Note: Most accidents are caused by a blade that's not sharp enough or trying to take off too much wood in one pass.
Now it's time to start carving so put your safety glasses on!
First, get a good grip on the lure with one end on the table you're going to work on.
Carefully and slowly begin to carve out all your edges using the lines you made as a guide.
Don't try to take it all out in one pass, as it is important not to go beyond the lines. Obviously the general idea here is to carve the wood in the shape of a fish. However, there are also some design specifications that have to be maintained in order to attain the action that the lure is intended to have. One of these variables that affect the action is the shape.
I've done a lot of experimenting with lure shapes over the years and have found that sometimes even a small divergence from the intended design will change the action dramatically. So try and stick to the pattern and you should be just fine.
Once you've carved out the edges satisfactorily, it's time to taper the sides. The idea here is to carve a shape that gradually tapers back to a 3/16".
Stand the lure on the tail side and from almost 1/2 way up the lure, make one pass with the knife removing wood diagonally. Make another pass starting from about 1/4 of the way up the lure. Your final cut should meet your top guideline. Repeat this process for the opposite side.
Now from the top and bottom view you can see how you've done. Have you taken equal amounts off both sides? The left and right side should be a mirror of one another. You can go ahead and carefully touch it up so they're smooth and even.
Now let's move on to the head of the lure. Again stand the lure on the end we're going to carve and hold securely. Remember to always carve away from your fingers, trust me this won't be much fun anymore if you hurt yourself.
Basically you want to bring the nose to a taper like you did with the tail only this time you'll begin from about 1/4 of the way up the side of the lure. Make a smooth taper towards the nose until the carve meets with the top guideline.
Your lure should look just like this:
Continue to remove edge tapering and narrowing the overall body.
It is important to the balance of the lure that you remove equal weight on both sides so whatever you remove on one side try to mirror it on the other.
You should end up with a relatively smooth oval shape that gradually tapers from end to end leaving a flat circular surface on both ends for which to screw into later.
You should end up with a shape that looks like this:
Now it's time to sand your lure Always sand in the direction the grain. You'll begin with coarse paper, around 100 grit and work your way to 400 grit paper until you have a very smooth surface.
Using the 100 grit paper, begin by smoothing any imperfections on the surface. This stage of the sanding also helps to shape the lure so make sure you have an oval shaped lure where the right half is a mirror the left.
Use a 200-grit paper to remove scratches and the 400-grit paper to give it a smooth as glass feel.
Attaching The Lip
You can use various plastics but I have found that the clearest and most durable is a product from Dupont called Lexan. This or other "plexiglass" products can be bought at any home improvement store at various thicknesses.
There are many types of epoxies on the market, most notably distinguished by their "setting" time, or hardening time. Most crafters utilize the 5-minute epoxy variety and rarely will a crafter work with a 30-minute brand. There are some 1-minute epoxies on the market, but that time frame for setting up leaves very little room to mix and apply a bubble-free layer of epoxy on a lure.
The defacto standard in epoxy for lure making is of the 5-minute variety. This is not to say that 5-minute epoxy cures in 5 minutes. It is to say, however, that 5-minute epoxy sets and takes a hard-fast shape in 5 minutes.
One of the disadvantages of standard 5-minute epoxies is the fact that they will turn yellow over time, especially if exposed to direct sunlight. Devcon-brand is noted for this.
Now comes the paint job
The key to any paint being used is adhesion. The paint has to bond to the surface. The wood should be primed or sealed before any paint is applied. Use an oil based sealer/primer.
There are two basic kinds of paints available on the market today, oil base and water base. Water-base paint or acrylic, as it's also known has the obvious convenience of ease of use and easy clean up. Normally, the drawback to acrylic and wood is it raises the grain of the wood due to it's water base. But as long as the wood is sealed (primed) there is no need to be concerned.
The second drawback is that it doesn't adhere to the primer as well as the second paint option, oil base paint. There are many different kinds of oil-base paints out on the market today so stick with an enamel that has a hi-solid content and dries quickly.
The main drawback of oil-base enamel is that clean-up is difficult. Everything has to be cleaned with a solvent like turpentine. If you have an airbrush you can work with that, if not rest assured that the greatest pieces of art were made with paint and a brush. A good Sable or Camelhair brush will should give you smooth even strokes.
Colors
For bass fishing, it's best to stick to basic colors. Crankbaits should match in a general way, the most dominant forage in the lake. Thus, popular crankbait colors that should be included in your tacklebox include: silver and black(shad), green and silver (Tennessee shad), chrome (open water baitfish), orange and brown(crawfish), etc. If golden shiners occur in your waters, "match the hatch" by using gold crankbaits.
Fluorescent colors are effective on crankbaits in many conditions. A popular combination is fluorescent green(chartreuse)/black spots/orange belly in stained water and/or cloudy days. Red works well around grass beds in clear and stained water. But always keep in mind that 80 percent of the strikes you get are due to your retrieve, not color. Choose the design for your lure such as "Perch", "Trout", "Shad" or any other popular finish or be creative and use your imagination, you never know what crazy color combo can land you that lunker. Paint your primary color using smooth even strokes trying to avoid any drips and runs.
After your first coat is dry, if your base coat looks a little translucent apply a second base coat. Next you can start adding your detailing colors, gills, lateral lines eyes and mouth are some of the details you may want to add to your crankbait to make it look very realistic. I prefer using plastic molded eyes but the painted eyes look just as good. If you allow the paint to dry too long after a prior coating just give it a light sanding with a 400 grit sandpaper. Also, give the lure a light sanding before applying a clear coat.
Protective clear coat
After your lure has been painted and you are satisfied with the look, then it's time to apply a protective, durable clear coat. There are many to choose from on the market today but the strongest and the most durable is the two-part clear epoxy kind. This is basically the same stuff that cars are painted with. Purchase a can of this stuff at your local hardware store or home improvement superstores and follow the directions. You can apply 2 or more coats of this for a glass like finish on your creation. IMPORTANT
Tuning crankbaits
Crankbaits (especially homemade ones) have to be "tuned" so that they run true. Start by always using a loop knot or split ring to tie your lure on. This is to allow the lure the action it was intended to have. Now check how it's swimming. You can do this in a full tub if needed. Most discrepancies in the placement of the "lip" and "eye-screws" can be compensated to make your crankbait run true. With needle-nose pliers bend the "line" eye in small increments, in the opposite direction the lure favors. If it runs left bend slightly right etc.. Sometimes fisherman will intentionally mistune a crankbait to get to swim in a certain direction, such as along a weedline or log.
Now you're ready to fish with something you've made yourself that you can take pride in when you LAND THAT LUNKER!
