01-26-2005, 12:12 PM
[cool][#0000ff]I have used the vice for flattening the heads parallel with the hook. However, when you squash them down around the hook, it becomes a different set of problems.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I partially solve this with a piece of smooth steel bar, with a small hole running through it. I put the eye of the hook in the hole, and it does flatten the lead. But, it leaves a round cylinder, the size of the hole, up along the hook shank.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I found, by experimentation, that you DO have to flatten the whole head together. You can't get a good even form if you squeeze first the top and then the bottom. And, depending on the size of the hook and head, some of them cannot fit in even a small vice...except for the vertical squeeze.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yep, it's easy to get the "aspirin" shaped jigs, but it is tough to get the glider shapes. Takes some concentrated pounding, using the right tools and techniques. Even then, I ruined quite a few heads in the process. Of course, I just trim or melt off the lead and repour the hooks later.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the biggest messups was pounding the heads down TOO FLAT. If the lead was too thin to support the bend in the hook, the hook would rotate from side to side. I suspect that some of the ones I "passed" and painted will break if I grab the head while landing or unhooking a fish. My future models will be not quite so thin. The thinner and flatter the head, the better the gliding action but the weaker the hold on the angled jig hook.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I am looking forward to trying some of the bigger models, made from 1 oz. spearhead jigs, to tantalize some cutts and macks. The balance is good, for a horizontal presentation. I am betting the controlled fall, with a slide and flutter, will show them something different.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I partially solve this with a piece of smooth steel bar, with a small hole running through it. I put the eye of the hook in the hole, and it does flatten the lead. But, it leaves a round cylinder, the size of the hole, up along the hook shank.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I found, by experimentation, that you DO have to flatten the whole head together. You can't get a good even form if you squeeze first the top and then the bottom. And, depending on the size of the hook and head, some of them cannot fit in even a small vice...except for the vertical squeeze.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Yep, it's easy to get the "aspirin" shaped jigs, but it is tough to get the glider shapes. Takes some concentrated pounding, using the right tools and techniques. Even then, I ruined quite a few heads in the process. Of course, I just trim or melt off the lead and repour the hooks later.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of the biggest messups was pounding the heads down TOO FLAT. If the lead was too thin to support the bend in the hook, the hook would rotate from side to side. I suspect that some of the ones I "passed" and painted will break if I grab the head while landing or unhooking a fish. My future models will be not quite so thin. The thinner and flatter the head, the better the gliding action but the weaker the hold on the angled jig hook.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I am looking forward to trying some of the bigger models, made from 1 oz. spearhead jigs, to tantalize some cutts and macks. The balance is good, for a horizontal presentation. I am betting the controlled fall, with a slide and flutter, will show them something different.[/#0000ff]
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