Lure Making Wire Bender

I have been thinking of buying a wire bender for all gauges of lure making wire.Been thinking of making my own northern and musky spinners.
Do any of you IDA people have any suggestions what brand to buy. I know it must be a good and solid tool for sure and not worried about the $$ factor, I know that a good one cost as high as $200. I have never really seriously check into buying one tho and this year I am going to do so.
SO let me here your suggestions

Thanks inadvance for your help.
Jeff

Jann’s Netcraft has them for a heck of a lot less than that.

There are quite a few places that carry different models. Cabelas, Netcraft, Stamina, Hagens.. etc.

I have had several and I liked my Bogg’s tackle maker the best for twisting the heavy wire forms. There are different heads for different wire diameters, and you will need some high quality wire bending pliers for making you musky gauge spinners also. I would expect to pay more than $100 for a decent machine with a couple different heads for different wire diameters. It takes some practice with any machine, and be careful, those wires can be sharp, and they get very hot when bending them… easy to get burned. Its a fun hobby and you can get good at making your own lures before long… but it cost some money to get into.

The only problem with most/if not all benders on the market is that they don’t support large wire diameters you’d be using for Muskie lures. Most only go up to .045 thickness, whereas you’d be wanting to use .053 to .063 for the lure you want to make. For 40 bucks you can just buy yourself a heavy Knipex circle pliers( with the help of a vise) and you can do all the bends and twists you’ll ever need to. It does take a little practice, but once you figure it out you’ll be set. Here’s a few I’ve been making lately without any sort of bender.

Jeremy, they have heads for the larger wire. I have used wire the diameter of bike spokes before. I believe you can get the oversized heads through thorne brothers. If that isnt true, let me know and I will do some research again. They do exist.

Wire bending pliers work good, but wow is it tough on the hands, and not a great way to go if you plan on making a quantity(unless you like blisters).

I couldn’t find anything for bigger wire last time I looked. If you find out otherwise let me know as I could use one myself. Blisters and stab wounds are fun

The larger heads do exist, but are only supposed to work for wire up to .051″ as far as I know. I’ve done a lot of wire bending in my day and own a commercial wire bender I bought years ago through Moore’s Lures. It’s awesome, but unless speed and perfect consistency in appearance are issues you’re best off with a high quality round nose pliers and a knipex or end cutter. In my experience, the cheaper wire benders don’t cut it over .045″ and won’t really give you an edge in speed. They might be worth it if you have arthritis or something that keeps you from wanting to use your hands for wire bending (your hands will get tired after 10 baits or so with the heavy wire). My $0.02.

Thanks for posting your remarks people ..
As why I want a bender ? that easy to answer.. I enjoy making my own fishing baits and such , when I wanted to make jigs ,I bought a mold or 2 or 3 ,now I own 20 and 2 smelters . so now I want to make my owm toothy critter lures so now I buy a wire bender to do so ,I want the job dont right and look good as well

Any job in my mind worth doing is worth doing right…beside it will make my auction bigger when I decide to get out of the making of fishing stuff.

I work for Stamina. We sell both Boggs tacklemakers and the wire forming tool. They are both great but I use a round nose pliers to make mine. I can even do .062 wire.

sent you a PM, I have the Hagen’s Professional Wire Former
and liked it when it was attatched to a table, when its not it was pretty hard to use.

I never got the PM. With all the wire benders it needs to be clamped down too work will.

i sent the PM to the original poster…told him about mine