Finishing Lure Shop/Getting Started with Pencils

[Eric Roach]

My 11' x 13' lure shop is framed-out in the basement. An electrician is coming today to add a sub-panel and to wire the outlets & lighting. I have my new Jet 1014I, a 1hp dust collector, a 17" drill press and a mitre saw. A 14" bandsaw and an air filtration unit are on order. I still have to pick up a belt/disc sander, a grinder to sharpen lathe tools, a lead smelter for jigs and lure weights and a Vega (down the road). I'm going to pass on a table saw for now and just rip my stock with the bandsaw.

It's been a lot of fun getting set-up. I'm really excited. Usually the winter is just a long drawn-out wait for the bass to return, but I'm really looking forward to the time I have to build. I figure I'll be finished with the basement and ready to turn by the first week of January.

I have a good friend in NH who turns and locally sells his spooks, poppers, pikies & dannys, so I feel I have a little bit of a headstart in tool selection, building technique & safety.

I'm going to initially stick to making pencils/skippers throughout the winter as I learn the differences in wood characteristics, weighting, manipulating action, etc.

I like pencils with these types of action:
1. A model that can whippy-stick well in a wind-blown chop with minimal nose-diving.
2. A model that walks-the-dog like a spook at a slow/medium clip in calm water.
3. A model that is a compromise between the two (something like a Gibbs).

I'm wondering if anyone has any beginner's advice in terms of wood type for pencils in general, and possibly for these desired actions in particular.

Thanks,

Eric