Hammered out a few blades this past week.... yeah, i literally hammered them out! 
Not the finish of a true 'hammered' blade, tried to get that look as well and just couldn't get it to work, they looked better smooth.
These very light weight spoon droppers are mostly planned for ice fishing, but do work on open water also. The blade is an attractor to draw fish in and they will have a small jig tied a few inches below that will be baited.
Now, for what i actualy did - bear with me. These are made from scrap pieces of .030 gauge brass and aluminum from work. The brass and alum. is originaly used for making trophy plates and award plaques. Cut to size then punched holes in top and bottom. I made up a design on the hpgl plotter software to get a rough shape and also added the scale markings.
Etched it into the surface using the egraving machines diamond bit and then used oxidation solution to blacken the engraving.
Cut the plates on the metal shears to a general hexagon shape... bagged them up and brought them home. I used a file to round off the ends and sharp corners. Used the concave handle of an old scraper i found to hammer out the shape with a small round-ended wooden dowel and hammer. Had to go slow to keep it from getting bent marks and scratching up the bright finish of the metal.
Final result turned out pretty good. These are very light weight and have the possibility of bending out if i hooked into a very large fish (don't think they would break) but they really cost me nothing except time.
Tested them out in my pond and they have alot of flutter action on the fall.
Oh yeah... i did paint a few also!!!
Brass blades - 1.5" long:
Brass blades - 1.125" long:
Aluminum blades - 1.5" long:
Not the finish of a true 'hammered' blade, tried to get that look as well and just couldn't get it to work, they looked better smooth.These very light weight spoon droppers are mostly planned for ice fishing, but do work on open water also. The blade is an attractor to draw fish in and they will have a small jig tied a few inches below that will be baited.
Now, for what i actualy did - bear with me. These are made from scrap pieces of .030 gauge brass and aluminum from work. The brass and alum. is originaly used for making trophy plates and award plaques. Cut to size then punched holes in top and bottom. I made up a design on the hpgl plotter software to get a rough shape and also added the scale markings.
Etched it into the surface using the egraving machines diamond bit and then used oxidation solution to blacken the engraving.
Cut the plates on the metal shears to a general hexagon shape... bagged them up and brought them home. I used a file to round off the ends and sharp corners. Used the concave handle of an old scraper i found to hammer out the shape with a small round-ended wooden dowel and hammer. Had to go slow to keep it from getting bent marks and scratching up the bright finish of the metal.
Final result turned out pretty good. These are very light weight and have the possibility of bending out if i hooked into a very large fish (don't think they would break) but they really cost me nothing except time.
Tested them out in my pond and they have alot of flutter action on the fall.Oh yeah... i did paint a few also!!!
Brass blades - 1.5" long:
Brass blades - 1.125" long:
Aluminum blades - 1.5" long:
