Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey guys! I am trying to put together a tutorial and would like to run it by you for some feedback. My goal is to make it as clear and as simple as possible so that all can understand it. All thoughts and criticism are welcome. Thanks!

First Draft Below:

Making a Lathe-less Popper Tutorial - Draft

By Alexander Arceo aka islandbass

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how I make a popper out of wood without the use of a lathe. It is a low-tech approach, but it works quite well, especially, if you do not have the means to purchase a lathe and the only thing you really need is some elbow grease.

Tools
Safety Goggles
Sanding Block
Hand Drill
¾” Forstner Bit (optional)
Saw – MITRE Saw is a good choice
MITRE Box
A sharpie marker

Materials Needed
¾” Diameter Basswood Dowel
Sandpaper: Coarse 60 grit, Medium, and Fine
Scrap piece of wood large enough to accommodate the dowel.


Cut the basswood dowel to the size you wish with the MITRE saw and box. In bass fishing, typical poppers range from 3” and longer. Choose the length you wish to make your popper. For the purposes of this tutorial, I chose a length of 3”. The dowel should look like the piece lying on the rug in the picture below:



Mark the approximate center of the dowel with a sharpie. This dot will help serve as a reference when sanding.

Put a strip of the coarse sand paper onto the sanding block. Hold the dowel in one hand and the sanding block in the other. The next step is to change the end of the dowel from its current round shape to a square. This is done by sanding one end of the dowel at a shallow angle until it becomes flat and then repeating the process three more times to form the other three sides of your square.


Dowel before sanding



Dowel after sanding end to make square four sides.


It can now be seen that the initially rounded end of the dowel is now in the shape of a square.
The sanding process continues but this time, the pointed corners of the square are sanded at the same low angle that was used to make the square. This will change the square into an octagon.

Continuing to follow this sanding process of sanding the edges will eventually taper the end



Note how the left end is tapered and smooth. The harsh square edges are now gone. It is not a difficult or taxing effort with coarse sandpaper.

Use the medium sandpaper to smooth your piece and if desired repeat the process with fine sandpaper.

Sanding Tips:
To ensure that equal sanding is applied, I used to count the number of times I moved the sander over on each side and applied the same number of strokes to the other sides. After some experience, you will develop a feel for it.
By the time you get to the nearly finishing the octagon, the dowel’s end will be nearly smooth. Don’t hesitate to trust your eyes.
A Mouse sander can be used if you have one.


Making the Popper’s Mouth
There are a variety of shapes the mouth could be and the final decision is yours to make. For this tutorial, I have chosen to make a “moon-faced” popper. It can be done a number of ways such as by sanding it out manually (not recommended) or a Dremel tool, but I believe it is best done with a Forstner bit that has the same diameter of the dowel.

Place the popper to be on top of the scrap piece of wood.



Hold down the plug as firmly as possible and place the drill as shown. Carefully start drilling until the Forstner bit passes through the scrap wood.

NOTE: I did not make up this technique to create a moonfaced popper . I learned it from a tutorial at Tackle Underground (www.tackleunderground.com) and wish to give full credit to the author. I have not been able to find the tutorial on the site since then. My intent in this tutorial is to show the reader how to shape popper plugs without the use of a lathe.



Here is a shot of the dowel with the Forstner bit not completely through. The plastic bag was placed under the scrap piece of wood to make clean up easy and Shop-Vac free.




The only thing that needs to be done is to remove the scrap wood.

From this point forward, the only things that need to be done to the plug are to:

Remove the unwanted material
Prime and paint
Coat with a clear, protective, finish (E.g., Dev Con 2Ton 30-minute Epoxy)
Add hooks and other hardware


My popper-prop





If you repeat the same process on the other side of the dowel, you can make a propeller plug.

Moonfaced “Island Tiger” popper with hand-tied chicken feather flash tail
Golden Glitter Craw Propeller plug with hand-tied chicken feather tail
Non-Moonfaced Redhead popper (done with a Dremel tool) with an X-Rap tail (I got tired of tying tails)

Thanks for reading.

Alexander Arceo aka islandbass

Those are some awesome baits !!! WOW. Just wait until you catch a nice bass with that, might bring you to tears knowing you created that bait

I'm very impressed. Quality and pride in your work will hopefully net you a large reward for your efforts. Congratulations!

Thanks for the great input! This is what I was looking for.

Fishnislife,

Yikes! I don't think I've ever visited that forum!

This is what I call the first phase. The goal was to show how to shape the plug without a lathe. I think some might think a lathe is necessary and I wanted to show them that it is not.

I plan to show the rest of the project some time down the line.

I have built plugs with both screw eyes and through wire. The ones in the photos were all done with screw eyes. If I were to make a heavy duty plug, through wire is one of the best and strongest ways to go but it is much more labor intensive.

I had been wanting to put this together for the longest time, maybe about 1.5 yrs now. I don't think I've seen your plug thread but I will look for it now.

Toni,

It isn't that hard, really! These types of plugs are the easiest. Even if you're off a little, the weight of the belly trebles will usually balance out the plug. This is not so with crankbaits though.

When I get the chance, I will cover what Paul Harvey would say is, "The rest of the story." Thanks for your patience.

There ya go. Looks good Islandbass....

Thanks for the pictures and tutorial!

fishnislife wrote:You got it man. I think you have the makings of a great tutorial. One that I will be able to benefit from for sure. Keep the cool stuff coming. We all enjoy it.
I think it would be cool to throw together a write up on how you make that rod holder too. That thing is tight and you could sell the crap out of it if you wanted to. Shore anglers everywhere are always looking for an easier way to lug around their gear.



fishnislife

That is also in the works. o:) It's coming and hopefully sooner than later.

A taste of a preview... o:)


I used a regular drafter's triangle to keep it simple, but other shapes can be used to hold more rods.
Top Triangle in photo - Base
* Three PVC endcaps are attached by way of a screw and then covered by pipe insulation foam. The foam covers the screw and protects the butts of the rods.
Bottom Triangle - Top

Instead of using a jig saw to carve out the slots for the blanks, the forstner bit was used to make two holes for each of the 3 slots. A dremel tool with the drum sander did the rest as can be seen below.


Next, add a lining of felt to the inside of the slots. There is no need to sand the slots smoth. I think the rougher the better for improved adhesion, but that is just a guess.

... Add the velcro to the top as shown here:

I used 2 Ton Epoxy to adhere the velcro to the top triangle.

Okay, I guess that's all for now. I will definitely run it by you guys too. Thanks! o:)

Great stuff islandbass, I just might have to give them a try.

I didnt even think to do a how-to on building a rod rack when I built mine. Crap.

This thread holds more and more promise.

E

islandbass,

shot me a PM whe you have posted the rest of this tutorial. I'd like to publish it under Tacklebox Tales so it gets properly archived on the main part of the site.

thanks!

man we are going to have to hook up on union or something when the topwater bite is on so I can see you fishing this thing in person!

islandbass wrote:

fishnislife wrote:You got it man. I think you have the makings of a great tutorial. One that I will be able to benefit from for sure. Keep the cool stuff coming. We all enjoy it.
I think it would be cool to throw together a write up on how you make that rod holder too. That thing is tight and you could sell the crap out of it if you wanted to. Shore anglers everywhere are always looking for an easier way to lug around their gear.



fishnislife

That is also in the works. o:) It's coming and hopefully sooner than later.

A taste of a preview... o:)


I used a regular drafter's triangle to keep it simple, but other shapes can be used to hold more rods.
Top Triangle in photo - Base
* Three PVC endcaps are attached by way of a screw and then covered by pipe insulation foam. The foam covers the screw and protects the butts of the rods.
Bottom Triangle - Top

Instead of using a jig saw to carve out the slots for the blanks, the forstner bit was used to make two holes for each of the 3 slots. A dremel tool with the drum sander did the rest as can be seen below.


Next, add a lining of felt to the inside of the slots. There is no need to sand the slots smoth. I think the rougher the better for improved adhesion, but that is just a guess.

... Add the velcro to the top as shown here:

I used 2 Ton Epoxy to adhere the velcro to the top triangle.

Okay, I guess that's all for now. I will definitely run it by you guys too. Thanks! o:)

THERE IT IS! Ya buddy! Get ready for the orders to start coming in. :thumright Can't wait for the right up on both of these. The Tacklebox Tales will be a good spot too.



fishnislife