Hey Everyone,

First post for me...

I've been dabbling in wooden lure making. I use Bass wood - just doesn't seem right to use anything else...

Typically, I'll turn my lure bodies out on my lathe. I don't have a three-jaw chuck or plunge router - so when I make the mouth of a popper I use my handy little dremel. I find this quite tedious and was hoping that someone could shed some light on the best way to make the mouth of a topwater popper. I don't like the metal rasp idea - cause it never resembles my favorite popper - the Rebel Pop-R.

So, anyone have any suggestions or tips on this?

Maybe you could drill your hole, for the mouth, into the block of wood before you lathe it down?

I drill about 1/4" into the center of the mouth, then spin the drill around on an angle to make it more round. Sand it down and paint it and you have a nice, smooth mouth.

The easiest way I've seen it done I learned from Tackle Underground. I also use this method. Purchase a forstner bit that is the same diameter as your dowel.

After you've shaped the tail end:

1) Secure the dowel onto a scrap piece of wood.

2) Add the forstner bit into your drill.

3) Place the bit where you want the mouth

4) Apply pressure and start drilling until the bit starts to dig into the scrap wood.

The popper's mouth will be moon shaped and cleanly cut. You might not even need to sand it.

Look at my avatar. This is a homemade lure I call a popper-prop. The mouth was made with a forstner bit.

I must have read this 1,000 times and still can't picture your description.  I'd hate to bother you any further on this - but is there a way you could illustrate this - maybe a digital picture step-by-step?  I really like the sound of this - I just don't see how the bit makes a rounded/intented cut.  I can't really picture the whole scrap piece of wood thing and the position of the bit.

Thanks so much!

Mike

He's drilling it from the side, not the front.  It's like notching tubing for building roll cages on race cars.  Get it?

I must have read this 1,000 times and still can't picture your description. I'd hate to bother you any further on this - but is there a way you could illustrate this - maybe a digital picture step-by-step? I really like the sound of this - I just don't see how the bit makes a rounded/intented cut. I can't really picture the whole scrap piece of wood thing and the position of the bit.

Thanks so much!

Mike

Hey, don't worry! I am a visual lerner myself. Jeff pegged it write.

Moon Face Popper Using a Forstner Bit

Tools/Items Needed

Hand Drill

Pair of Safety Goggles

Forstner Bit (3/4 for this case)

Scrap Piece of Wood

¾ Diameter Basswood Dowel (to make popper body)

I wish to state here that I did not make up this concept. Rather, I learned it from a tutorial I saw long time ago at the Tackle Underground. I was not able to find the article and I wish to credit the creator of that tutorial. I think he went by the screen name MyLures, but I am not certain. The maker of that tutorial is who should receive full credit for this awesome idea. I was just lucky to stumble upon it and remember some of the steps.

This tutorial assumes that you have already carved the popper's body and tail end and are ready to make the mouth. Fortunately, it is a piece of cake to make a moon shaped mouth with a Forstner drill bit.

Lay the scrap piece of wood on a hard surface and place the dowel on top of the scrap wood. The purpose of the scrap wood is the give the Forstner bit something to dig into after it has gone through the dowel. Doing this helps to reduce the chances of the dowel splitting once the bit has gone through it. It is a neat carpenter's trick. The plastic bag was placed under the wood to eliminate the need to vacuum or sweep up the wood waste.

If you have not done so already, add the bit to the drill.

Secure and firmly hold in place the dowel against the scrap wood with your hand that is not holding the drill

Align the bit to the end of the popper's body where you wish to place the mouth.

Here is a close up. To ensure a perfect moon-shaped mouth, make sure that the point in the center of the bit should be place in the middle of the dowel. With the drill perpendicular to the dowel and scrap wood, start drilling.

Here is a shot of the dowel partially bored. You can already see the moon-shaped mouth.

TIP: When you are close to going through the dowel completely, it is important not to stop until you are boring into the scrap wood.

You're almost done! With some sand paper (or dremel, but be careful not to remove too much with this hi-speed tool), remove any burrs, splinters, and other imperfections.

Paint your popper and use your preferred topcoat and admire your latest creation. The image below is a lure I call the popper-prop. Now doesn't it look cute in the firetiger pattern? ;D

Hey, thanks a ton for taking the time to post these pics.  I assumed that you meant through the side - but still was a little mistified on the whole cup-faced concept - I was thinking that there'd also be an indentation - but having it half-moon cut makes it easier to do so.  I'm gonna try this out this weekend.

Again, thanks a lot.

Mike