VN TIPS

I was carrying around an old fishing lure on my keys. It was getting pretty banged up from every day use. Finally it broke to pieces. So I set out to make a duplicate out of Black Walnut. Here is how:

I have a good supply of wood in my workshop. Ash, birch, black walnut, oak, cherry, cedar, pine, apple, and a few exotics that I don't like to use. They are very toxic and require extreme precautions to cut and sand. They irritate skin and mucous membranes, so I try to avoid the using them. Anyway, I chose black walnut. It cuts and sands nicely. It also has a nice grain that adds to the look of the project.  Apple will be my next one, it makes nice tool handles too! The local apple orchards let me have all the fall trimmings I can carry off. Nice people and their apples and produce are great!

Pencil out a rough  shape on the wood. I used the old broken lure that I salvaged and super glued back together.

I used my trusty band saw. Use caution if you are not a seasoned wood worker. These things can bite!

Sand the edges to a nice shape. Imitating the shape of a small bait fish, or use a lure from your tackle box as a guide.

I have plenty of aluminum. So I cut out a spinner plate from some small scrap I had on my messy workbench. The band saw cut this soft metal too. No need to change blades either! You can use a jigsaw if you don't have a band saw. Just use a metal cutting blade in it. Clamp the metal down on your work bench, then cut. File and sand the rough edges too.

Again I used the band saw to cut out a small slot in the wood, matching the thickness of the aluminum spinner plate.

You will need to attach the spinner plate with glue or a pin or nut-bolt combo. I chose a brass pin . It works well and is really quite permanent.

Drill a 3/16" hole in the spinner plate for the brass rod pin. And while your at it another on the opposite side for a key ring.

I pinned the spinner plate with a piece of 3/16 " brass rod. It cuts and peens over nicely. And it adds a classic look to the  lure.

I have plenty of these in my supply/ workbench closet. I saved them over the years from key rings and toys  that people give out with their business ads on them.

Cut the brass rod to a close length for your pin. All for peening  (rounding) over the ends Mark it, then remove it, clamp in a vice , then cut it with a hacksaw, band saw , or jig saw.

With the spinner plate  pinned into the slot,   ground or sand the pin as close to the wood as  needed. Allowing for some brass material to be peened  (rounded) over on both ends with a small hammer. This keeps the pin in place forever! No glue to worry about! 

Use a small hammer, be very careful. Don't tap too hard, the wood may crack here!

I used tiny hook eyes to attach the faux fish hooks. My trusty dremmel did the job of drilling the small holes. Screw in tiny eye hooks now.

I wanted to add the look of real hooks to the lure but did not want to get hooked myself. So I made some faux hooks out of shiny pastic bendable twist ties. They look almost like hooks. Fooled some people too.

I drew in some gills and added eyes scrounged from the broken plastic lure. You can paint or varnish yours. I left mine natural. It gets banged up from everyday use. This adds to the classic old lure look anyway. I like it! Enjoy!