Wood Shop
cutting down, rough shaping of lures
Paint Booth/Work Space
final sanding, coating and airbrushing, installing hardware and eyes, buffing
HOW THEY’RE MADE
Wood bodies
My lures are made from a variety of low density wood species including aspen, balsa, cedar, obeche and white pine. Each lure body starts out as a standard size wood turning. After that, it is all free-hand shaping and sanding. Some wood bodies become thinner lures because they need additional sanding after turning.
I start by selecting boards based on color, wood grain pattern and density. I enjoy finding wood that is just right for lure bodies with interesting wood grain patterns. Some wood grains provide natural looking background patterns for shad color lures.
Coating and Painting
I had good results with two-part epoxy coatings back in the 90’s. When I returned to lure building in 2017, I had high expectations for the finish my lures would have. Although it did not go as planned, the combination of paints and coatings is now actually better than I imagined.
I feel very fortunate to have this coating system. My attempts to combine many transparent and semi-transparent layers worked out beautifully.
“I was lucky in the order, buy I’ve always been lucky when it comes to makin’ lures.”
- Joel O’Hearn (in Clint Eastwood’s voice)
Adjust line tie up or down with smooth tool (no teeth). Use rolling/twisting motion to minimize prying against the lure.
Line tie and hook hangers
Long stainless steel wire line ties and hook hangers are painstakingly glued in using an injection needle. This creates a very strong bond, even in low density wood.
The line tie is horizontally installed with annealed stainless steel wire that can be adjusted up or down. The line tie adjustment can be used to fine tune side-to-side movement. A finely tuned Twitch is a top water fishing treasure.