Holy crap Paul!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Chris that wood is " beetle wood pine". Light stuff. It come from dead trees in Colorado killed by the beetle. Turns wood blue/gray in spots. Tight grain. Sands smooth .

Cool, got something in mind for it finally!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Thanks Paul. I have J's 7" specs but if you have your specs handy great. I can compare the 2 and work with both.

Let's go swimming
 

Taking these 3 big girls for a swim today. Have to test the surface and mid diver. The deep will go along for the ride. Had requests for shallow running pikes. The surface wood is 54grams w/14grams of lead, mid is 65grams w/22 grams lead and deep is 85 grams w/ 28 grams lead. Have weights ringed with white electrical tape to facilitate changing. Going to try staggering and mixing front to back also. If I can get the surface one to swim with the heavier weight in rear hole, this should help casting.

Very cool.

I've not fooled much with pikies but have always admired the CCBC proportions and shape.

I tried a little but cutting that subtle concave slope has proven frustrating. Can't do it on a 3-4" radius. The concavity at the rear of the slope always ends up too steep. You need a drum about 20-30" in diameter. Next time I think I'll try a sanding belt glued to the drive wheel of a big bandsaw. Alternatively some sort of jig to move the plug in a slight curved path while held on its side against a drill press sanding drum or shaper bit might work.

As for depth control, varying the weights is one way but you might also fool with the lip. Those square bend old style CCBC lips pull a plug down hard (which I think is why they used such a short drop in the bend.....to moderate the diving effect some). You might consider opening the angle a bit and reducing the length of the lip.

Sanding drum with a jig with the appropriate radius and holding the plug on it's side like you said will do the trick.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nothing wrong with a hard slope......it helps!:kewl:

George I use a spindle sander with a 4" sanding sleeve. Using the tenons for sliding on table fence. I do cut the top of front tenon off after lip slot is cut prior to slope.
I did use a pike 3 at first which had a shorter length until I went to the reinforced salty3. I was going to change back this time around but the guys said , NO. The testing came out good. Got the surface swimmer to work with one 7 gr weight and a 7 gr tail weight. Slowed the tail down and had a S wiggle when reeled faster. The mid with a 7 gr front weight and 11 gr rear hole. The deeps still have 2- 14gr weight slugs.

I realize it's not Sunday yet but spent the day off making time in the basement. Getting a few different needles to swim at different depths.I did do one sample of the horizontal lead rod hole drilled thru blank. I'll probably sneak away tomorrow to give them a swim. Gotta love these temps. Got all the pikes weighted and sealed. Poured a bunch of 1/2oz slugs for them. Gonna change up my priming to brushing the gold label zinseer instead of blowing it all over the place. For the needles I'll cut the paint a little to dip them. 2 coats either way as usual.

Nice Pikies Billy! I started on these this week. Finally made a fixture to get the slopes the same each time.These are going to be surface pikies and I have some done in ayc that I want to make medium divers.
Hope everyone has a good Christmas!

Ryan that's a nice set up. I like your sled. Santa would be proud! LOL I have been using the tenons as the guides along a fence. Virtually the tenons don't get cut off until every procedure is drilled or shaped . I do have a sled built for the screw holes that secure the lip. I mount it in the front hook hole and support the tail they the hole with a drill bit. Using heavier weight lead slugs in your same weight holes say double the weight, should get them to dive deeper i.e. Surface , mid and deep have approx 1/2oz difference between them and a lip adjustment. Weather is nice for testing if you can.

Thanks for posting that, Ryan. Simpler solution than what I'd been considering.

I love fixtures. Great solution. Nice plugs all.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Billy thanks for the tips, Hopefully I can give them a swim tomorrow

No problem George glad I could help

Finally got around to turning a batch of 5.5" spoon lips, some out of red cedar and some out of ayc

Red cedar versions weigh 1-1.25oz and the ayc ones weigh in around 1.5oz

One small 4.8 gram belly weight.

Lips are SS and where custom made for a builder and i was lucky enough to get a few.

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...psv5jj0phf.jpg

Got em sealed up tonight

Also restoring a rat swimbait for a buddy, thing is pretty beat up, but sanded it down to bare wood, removed the lip and eyes, removed all the excess epoxy/glue and resealed it. Most of these freshwater swimbaits aren't sealed at all and they get stupid $$ for em. Crazy the amount of sealer it soaked up.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Should have a nice tail kick. Weight about mid ship?

I'm in the process of finding out why.

Looking good so far.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Yeah makes a huge wake on the surface, and yes just about mid way with the weight
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

That's awesome. So much work to get the shape.

Mikes custom plugs makes a killer one, single hook on the front section and swims crazy
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I HATE SANDING DRUMS!!!!!

That is all

Spent most of the day turning needles ,working on pikes and filling weights holes.,more to do tomorrow.

Needles? Pikies? Bah Humbug. It is January, no need yet for anything that you will actually use. Now is the time to take a walk on the wild side.

Bottle darter, jointed darter thingy? Neat
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

They probably hate you too
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Pt Jude Swim-a-long
Jinx
Predator
Dalecki (Lucky's) Darter
Swimbait
Lobster

None of it has been test swum.......... since that requires sanding, paint, and going outside, none of which I find appealing these days. Plus swimming them may ruin the fun.

I agree but like you said looks like some fun builds. I hope to prime some stuff outside today if wind is not too busy. Got a few sprayed yesterday. I am building a paint booth fan set up using a furnace blower. My booth set up died so I need to get it done pronto. The drive motor will be out side the paint flow using a seperate cabinet for the blower and driven by pulley connected to the motor externally. Need to get pulleys, bearings for long drive shaft, and support plates to support the bearings and cage. Using a design from a u tube video I saw a bunch of years ago that is not there now so kind of winging it from memory and common sense both of which is not great.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nice work! I was going to try making a predator this winter.I have a 1oz. Plastic version to go off of. From what I read the larger version fishes better?
The Dalecki darter looks pretty cool.I'm guessing that's birch or maple?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Paul Was it the one built by the Pro wood carver, with the 2 cabinets connected via 4" tubing on either side, then ducted to the outside? If so I built a similar cabinet based on his dimensions.

Douglas