I'm tired of paying $4-5 dollars for spinners and would like to make my own. I have seen some of the tools for making spinners, and am wondering which ones hold up the best.
Thanks for your input!

No need for special tools ... we build hundreds every fall for ourselves and a number of other guides in the area. Our one and only tool for actually building the spinner ... a pair of fishing pliers

I agree. I use two pair, one to hold the wire, another very slim longnose pair to twist the wire around. The spinner making tools everyone sells are useless.

Really? You just saved me some money. That'll make the wife happy.

glowball,

you haven't saved money - the money you would have spent on the spinner tool will go to buying more spinner parts. This talk about "saving money" is not going to fool your wife... (at least it's never fooled mine)

i've always used one of those 6.99 spinner making tools they sell that has a pin you bend the wire around then crank the little handle. great little investment

A cheap fly tying vise works even better. Don't bother with the expensive ones. The cheap ones work great for finishing off spinners and tying up jigs.

2 pairs of needlenose pliers.

It's fun to catch fish on something you make


WW

I, too, use two needlenose pliers to make spinners. However, they don't look as neat as the commercial spinners, and it does take a lot of effort to make. This may be more so because I use a heavy gauge wire. My pliers are beginning to show some gap at the nose and both are now offset.

cohoangler,
how do you use the fly tying vise to make spinners? Can you explain?

Nymph - Rather than use two pliers (one to hold and the other to wrap), I use the vise to hold the shaft as you wrap the spinner with pliers.

Once you've put on the hook, body, bearing, clevis, and blade, I clamp the upper part of the shaft (about half way between the upper end of the shaft and the clevis) onto the vise. I then make one wrap of the shaft around itself, insert the swivel, and continuing wrapping for another 2 - 3 wraps.

If this sounds complicated, it's not. Instead of using two pliers, try using one pair plus the vice.

I have a little jig I made to form the eye. It's nothing but a piece of wood, 3 x 6 x 3/4, with two 10 penny nails nailed into it about 1/16 inch apart, and then the nails have the heads cut off, so there is about 3/4 inch of nail sticking up. You use these to form the eye, by putting the shaft into between the nails, giving it a 40 degree bend in one direction, and then about 270 degress in the other direction. This will form the eye, and you then finish the twist off with pliers.

Cohoangler,

I'm not sure how you're gripping the shaft (are you gripping it at a 90 deg. angle?) and how you are wrapping the shaft around itself?

BTW, what gauge wire (shaft) are you guys using? I'm using a .034 or above, and they're a pain to manipulate with plliers.

Try that $6 spinner maker tool mentioned before. It really works nicely. You always get a nice tight tight wrap on the wire. Makes every one, no matter how big or small, any gauge, look professionally made. Nice tool. Also, if you get creative, you can make a nice, functional, non snaggy hook clasp at the end of the wire with it, so you can change hooks easily. ALL spinners should have this feature!

Now, where can I find this $6 spinner making tool?

Here is a picture of the two different types of spinner making tools that I use. Both work well, but the "commercial spinner maker" is my favorite one. I made thousands of spinners with the commercial model, but the simple hand tool one works great too.





Cowlitzfisherman