Good topic Joe
For me ,before 1998 I did not own very many plugs, mostly because I had no way of knowing which plugs worked where and which plugs to not waste money on, so I bait fished and eeled alot.
The came the internet and I discovered this fishing site and learned more about plugging. I met Bassmaster in 2001 and we began making a few plugs together all fall and winter long as he was hiding out in the lure forum on the other site. I had some of the famed Habs needles and after fishing a bit with bassmaster and seeing what a needle can do, my first attempt one night was a needlefish plug based on a Habs, It was ugly, a dowel sanded down on a beltsander.
We learned little by little, made our own lips , spent tons of money on supplies, got advice and before you know it we had a good stash to hit the water with in the spring.
I like turning on the lathe the most, creating something from a piece of wood that I can use to catch a fish with. I gives you a great sense of accomplishment as you all know.
I am not sure if there is a part of the process that I don't like the most. The least most enjoyable might be tying tailhhooks or the wiring part.