# It's Official....I have ran out of bench space!!!



## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

Darn you Tigger and VC.....Well actually it was FishOn that got me started originally in making floats, but now have started to piddle around in the crankbait realm.

Today it is official, I no longer have any room on my bench for another power tool. So, I am going to have to build a bigger bench!!!!

This maddness all started with my first tool....The Wood Lathe. It sure does take up alot of room on my bench. 

Then I needed a Drill press.....This being so I could drill holes into wood blanks for pens....So off I went to the store, and brought home a shiney new drill press....Hey it has a light too....

Then I realized my Gouge, Skew, and Parting tools were dull.....Hey I need a grinder to sharpen them up.....Of I went to the store to get a grinder....My wife is smart...she is already catching onto my sneaking stuff into the garage and setting it up....

How the heck to hold something tight in your hands when trying to cut or sand....Oh wait, I need a vice for my bench....Off to the store I go...I bring home a nice shiney vice.....

I need to cut some 45 degree angles to make a drying box for both crankbaits and floats....Not very successful with a hand saw trying to get a nice clean cuts at angles....Heck I need a miter saw now....AHHHHHH...it's Christmas...I put it on my list...Santa brought me a miter saw....It fit onto my workbench nicely....

Do you know how hard it is to cut straight lines on lets say like plywood.....I need a differant saw because my miter saw doesn't cut really long boards or plywood etc....I need a skill saw.....Off to the store I go....Bring home a nice new Skill Saw.....

Do you know how long it takes print out a paper template of a crank bait, glue it to a piece of wood, and then sand a block of wood from being square, to being even remotely close to a crankbait....You know I could be faster if I could cut out and around that paper template with a scroll saw.....Hell, I need a scroll saw...that will help me be quicker....Off to the store I go to buy a scroll saw.....It sure does make things quicker...

My floor is super dusty, my bench has shavings all over it, and things are looking a mess....Painting on the bench with the airbrush is becomming a pain due to wood dust....I need some sort of dust control. Of I go to the store....Getting a super duty vacume to be attached to the wood lathe and used when wood and dust is flying.....Dust problem pretty much now solved.

I must not have small enough fingers when sanding those tricky angles on crankbaits. Boy if I had a Dremel tool, I could really get into those tight spots with a sanding disk...I could also cut my lipslots on those smaller baits.....Off to the store I go for a Dremel Tool....

Swimbaits....whats a swim bait!!!! Go search the internet for some ideas of what these things really are....HOLY SMOKES!!!! Those are sweetness...they look like they are really swimming in the water....I want to make them......I need another tool....A Bansaw is what I need so I can make those nice clean V-Cuts into the wood to make the moveable joints....I haven't yet purchased this item...No room on the bench....

Belt Sander, ain't got it...probably need it......

Paint Booth....Ain't got it...probably need it.....

Better Lighting in the Garage....Ain't got it....Do need it....

Cabinets to hide all the paints, laquers, enamels, miscellaneous tools, etc... Ain't got them yet...need them up on the wall...

Needless to say, I have ran out of bench space, I have the lure building bug, and probably don't see an end in sight.....

Those who think they can make money at building lures is kidding themselves.....I would have to make lures for the next 10 years to break even.

I look forward to adding more bench space and buying more toys to fill it with.

My question to those of you with the bug is this. What is your top 3 tools that you couldn't live without to build plugs?

Mine are....

1. drill press
2. Scroll Saw
3. Dremel for sanding


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## Swede (Jan 17, 2008)

bandsaw dremel drillpress


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## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

Drill press, belt sander, vertical band saw


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

You still need a radial arm saw, jig saw and a table saw. You need partition her laundry room and use 2/3 of it for your big tools.

Did you have to run 220 yet to your garage?

I always wanted a wood lathe and a belt sander.


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## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

I wasn't thinking when we had our basement finished prior to us moving into it. The entire basement, except for a small room around the waterheater/furnance area is drywall, carpet, recreation room style....I should have had a divider wall put up to creat a long room that I could create workshop in my basement with nice workbench, cabinets, lots of electrical outlets, etc.......

I don't know how much it would cost me to put up a wall after the fact, but I am considering it....The garage has her car and my boat in it already...I need more room....haha...


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## fugarwi7 (Sep 20, 2006)

Welcome to the madness! The only tools I have are a 1"belt/8"disc sander combo, hand drill and jig saw...would like to get a bandsaw...everything else is shaped with sandpaper and elbow grease...I need a heated 20 x 40 shed to set up a shop the way I want...which leads me to more property, which leads me to a new house in the country, which leads me to...OMG, see what you started!!!


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2008)

Hey KSUFLASH on the storage thing. If you can find some one redoing a kitchen ask if you can have the cabnets. I got mine that way. Took them down myself and help the home owner out of with the cost of tearout. 2cts.


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

KSU great post! LOL

It is like you are telling my life story! HA HA

I hear you on breaking even if ever. It adds up fast for sure.

I did the same thing ....... it started in the garage then it went to the basement. I had to frame in a room of coarse.............. then the tool stuff you mentioned .............followed by hardware (screw eyes, hooks, split rings , and paint) etc etc. Oh forgot about lights and electrical plugs. Oh I forgot about adding a microwave to warm the epoxy a bit before applying (envirotex). That way I won't have to go to the kitchen! LOL.......... Oh I needed to get a bigger drying wheel turner........... SO I got a pig turner (LOL) etc...etc....etc. LOL Its finally getting to where I like it. I will try to take some pics for you later........ It may help you a bit.

For sure the number one thing is a bandsaw I found out. I got a scroll saw but on the thicker wood it was harder. I kept breaking blades.

#2 a table top sander..... I like the combination disc and beltsander type. It is just a sears craftsman. It works great.

#3 air compressor for airbrushing. I also use it alot with an airsander

I have been lucky about not getting a drill press yet. I have been drilling everything with a battery drill. It is in the future for sure.

I am lucky to work at a cabinet shop. I guess I forget that I use the table saw and chopsaw there.

Lately I have been falling in love with a dremmel set that I got way before I started building lures. I put it away and thought I will never really use this thing. Man I use it all the time now


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

I took some pics of my little shop. It may help a bit. Here are some hand tools I can't do without. Battery drill, Dremmel, Electric sander, air sander (wet sanding drips in clear coat), Heat gun (got it from harbor freight $8 bucks!!!!!!! they have a ton of them always). Weight scale from wally world in the food section. I can weigh the two parts of epoxy for mixing. Also get a power strip. Helps with having alot of them plugged in at one time while working.










These are my work horses. Band saw and the bench top sander. The lathe I just got and haven't finished the first blank yet










Here is a pic of the drying wheel. I got a pig roaster on ebay. I used some all thread from Lowes or Home depot. I took plywood and made circles and used nuts and washers to lock in place. I can change the set-up with spaces by moving the circles. I always have a torch right there for removing the airbubbles. It has the quick fire for one hand lighting.










The spray booth area........ I vented it out my little basement window. I put a squirl cage type fan on top and used duct work to lead it out the window. It is behind the radio at the top. The radio helps calm the savage beast at times in me! LOL I have a trap door at the top I open when I am ready to spray. I wired it to a light switch for easy on/off. I hang wires down to hold the baits while they dry. Kinda a mess in there. I just swept the floor and put everything in there! LOL










Here is a pic of the a little storage area for pictures and epoxy storage. I put a little microwave there. I helps warming the epoxy. The basement is only about 62 degrees. It helps let the mixing process happen and lets the bubbles out easier while mixing. I have a little island in the center of the shop. I really like it this way. You can work around the area and turn at each little station and have a bench right there to set things on.










Storage cabinets and such. You can go to the Kraftmaid sell off by the Warren area. I think they have it like 3 saturdays a month. They will sell all cabinets uppers and lowers for 25 bucks a cabinet. They have pull-outs and such in them. Great cabinets a low cost. Great for the garage also!!!!!!

I hope this helps

John


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## eyesman_01 (Jan 4, 2007)

Only 3?

hmmmmm....... the ones I use the most are the scroll saw, drill press, and sander. But then the little mini compressor for my airbrush is right in there too. And the paintbooth I built is just the cat's meow for venting the fumes out of the basement and away from ignition sources such as furnace and water heater. Shop-vac a must. My baits are small enough I haven't needed a bandsaw yet. Actually, I'd like a small press for stamping out my own trolling spoon blanks..... Yeh, how far is this really gonna go?


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## eyesman_01 (Jan 4, 2007)

KSUFLASH said:


> Those who think they can make money at building lures is kidding themselves.....I would have to make lures for the next 10 years to break even.


It's like me driving 3 hours for 5# of walleye fillets. Is it cost effective. NO. Do I enjoy doing it. YES, tremendously. Now building my own, the price of those fillets just went waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy up.


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

Great thread.

I have my stuff separated into three locations. In the basement, I do all the wood stuff. 

My paint shop is a heated room on the back of the garage; its an 8x8 space and I'm really grateful to have a place to just leave things when I'm done as opposed to having to store everything when I'm done. 

I have a bedroom upstairs, which is my favorite location for the lure building process. I've removed all the normal stuff you keep in a spare bedroom and installed a work bench with a nice piece of counter top over storage cabinets I built myself. This is where I do all the other 16 or 17 steps in building a lure, such as weighting, installing the lips and screw eyes, carving gill details, clearing, foiling, etc. I love the upstairs shop more than the paint shop or the wood shop. I have a stereo in there along with my computer. I can relax, fire up some Pink Floyd or Sirius Satellite Radio, or jump online to see the great stuff you guys are working on. I can also use the scanner and a few other programs to design new stuff or alter old designs. I like hangin' out up there and I can't tell you how many times my wife has come in and said, "Hey, it's 2:00 am, are you going to get some sleep tonight?" 

KSU, I got a big smile on my face when I read your initial post. It is an addictive hobby and it does require a lot in the way of supplies and logistics, but, most of the stuff you need is extremely useful for other household applications (but please don't mention that to my wife...she's been bugging me to start building bird houses for her     ...and she keeps saying, "But I don't want any scales on them."   )


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## hazmail (Oct 26, 2007)

KSUFLASH said:


> I wasn't thinking when we had our basement finished prior to us moving into it. The entire basement, except for a small room around the waterheater/furnance area is drywall, carpet, recreation room style....I should have had a divider wall put up to creat a long room that I could create workshop in my basement with nice workbench, cabinets, lots of electrical outlets, etc.......
> 
> I don't know how much it would cost me to put up a wall after the fact, but I am considering it....The garage has her car and my boat in it already...I need more room....haha...


If you can build a lure you can certainly build a wall. Have a go at it. pete


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

ben this is starting to sound like "the taxidermy" that found its tragic death in the market place


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## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

Sure does sound like taxidermy event doesn't it Jim... 

Only differance here is all these tools I am buying for this lure crafting, in fact I can use around the house for the honey do's stuff.

flash-----------------------------out


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

KSUFLASH said:


> Sure does sound like taxidermy event doesn't it Jim...
> 
> Only differance here is all these tools I am buying for this lure crafting, in fact I can use around the house for the honey do's stuff.
> 
> flash-----------------------------out


and you cant use a fish skiner? lol


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## bassattacker (Mar 14, 2007)

that is one big list of tools, i always read the topics in here its really cool to see what u all do with all these tools, one thing im glad about, when the time comes that i attempt to make my own bait im so glad that my grand mother worked for shopsmith and i have every wood working/metal or any other tool that i would need to use at my disposal, including there newest multi purpose peice. so if i would have to have 3 i would say the all in one scrollsaw/disc sander/ beltsander/lathe (metal or wood) / table saw w/guide bar adjustment angles/ ballon sander attachment/drill press/ shopvac attachment, so im ready to make some baits i first just need a garage of my own to set it up.


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