June 13, 2026
Description
Required for assembly:
5 mm steel balls, you can use lead split shot but I haven't tried it
0.8 mm (0.031 inches) Stainless Steel wire. If you have thicker wire let me know I can make more versions with bigger holes.
5 mm eyes
Super Glue
Clear coat, I use UV resin, you can also get a spray can of varnish and give it a couple of coats. Without a clear coat, water will eventually leak inside and ruin the action.
Checkout LureForge, the beginner friendly lure making app, create your lure, make sure it floats/sinks, and export it as an STL or a 2D template for wood carving.
Printing instructions:
If you use Orca Slicer, download the 3mf file, change the printer and filament to what you have and you should be fine.
Print orientation:
Layer height: 0.2 mm
Wall Generator: Arachne
Wall printing order: Inner/Outer/Inner
Wall loops: 2 for the body, 3 for the lip
Infill: 10% (If you are using lead for weight or a fillament heavier than PLA consider reducing the infill)
Infill pattern: Gyroid
Minimum infill threshold: 0
Outer wall speed: 60 mm/s
There's a special setting that might be required for the lip and that depends on your printer tolerances when it comes to tiny holes. I had to enable a setting called “Convert holes into polyholes” in Orca slicer to get the wire to pass through freely.
Another setting you can try is “X-Y hole compensation”
Support: Tree(manual), On Build Plate only
Using support painting, set the highlight angle to 60-70 degrees, enable “on overhangs only”, and use the paint bucket tool to fill the highlighted area
You need to add a couple of pauses to embed the weight into the lure. If you used the same print orientation and layer height as mentioned above then the pauses will be:
Pause 1: Layer 111 at 22.2 mm. Insert 1 ball
Pause 2: Layer 160 at 32 mm. Insert 1 ball
Assembly:
Using the stainless steel wire, create 2 twist wires that are 12 mm long, these will be the two hook hangers
There are many videos on YouTube showing the process of making twist wires, if you want me to make a video let me know, or join my discord server and get support from the community.
Cut the two hook hangers to length (12 mm) and glue them using super glue.
Cut a piece of wire to a length of 90-100 mm, bend it in half, and pass the two ends through the holes in the lip forming a small loop that will be the line tie.
Clamp the loop using a vise or regular pliers and twist the wire
Bend the twisted wire 90 degrees top the back of the lip and cut it to length leaving a couple of millimeters behind the lip
Glue both the lip and wire at the same time using super glue.
Optional: Paint the lure with your favorite lure pattern.
Glue in the eyes.
Give it a couple of clear coats.
Put on some hooks and enjoy your brand new lure.
Want to watch how it was made?
Want to see it in action?
Join my discord server for discussions related to 3d printed fishing projects: https://discord.gg/qmRwEuvpnC
If you want to support my work, consider joining my club or buy anything related to 3d printing using my affiliate links:
International: https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?gid=404404&mid=21809&awinaffid=1565514&linkid=2790717&clickref=printables
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial — Share Alike
11
Hassan Saleh
