at a minimum, for turning, you need a small lathe, Jet and Delta make a nice mini lathe that works well for plug turning. Tools, a good gouge and skew (Spend money here cause the inexpensive ones are light and don't hold an edge. Then for thru drilling, a good drill, a couple 8" and 12" long drills about 3/16" diameter, and a 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" Forstner bits for drilling the belly hook holes. I use a small hand held coping saw to cut my lip slots. I use a small bench vice to cut my lengths of stock and to hold the plug while I cut the lip slots. (I have some thin strips of foam that I use to cushion the plug in the vice so it doesn't pinch and mar the surface of the plug where it's being held by teh vice.) Some 100 and 200 grit sand paper to sand the plug smooth and to scuff up the primer coat when I paint. Those tools will get you a turned plug.
I buy my lips, swivels, thru wire, belly, tail and nose grommets and weights on line from Cape Cod Tackle. If you use cyprus you don't really need to thru drill the plug. You can use stainless steel screws, which I get on line from Stamina Tackle, as well as my 3X stainless steel split rings, size 5 works for most applications. My 4" danny plugs get size 4. 4X strong VMC hooks can be bought in bulk from either Cap Cod Tackle or Stamina.
That pretty much covers the tuning and rigging materials and tools. For sealer after the plug is turned and drilled, I use a mixture of 60% Valspar sealer and 40% boiled linseed oil. I keep a batch mixed up in an empty Tennis ball container. It's perfect for plugs up to 8" or so. Anything bigger you have to dip both ends.
Now you've got the plug sealed, having let it dry for several days. Then you need a primer sealer, Binz, the oil based sealer is best. That's the one in the red and white spray can. Spray the plug and hang to dry.
After dry, sand with the fine sand paper and wipe the the plug clean of any residual dust. For paint, I've been using cans of Rustoleum spray paint and automotive retouch spray cans. Then you let the plug dry again.
Do your final rigging of the plug, except for split rings and hooks. I then put the plug in my fly tying vice and do a final finish coat of epoxy. I use Envirotex Lite. I'm sure other good 30 minute epoxies work well, too. You need plastic mixing cups and little cheap paint brushes to do this. Again, Cap Cod Tackle makes the shopping pretty easy.... Hang the plug to dry for about 24 hours and you're ready to fish.... Remember to turn the plug several times (every 5 to 10 minutes) so the epoxy doesn't flow to one end of the plug as it sets up.
That's about it. Wish I could do a demo somehow and post it. That would the description much more clear.
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