Thinkin out loud--

[BigFish]

I believe its all moot once you add either belly weight and/or the swivel and belly/tail hooks.

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I believe its all moot once you add either belly weight and/or the swivel and belly/tail hooks.

nope, not so true Larry

back when BM and I started making needles, we test floated them in salt water in a bucket to see how they sat and how they sunk and how fast or slow the sunk. Then we used the same water to float round blanks that were destined to be swimmers, because even doing the roll test on a flat surface like the tablesaw, they still were not quite right. Jigman is correct about the density of the grain being different in different parts of the wood, even from the same sticks. It is much more accurate to float the wood, there is nothing wrong with raised grain, once dry, it sands smooth. Hooks and belly weights are not enough to compensate for some discrepincies in the wood density on some plugs. It might seem like a picky thing to do, but it gets results. If I made bottle swimmers, I would definately float them before any cutting or drilling. If you ever made pikies with small knots in the wood, you'd see that it matters where they are.



"
When i mark my belly holes with a pencil spinning on the lathe, it will hit on the high sides and not the low. I would think if you drilled the belly holes on the high side that would be the heaviest side of the plug and lay down on that side."

Dave, not neccesarilly.
take some round stock, now sand a flat spot along one side all along it's length. flaot it and see how it sits

[BigFish]

But you tested wood that had not been weighted or had the hardware applied. I still believe the weight of the hardware will negate the variations in the density in the wood as at that point it is less than negligible. The applied weight from the hardware will dominate/dictate the action of the plug as the center of gravity will be where the most weight is applied.....thats my opinion and I am sticking to it. I did discuss this very point with an engineer and it was also his opinion. You say tomato and I say tom-ah-toe.

Keep on pluggin' kids!

[Slipknot]

that's correct Larry if the plug is simply just sitting in the water.

but we usually apply a force to the lure as it goes thru the water to swim like a fish, any slaight differences in the balance of the plug can be magnified as the plug is moved thru the water. I took mechanical engineering in college and I'm sticking to it

all in all, the balance can be thrown off even more when the thru wiring hole is drilled, since it is rare that they will be drill to exact tollerances.

you can drive yourselves crazy with piciune stuff, they are just plugs.

I gotta go make some boxes now

[BigFish]

I respect peoples passion and opinions.....especially yours Bruce. Thats why threads like this one are so good....you hear others opinions. I also will stick to my guns.....as I have seen nothing to prove otherwise in how my plugs perform.

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by BigFish

But you tested wood that had not been weighted or had the hardware applied. I still believe the weight of the hardware will negate the variations in the density in the wood as at that point it is less than negligible. The applied weight from the hardware will dominate/dictate the action of the plug as the center of gravity will be where the most weight is applied.....:

Not saying the force will overcome lead and hardware .. Just be nice to have the 2 working together.Karl ,,stop pissing in my shoe ..

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

"
When i mark my belly holes with a pencil spinning on the lathe, it will hit on the high sides and not the low. I would think if you drilled the belly holes on the high side that would be the heaviest side of the plug and lay down on that side."

Dave, not neccesarilly.
take some round stock, now sand a flat spot along one side all along it's length. flaot it and see how it sits

Slip, you are right. Took a plug i just turned, penciled it, and Taga

hydroriented it. Suprise, suprise, it floated with the high side up and

the flat side down. . Granted that's only one plug, but as i

finish up this batch i will test each one the same way and see what

the results are for all 15.


Rollem Theory, Hdro Theory, Turning out of round Theory, Density Theory, Drill 'em wherever ya want Theory---all good.
But Karl,-- Hold On Danny Theory, waaaaay to dangerous.

Ya keep me learnin.

[Karl F]

Qoute from Slip: Hooks and belly weights are not enough to compensate for some discrepincies in the wood density on some plugs.

Amen to that!.. I have seen this firsthand on plugs I've paid for!
I've seen the bucket of saltwater in the BM cave, and you reminded me of how long ol BM (and you too) has been Hydro'ing...
You are right too, center hole alignment is key.. all good stuff..

Thanks Bruce.. and Tagger!

Eddy, not implying U needed to defend anything was just asking if ya ever compared, sorry if ya thought I was pissin in yer shoe.. not my intention at all.

[Raven]

all the above theories......

i went to the crystal ball room

to consult with the great Oracle....

he replied....
````~~~~~

if you make them,

they will swim....

then everything went cloudy

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by Raven

all the above theories......

i went to the crystal ball room

to consult with the great Oracle....

he replied....
````~~~~~

if you make them,

they will swim....

then everything went cloudy

Its not a Theory to me ... after floating maybe 300 blanks its become a conclusion ...

[justplugit]

RAVEN you are out of control.