Got an idea the other day while turning and had to make 5 of these to test out, 5 because that's how many pieces of wood I had ready.

It's based on a musso senior, cut a joint at the mid way point, two 6 gram weights used, 1 in each section, under the thru wire.

Plug is about 1.5" at the thickest part.

Got the weights in place and will seal this weekend hopefully and go test em out

8.5" and 4oz with 6x 4/0 vmc hooks on wolverine rings, the hooks don't marry, or catch the joint, lip or tail.

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...psui556uda.jpg
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Musso made a giant jointed plug. There is a picture in the bassdozer article (but I don't know how to capture it and redisplay).

I have it printed out already and it's on the wall, it's much bigger than my version and thinner. His version was 10" and 3.25oz based on what's in the article
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Did get some afternoon plug work. First coat System 3 a few stubbys , painted remaining stubbys, spun a dozen wadd style out of walnut and did a sample of maple for weight. About approx 10 -16 gram difference between the 2 different species. I'll be weighting walnut to slow sink and the maple/birch wadd to sink and ascend sub surface when retrieved.

Just went to check the plugs I coated last night with system 3 And was very surprise that the first coat looked very good. Smooth. Normally the first coat isn't great. Two changes I did was to use a soft camel hair brush, not an acid brush and also since it's cold outside, my furnace is running and the plugs are on a rack next to it. With e tex a stiffer brush pushed the epoxy and a blast with heat gun flowed it out bit system 3 the gun didn't seem to do much. So I just coated and hung them. Always learning.

Got plenty to turn. Pikes today AYC. Needles, maple next week. Finish coating stubbys w/second coat. BTW I got AYC delivered to my door from Liberty Cedar. Not bad. Nice service and nice people on the phone. Used to buy online for more money plus $$$$$ shipping.

Here are those specs Billy . Hope you can decipher them. These are the 6" one I think you wanted the Seniors. if so I will find those specs too.

Well I have all 4 of the darters I intended to make this winter fully machined. That was the easy part now trying to get even half of them to the end result, hooks and water, will be the challenging part. Seems like I run out of steam at the epoxy stage every year. Getting that old Delta bandsaw from Capesams really made it much easier not having to rely on the saw at work. Now I have all the fixtures done and made for this specific saw and it is so much easier not having to take it down for others to use the saw. Everything comes out exact to the .005 every time on every aspect of the plug. Have a few 6 oz ones I am still toying with and several jointed ones going too for fun. Got the eelskin conrads done to the lip slot stage, again the bandsaw at home will make things easier. Also got some one off's and promised pieces in various stages. Sealing is up next for most of my stuff.

Geezus, now I feel even worse.

Damn Paul, busy man!!

I'll take a jointed darter in all yellow please! But really I need one!

Test swam the musso senior inspired plug, thing waked on top like crazy and with a long hackle tail looked like a big snake, made a nice knocking sound too

Started working on a 6"/2oz spoon lip plug, test swam the proto this week, tail wagged on top on a slow crank and about 12" down on a faster retrieve, best part was it would not roll out no matter how hard or fast you cranked it. Going to make some in WRC I got from Frank O, and some in ayc.

Only got like 6 more random plugs to epoxy, thankfully

Got some wood from BillyD last year from the CSA demo day, Billy any idea what it was, think it's 2" square, think you said it was from some high end pallets

Going to start gettingbthe wood ready for pikies and Donny's, probably my least favorite part of plug building is trimming the stock, marking it and drilling it
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

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