How many steps to make an Old Dog?

How many steps does it take to make an Old Dog?

Have you ever looked at a lure and wondered just what went into making it? As I am sure you will appreciate a lot of time, effort and money go into making a handcrafted timber fishing lure.

There is a lot of trial and error, blood, sweat and tears too before you even get to make your first lure for sale. The process varies slightly from model to model but for the purposes of this exercise, we are going to use the Jew Dog 150mm as our “Show" Dog.

We are going to pick up the process from once the timber arrives in the Dog House. The process can be divided into three sections and these three sections overlap in some areas:

• The woodworking
• The assembly
• The painting

We actually have two sections in our operation, the production department and the warehousing department and again there is a slight overlap.

The Production:

The timber is cut on the table saw into suitable sizes for the lathe according to the dimensions of the lure;
These timber billets are centre marked to ensure correct placement in the lathe;
Lure body is turned on the lathe;
The ends are cut off the turned blank;

Hole placement is marked on the body for the eyelets;
Holes are drilled for the eyelets;
Holes are drilled for the weight;
The Bib slot is cut;

Holes are drilled for the rattle chamber;
The weight and the rattle are inserted;
Timber plugs are glued to cover the holes;
The Lure is hand sanded;

The Lure is tumbled for further sanding;
The Lure is sealed prior to painting;
The Eyelets glued into the lure;
The Bib is glued in;
The Lure is racked for dipping;
Each Lure is dipped in Primer 5 times;
Artwork applied by airbrush – some lures depending on the colour pattern have up to nine pot changes during this process;
Eyes are painted on;
The Lure then has two coats of clear applied;
The Lure is removed from the painting rack;

The Warehousing:

Hooks and rings attached;

 

The lure is then tank tested. During this process, the lure is tuned ensuring it has the desired swimming action. At this point, the lure may be rejected.

Rejection of a lure can take place at any point during the entire process but if you get it to the final stage and it doesn’t meet the requirements it is rejected meaning destroyed. It’s a dog eat dog world!
The Lure is then packed and stored, waiting to be adopted and sent to its new home. So in the case of a Jew Dog 150mm, it takes 25 steps to make this Old Dog.