January 4, 2019

Homemade Lure Eyes

I saw people making there own lure eyes online using all kinds of techniques and figured I’d give it a try using the simple method of just printing them out on a computer printer.

I first found a bunch of different styles to try by searching on google images. They where imported into Photoshop and sized to 1/4 of an inch. I’m trying a few papers/printers to see what works better. The top ones where printed on glossy photo paper using an ink jet printer and the bottom set was done on plain paper on a laser printer.  The photo paper ones definitely look better when printed.

I sized them to be 1/4 inch because I will be using a paper punch to cut them out. If these work out I will just make some custom punches to use next time to make smaller ones.

Lining the eyes up to be punched out is pretty easy with these type of hand punches.

After punching out a bunch of eyes I stick them to the back sticky side of some post it notes to hold them in place.

I will be using this Devcon 2 ton epoxy to form/seal the eyes.

I’ve seen a few different ways of doing this (such as using a plastic bag to pipe the epoxy on) but I just put a dab on each of the eyes with the end of the handle of a cheap brush.

It takes a little practice to form a good dome but it’s not to hard to get the hang of it.

I did flash the epoxy with a torch real quick to try and get rid of any bubbles.

The epoxy can tend to thin out because of the heat though so you have to be careful.

Most of the domes could be better but their not to bad for a first try. They would probably be better with out the torching.

Some need a little trimming up but surprisingly the plain paper ones (on top) came out looking better once sealed. It’s hard to tell from this picture but they just look glossier compared to the photo paper ones.

Some of the white from the edges of the paper still show so I just run the edges along the side of a sharpie to hide the white.

Once applied to the actual lure they look pretty good.

They kind of sit recessed in this particular crankbait so they kind of lost some of the dome look to them once the final epoxy seal was done on the lure but they still look great in my opinion.  Overall I think it worked out pretty well and is a great way to match eyes to a particular pattern that you might not be able to buy. I think I’m going to find some hologram type tape and try to make so reflective  ones next.

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