What's the best way to open up a hook eye? 

 

What if I just cut it and then close the remainder? 

How much do you need to open it? You could try heating the eye first, bending it cold will probably my break it

I'm only trying to slide a chatter blade through so not much. I might punch a couple open and see how it goes. 

https://tackleunderground.com/topic/44608-safely-opening-jig-hook-eyes-for-chatter-blades/#comment-329433

@Jig Man looks like the take away is pour lead into a mold.

 

That one guy had some luck heating and bending and then for some reason heating again...

 

I'll start with a light punch, and take it from there I suppose. I have zero possibility to ever pour lead in my house. 

 

My plan is to use bolt cutters to split open a bullet weight or egg sinker and then do something like this, but attach the blade.

 

https://youtu.be/IA0MDfHE2pU?si=m5ZcO-3AMXv6L6Fr

Open eye siwash hooks are available at Barlow's and probably other sources.

@MickD I have a couple hooks I'm working with that i trust to penetrate and keep a fish on more reliably than other hooks. If itll mess up the integrity I'll just makeshift my own attachment design to bypass opening the hook but still be perform better than a split ring.

Harbor Freight sells a 3 piece colored punch set for like $10. You want to use the green punch of the 3. Drill press with the punch tool in it will open it up. Now based on experience don't try to punch open Gamakatsu hooks as they break. VMC and Mustad will open and close without breaking. 

 

Allen 

Much appreciated munk

 

I grabbed a 4 pack already from Amazon, I'll look at the harbor freight and compare. No drill press here, just a hammer.  I have enough hooks to experiment and figure out how much is too much and how much is just enough, mostly using Trapper Tackle hooks. 

5 hours ago, Banned User said:

Much appreciated munk

 

I grabbed a 4 pack already from Amazon, I'll look at the harbor freight and compare. No drill press here, just a hammer.  I have enough hooks to experiment and figure out how much is too much and how much is just enough, mostly using Trapper Tackle hooks. 

 

Here is a picture of how I do it. 

Heat with a torch.  Center punch on a block of wood.  I've done a bunch of these.  (Only heat once!  Twice and you will weaken the metal.)

Depending on the metallurgy of the hooks, even heating once might change the strength of the hooks.  And it might depend on whether you quench or not after heating, water or oil quench are different.    Lots of variables, so checking them carefully for strength and tendency to be brittle is in order if heating them.

,

On some metallurgies even bending can cold work the metal and make it brittle.  If one buys an open eye hook I would think it capable of being closed without problems. 

^^^this^^^ plus heating can destroy the nickel plating inviting corrosion into the stress cracks.

Tom

15 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

^^this^^^ plus heating can destroy the nickel plating inviting corrosion into the stress cracks.

Strange things happen- I once was fishing for tarpon in Belize using the hooks of the guide.  My brother had on about a 50 pound tarpon and it got off.  When we looked at the hook the barb was gone.  What could cause a barb to break off?  When a big hook like this is formed, I believe, the barb is cold formed on the hook causing a difference in the electrical characteristics between the cold worked area and the "virgin" area of the hook.  In Belize tackle is very hard to come by and this hook was probably pretty well used, and the salt water ultimately caused a corrosion failure.  From an internet search:  "Cold working metal can indeed form an anodic cell due to the increased strain energy within the metal. This energy translates into an electrode potential that is anodic to the metal in the grains proper. As a result, corrosion can selectively occur along grain boundaries. High localized stress regions within a metal will contain metal atoms at a higher strain energy state, making them anodic to low-stress regions. This phenomenon is particularly evident in fasteners that are subjected to load, where they are more prone to corrosion compared to unloaded fasteners"