You also need a set of twist drills to use with an electric or hand drill. For the drill press or electric drill- you will need a set of high-speed drills. The high-speed drills can be used for fast drilling without losing their tem­per. For drilling wood or soft metals, carbon drills which are cheaper than high speed drills can be used. You should get a complete set of drills up to about 1/4 in. in diameter. The smaller sizes are the ones you will use most often. It's a good idea to buy two or three twist drills of the same size in the smaller sizes so that if you break one you'll have a spare.

A set of different kinds of pliers (Fig. H) is needed for many jobs encoun­tered in making fishing lures. Combination pliers which have a slip joint which permits the jaws to open wide at the hinge to grip large diameters are useful for holding and bending metal.

Flat-nose pliers are also useful for holding or bending thin sheet metal or wire. They have a flat gripping surface between the jaws which will hold thin metal or wire firmly without damaging it too much.

Round-nosed pliers are needed for bending wire into various curves and eyes. They are especially useful in making spinner shafts and wire leaders. Both jaws of these pliers are round and tapered toward the end. Curves or eyes of small radius are bent with the tips of the jaws, while those of greater radius are bent with the base of the jaws. Even so, you'll need two pairs of round-nosed pliers to handle most of the work. One pair can be the regular size used for heavy work, while the other pair should be the smaller jeweler size round-nosed pliers. These are used for making very small curves or eyes and for fine wire.

Diagonal cutting pliers are used for cutting fine wire, nails, pins, and screws. The angle of the jaws on these pliers makes it possible to cut close to a surface. These pliers are designed for cutting mostly the softer metals and wire. However, they can be used for steel piano wire or stainless steel wire if they have very hard cutting jaws. Because of this you should buy the best diagonal pliers you can get. Cheap ones will not do a good cutting job, and the edges of the jaws will soon be nicked and ruined if used on hard wire.

For cutting sheet metal into various shapes you'll need hand snips (Fig. I). Although a pair of straight snips can be used both for straight cutting and for large curves, duck bill snips are more suitable for all-round work. The duck bill snips will cut straight lines or curves in either direction. These snips do not provide too much leverage, and cutting thick metal is hard work. If you want to make it easier, you can get aviation metal snips which have a compound lever action. They will cut thicker metal with much less effort.

You will also need an assortment of files to use on wood and metal. Files can be used to shape wooden fishing lures; for finishing metal molds, jigs, and other lures, for cutting tempered steel wire, hooks, metal hardware; and for finishing metal lips, propellers, spinners, and spoons. Files are also needed to keep other tools sharp and in proper working order.

There are many different types of files in use but four will take care of most of your needs (Fig. J). The flat file is one of the fastest cutting general purpose files you can use. It has a broad surface and removes wood or metal quickly. You should get three flat files with different cuts. One should be a fine single cut which is used when a smooth finish is required. Another flat file should be a double cut type which is used for removing wood or metal at a fast rate. This file leaves a rough surface which must be finished with a smooth file. The other type of flat file should be a rasp which is used for rough work when you want to remove a lot of wood.

Still another file you need is a half-round file which is also a good general purpose tool.It has a flat face for flat filing and a curved side for filing curves. This file can also be obtained in different grades of coarseness.

A triangular or three-square file is used for filing metal smooth where small surfaces or corners must be worked. It can also be used to cut through heavy wire, rods, fishhooks, and other metal which cannot be cut with or­dinary pliers. The triangular file is also handy for sharpening chisels, knives, and other cutting edges.

The round file or "rattail" file, as the name implies, is round and tapered toward the end. It is used to enlarge holes and for filing small half-round curves.

You'll also need an assortment of screw drivers of various lengths and blades. The standard screw driver with a handle, shank, and blade will be the one mostly used and should be obtained in the smaller sizes. You rarely use big screws when making fishing lures, so smaller screw drivers will be used most of the time.

The screws used in making lures are either plain or nickel-plated round­head brass screws. The sizes mostly used are No. 1 by 3/8 in., No. 2 by 3/8 in., No. 2 by 1/2 in., and No. 2 by 5/8 in. They should be brass because iron screws rust and weaken the wood, then pull out.

An electric soldering iron will be required for some jobs. Soldering irons come in Various sizes, but the 90- or 100-watt iron is a good general purpose type (Fig. K). With this, of course, you'll need soft solders which are alloys of lead and tin. They can be obtained in wire, ribbon, or bar form. The wire solder is the most convenient since it has a hollow core like a tube which contains a flux. If you use bar solder you'll have to buy a flux such as rosin or soldering paste. This is used to remove the oxide coating from metals so that the solder will take.

Then we have various punches, used for different purposes when making fishing lures (Fig. L). The most useful is the center punch which is used to make a mark showing where to drill. For drilling wood you can, of course, use an ordinary ice pick or awl to make a starting hole. But for metal you need the center punch which is struck with a hammer to make such an in­dentation. These punches come in various diameters and tapers, and two or three sizes will handle most jobs. Another handy punch is a starting punch which has a long gradual taper and a blunt point. This is used for clearing holes and can also be used to open the eyes on big hooks.

You should also possess at least one flat, cold chisel, which is used for cut­ting sheet metal, lead, tin, and other metals where other cutting tools cannot be used.

Finally, you'll need a sharp knife, single-edge razor blade, scissors, divid­ers, calipers, and a metal rule.

If you really plan to go into making wooden plugs seriously you'll find a wood or metal turning lathe invaluable for turning down such lures. Of course, this is quite an investment, and unless you really plan to make many fishing plugs, it doesn't pay to buy a lathe especially for this purpose. But if you already have one you can use it for such work.

Somewhat less expensive but very handy is one of those hobby motorized tools which hold a large variety of small rotary tools. It can be used for drilling, grinding, polishing, and carving. This tool is especially useful for finishing off metal molds.

When whittling or shaping wooden plugs or other lures by hand you find a set of wood-carving tools very useful. These have small chisel type blades which can be used to cut grooves, cups, holes, and similar indentations. The gouges which are part of these tools are especially useful for this work.
      
Then there are various materials such as wood, metal, paints, lacquers, varnishes, hooks, screw eyes, wire, and other fishing lure parts which you will need. These will be described in the following chapters in detail, as the need arises for them. They can usually be bought in hardware stores, fishing tackle stores, or mail-order houses. Mail-order houses often carry a large stock of fishing lure parts. Write for their catalogs to get descriptions of the lure parts with prices.

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