Being new to this whole plug thing, I have learned alot from those that have shared their expertise in all thing plug making.

I have learned about turning the plugs, what type of wood to use, dimensions to make, finishing techniques to use.
There is two things that I am curious about and would like some advice on
HOW DO YOU SELECT A LIP? AND WHY?

HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TO WEIGHT A PLUG AND HOW TO YOU MANIPULATE THE WEIGHT, MOLDING, POURING, SITEING ON THE BLANK?

ARE THERE RULES OF THUMB? IS IT TRIAL AND ERROR?

SHARE ALL? I'll trade pluggage for advice!!


STRIPERMAN36

Here's what i learned.I took a GIBBS danny an copied it.i figure the weight serves several purposes one I think it adds weight to cast further.two i think it acts like balast to stabize the plug an it kinda works against the lip to act like a pivot point. three i like to put it a little back of center.i think this aids in casting keepin the plug from tumbling to much an fouling on th hooks.Some plugbuilders here make pikies with the weight i the chin.an make em fat this keeps the nose down an the tail up producing the action they desire.lots of things to take in consideration when looking for different actions.like hook placement an lip configurations.A wide lip equals roll an narrow lip equals wobble.u can an should experiment.as it's not ALWAYS the case.As the thickness an lenght of the plug also determine what effects the action.the hieght of which u make ur lip cut on the face of the plug has alot to do with it also.so as u can see there are alot of variables i learned from makin mistakes or when i varied from a particular design.putting the plug in the water an testin is the fun part.I almost always test all my work after i seal it.as i make a few of one design an move to another.so in order to be sure it has the desired action put it together an take it for a swim.sometimes its the smallest thing like size of ur hooks or lip angle.take notes an compare.I don't know aLL the answers so i work at it.its what makes it fun.

I'm pretty new myself. I copy something similar to what I want to make, then play around. You just have to make test plugs and see how they behave in the water...

-spence

NIB summed it up well. There are some general things that you know in advance will affect the action of the plug: type of lip, how it is bent, weight and placement of weight, shape/size of plug, and where the line attaches. When starting out, try making a copy of a plug in your bag that you like. Learn what makes it work the way it does. Once you have it down, experiment some to learn how you can change the action of the plug. Make several that are the same size and of the same wood. Weigh one in the chin and one dead center. Notice the difference in the action? Try a danny type lip on one, a pikie on another, but weigh then the same. See what difference the lip makes? Conducting such experiments will teach you a lot about how to get the action you want from a plug.

When working on something new, I have an idea in advance what action I am after. By knowing some of the basics, I can design the plug along the lines of what I want. Then comes the testing. Try various amounts of weight, or no weight, placement of weight, type of lip, etc. I often go down to my test pond with a few different lips, lead slugs, drill, wire, and various hook sizes to try out on several plugs. Takes some work, but when the stripers start busting your plug while your partner can't buy a strike, it will pay off :D

Jigman

like to add , that You can build Your plugs in sets with the same lip and make 1 with no weight and then the others with weight.
then You test swim and tweak from there.
on pikes i weight some in the chin. and some I dont.
I taper My nose slender so there is less wood up front and vary the thickness of the wood in the tail. and adjust the plug by tuning and also the hook size plays a part in weighting a plug.
your doing the right think cause no matter how pretty the plug is if it dont fish right its worthless.
I let the bass tell me how to build the plugs.
do not forget about wood types.
I can tell You that white cedar and red western cedar with the right lip and body will stay on top in the fastest water with no roll out. I build these only for me and epoxy the plug after it is turned
for more strenth as the wood is softer YET more BOYANT.
so a danny out of red cedar and weighted right will swim awsome
I made My self some and they have no roll at all and have caught a ton of fish. so as You see make what works for You put your time into your plugs testing and I may add test them at a inlet on a ebbing tide so You can work them in fast water.
a few other things you can do is crank as fast as You can to see if the plug will roll out or runn erratic almost dart, that is the point where it wants to roll out.


when You go to tune your plugs, bend eye up= dive and less roll

bend eye down= plug stays up and may introduce roll
bend lip down = plug stays up but may add some roll
bend it up alittle and it will take a little roll out and wiggle alittle tighter on some plugs.
THERE IS A SWEET SPOT for each plug You have
You may bend the eye up yet bend the lip down to get the plug to swim right, this is called tweaking dont think you cant bend the eye up and lip down, I know most dont tune this way as the think as they bend the lip down it adds roll. But You are bending eye up to take out the roll.
hope You get what Im saying.
Solid colors are the balls as You can have roll in plug and it wont be noticed and the plug will swim nice id Youw ant it to snake
snake usually has roll in it on some plugs.

always make Your plugs to test on fish in proven colors
solid white and solid yellow or blue and white or blue pink white ect....
hope this helps:)

There was a cool article in this month's On the Water mag on plug making. Goes through some of the things we've mentioned here, but probably written better. Worth checking out. Main things to consider: what are the conditions like where you intend to use the plug, and what bait is present in these areas. Knowing these will help you to design a plug for those particular areas.

Jigman