[619115]

First I have a full blown cabinet\furniture shop a few yards from my back door, fine. Lathe, drill press, saws, etc. at the ready. Not to mention ideas.
My question is how do you folks go about
balancing and adjusting the tracking and general behaviour "in the shop". I don't have a swimming pool nor am I that close to a body of water. I've invisioned a long make-shift tank w\perhaps a aquarium pump.
Next P.I.T.A. question... I've accumed
an assortment of various exotic woods having interesting natural grain patterns I thought would make nice plugs or lures. I know the fumes from working with these woods will drive me out of the shop if not wearing a resporator. So I wonder if the oils from these would act as a repellent.
Next time you want to try turning a plug
with something unique give lacewood a try. It looks "scaley" naturaly.

Chummed

 

[BassHoll]

chummed,
Sounds like you got everything ready to start plug making with very little investment. If you really get into the plug making, you might want to pick up an airbrush to assist in painting some detail into yer plugs.
Anyway, the best advice I can give you as far as balancing and weighting plugs is this: Get some commercial plugs like gibbs or habs and study them. Note the length, placement of hooks and look for "dimples" which indicate where the weighting has been placed. On your first several plugs, try mimicking what the commercial plugs do. As you gain experience and skill,try different weighting schemes, but don't finish the plugs, leave them just primed. The next time you do get to a body of water, swim the primed plugs to see if they have the desired action. If they do, take notes and finish off the plug. Before you know it you will have a library of how to weight and balance different styles of plugs.
You can also try doing static float tests on your plugs in a 5 gallon bucket of water.
Above all else, have FUN with it!! Just be warned that it is very addicting, even more so after you've caught a fish on one of your own creations!! Good Luck!