing us yet another secret to give the lure added attraction.

So sit back, watch the great video and learn how to paint your own awesome custom crankbaits.

Items used for this project:

Airbrush
Lure Paint
Unpainted Crankbait Body
Stick-on Lure Eyes
Treble Hooks
Split Rings
Oval Line Tie

If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to like it and share it with your friends.

And, as always, if you need any kind of lure-making supplies, be sure to visit our website, at http://lurepartsonline.com

To check out the Lure Me In Custom Painted Crankbaits Youtube channel, Click Here

How to Make a Weight Transfer in a Lure

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How to Make a Weight Transfer in a Lure

Ever wonder how to make a weight transfer in a lure? If so, you’ve found the right place to learn! Follow along as Youtube user CrankCraft shows you how to add a weight transfer to your homemade crankbait.

It all starts with either a homemade crankbait with a solid body, or a factory-made lure that you know for sure has a solid body where a cavity can be drilled out and used to add the weight transfer to it.

This process is extremely simple and anyone can do this, especially after watching the video below.

Items needed for this process are also basic and easy to obtain. Items such as a small drill bit, steel BBs, a small paper hole punch, super glue and an old plastic container are all readily available and are owned by most everyone. So finding what you need for this project shouldn’t be a concern.

Advantages to adding a weight transfer to your lure include easier casting, as the weight transfer shifts to the back of the lure while casting. And on the retrieve, the internal weight shifts to the front of the lure, giving the back half of your lure a livelier action.

So what’s involved in making a weight transfer lure?

Driiling The Hole for Your Weight Well, first off, you need a lure with a solid body. Hollow lure bodies won’t work for this, since adding any kind of internal weight will result in that weight just shifting around randomly inside the lure body, at will. So you need a lure with a solid body.

Next, you’ll need a few various items, listed below;

two small drill bits (1 very small to create a pilot hole and a 3/16 bit for drilling the actual hole)
a power drill (a cordless drill is fine)
some BBs (steel is preferred)
some super glue
some urethane or epoxy
a paper hole punch
a discarded plastic blister package

And that’s about it for materials.

The actual process of adding the weight to the inside of the lure is pretty easy and straightforward, as demonstrated in the video below. The first few times might take up to 10 minutes or so, but once you get this method down, it shouldn’t take more 5 minutes to do this to each crankbait.

So that pretty much covers everything. If you’re ready to learn how to make a weight transfer in a lure, just click Play on the video and enjoy!

To try this method on a balsa lure, check out our selection of balsa lure bodies by clicking here

If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to like it and share it with your friends.

And, as always, if you need any kind of lure-making supplies, be sure to visit our website, at http://lurepartsonline.com

To visit the YouTube Channel for CrankCraft, Click Here

How To Airbrush Scale Patterns on Homemade Lures

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How To Airbrush Scale Patterns on Homemade Lures

This is a great example of skilled airbrushing from Joe Haddock of Contentnea Creek Customs. Check out the scales on this one!

So you want to learn hot to airbrush scale patterns on homemade lures? Look no further!

We have an awesome tutorial by Paul Adams that will teach you how to airbrush scale patterns on homemade lures like a pro.

Paul covers the process from start to finish, including priming the bait in preparation for the actual painting process, starting out with a base coat of white paint and then following it up with additional colors and speeding up the drying process with a small heat gun.

Paul also shows what types of paint he uses and the colors used to create the scale effects on the lure.

After applying the base coat of white, Paul demonstrates his shading technique, creating a realistic look, with color depth varying from top to bottom. As with a real fish, the heavier coat gets applied to the top of the lure, fading it gradually to the belly area.

And, next, comes the scale netting, or mesh, which will be used to create that natural scale appearance on the sides of the bait. Paul shows how to wrap the mesh around the bait and secure it in place for spraying, using some common items, such as clothespins and alligator clips. As complicated or intimidating as this may seem at first, he shows us how easy it really is!

These are lures that Paul made and used for demonstration purposes in his video, as he teaches us Airbrush Scale Patterns on Homemade Lures

These are lures that Paul made and used for demonstration purposes in his video, as he teaches us how to airbrush scales on homemade lures

After spraying on the scales, watch as Paul then uses translucent paint to bring the lure to life with stunning colors!

After spraying with the translucent paint, Paul then discusses adding an eye and then using an epoxy clear coat to finish the bait, making the colors really “pop” and give it a protective layer of resin to make the paint last longer.

And as a side note, Paul also shows us his box of “bait rejects”, where he tosses baits that don’t meet his standards or maybe some that he tested or tried new methods on. Sometimes the molds don’t cast perfectly, or maybe he experiments with some new kind of finish, such as foil, etc., and those baits don’t meet his standards, so he tosses them into this box until such time he can take them out and fish with them, where he says he doesn’t worry about bouncing them off of rocks 🙂

Here’s the tutorial Video. Enjoy

Here’s a list of materials used, as well as links to them on the Lure Parts Online website.

Unpainted Lure Blanks
Airbrush & Airbrush Accessories
Lure Paint & Accessories
Scale Netting

You can check out Paul’s blog by Clicking Here.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please be sure to share it with others.