Profile Crank Tool

[Barbra Lidder]

Threadthe tool in the spindle with the round thing that is loose in between the end of tool and arm and hit the tool with a hammer,this will push it out the spindle out other side side and the crank on the side you are hitting will become loose,do the same on the other side if you need both arms to come out.

The "round thing" is used during installation, not removal so don't use it like mentioned above. You'll damage the crank arm spindle boss that way when pounding the arm loose with a hammer. The installation collar will bottom out and damage the arm.

Just thread in the tool into the spindle bolt holes, without the installation collar until it bottoms out on the spindle and tap away with a hammer while holding the other crank arm so you don't drop anything when the spindle comes loose.

Just in case remove the collar to be safe. Some (not you and usually kids) don't know when to stop hammering and may just keep on banging until that collar bottoms out on the boss and wind up damaging things. Without the collar, there is nothing to hit the edges of the crank arm spindle boss and the tool simply passes through the crank arm boss when the arm comes off the spindle.

I don't bang a spindle on so I'm unsure what you mean regarding that. The tool with the collar on will set the spindle in far enough and then simply tightening the spindle bolts will pull the crank arm on until it butts up against the bearing spacers.

To remove the crank simply remove your axle bolts, undo the bolt on the crank removal tool so you can place it over the axle end of your crank arm. (As you can see in the photo below you can do this even with a chainwheel or spider on the bike.) Then simply tighten the bolt and the crank will slide off the axle

Hi, I am new here. I was wondering how I should draw the profile on the lures once I draw out the design, and cut it with a coping saw. I havw been doing a ruler, but it is very frusturating and time consuming. Any special methods or tools?

You can freehand the design on a block of wood or draw your design on paper, cut the design out and glue it on. You can find good videos on YouTube and the search feature on this site has tons of great information.

I draw two lines with a small square across the top of the lure. Each one shows where the forward and rear taper start. Then I mark the ends by eye but you can measure, then use a plastic stencil to make the lines to the rear, and then to the back. Look for videos on a youtube site called 'marling baits' he does this in almost all his builds. You can learn lots of other stuff too.

I see what you mean. I guess the actual placement of the lines depends on the bait. When I began making mine I've learned about how blunter nosed or wider/narrower bait behave in the water. That along with weighting, the bill, etc determine how the thing moves in the water. I guess you just make some and pay attention and see what happens. General rule for me is blunter in the front, narrower on the tail and enough weight in it so that it stays upright. And center the weight to start. Moving it back or forward affects the center of 'wobble'. Hard to define everything so stay with general rules, see what happens, then modify from there with the next ones. There are some sort of standard methods, but half the fun is making one and working with that.

That being said, you'd be surprised how just freehanding it and looking down the axis by eye while cutting/sanding to get symmetry can be done quite easily. Anyway, good luck with it. I don't overthink it. Just do one and go from there.

Ideally it should be. It isn't too difficult to do if you take the proper steps. A top down profile drawn on card stock, recipe card, etc.. can be used as a template and trace the design on each crank. I then typically go the band saw and cut to save time. For some baits this isn't needed and sharp knife makes short work of it and easy enough to keep even if you draw a center line on the bait.

Doing this is a bit of an art project. Some people can only do it with a micrometer. Others can carve by eye and get it pretty good. Look down the sides and from the top and you can usually see any slight variations that need to be taken down. And, if you should mess it up. Well, it's a small chunk of wood and you can start again. After you get used to it and develop a process it only takes 20-30 minutes to go from wood to shaped bait. Since you've asked the question it seems that you are ruminating about this. Just do it and see what happens. I'll bet you'll be surprised at how good it can come out.

This is not a test. You will not be criticized for the wrong answer. Maybe you have not even drawn a centre line. Tell us the truth now, and we can bring your design skills and talents up to the latest thinking and methods.

Dave, I do not know how to correctly draw it. What I have been trying to do is use a wooden ruler and measuring the wood, for example, 1 inch popler. Once it is cut out, measure the half inch mark and make a mark with a pencil on both ends, and both sides of the lure and connect them with a ruler. I am having trouble, though, because the ruler is flat and the lure is curved.

If you have a good centered reference point at each end, use something with a straight edge that will cast a straight shadow. If you can get your bait securely held in place, you can use the shadow to draw your line. The trick will be keeping everything squared up and aligned properly.

Once I cut out the profile on my bandsaw, including my lip slot, I smooth it with belt sander, and then draw a centerline all the way around the bait. That lets me get the line tie, the hook hangers, and the ballast centered. Once I've marked those locations with a pencil, and deepened them with an awl, I begin the tapering and shaping process. The awl marks make sure I don't lose the locations, even if I happen to sand off the pencil line. If I'm adding a rattle, I'll mark it's location, and drill a small through hole, so I have a way to line things up later, before I begin tapering and shaping.

Give yourself some time and don't be too hard on yourself if something doesn't work. We all make mistakes. The key thing is to learn from them, so you don't repeat the same mistakes. Of course, there will still be plenty of room to make new ones! Hahaha

I usually draw the center line one of 2 ways. The first way is sort of like Dave said. I lay the pencil horizontally on something I have hanging around the shop. For example a 1/2" center-line, I use a scrap piece of 1/4" trim board, with 2 pieces of scrap sheet metal stacked with the pencil on top. I sometimes have to use index cards, cardboard or whatever I can find that is flat to get the pencil at the right height. Trace the bait around the pencil, flip the bait and repeat for the 2 lines. Try to get the pencil to the height of one of your center marks and a lot of times the two tracings will be on top of each other.

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