How to sharpen a fishing hook

How to make a fishing hook? How to sharpen fishing hooks?

Most modern fishermen have long since stopped asking the question of how to make a hook - why waste time on homemade products of dubious quality when any fishing store offers an assortment to suit every taste and budget? Even in the best case, homemade hooks will be superior in quality to only the cheapest Chinese ones.

It is simply impossible to reach the level of the best Japanese (“Decoy”, “Gamakatsu”, “OWNER”) or English (“Preston”, “Drennan”, and others) manufacturers at home. Do-it-yourself fishing hooks are most often made by those fishermen for whom this is another hobby, as well as by those who, due to the specificity of their favorite fishing method, find it difficult to find suitable products even among the huge variety in fishing stores.

Other fishermen are primarily interested in sharpening hooks, and not making them.

Why might this be needed?

Most fishermen are satisfied with what can be found on the shelves, but still some continue to make their own hooks. This may be needed:

• In case the type of fishing is not widespread and suitable gear is difficult to find. It can be justified for fishing for catfish, as well as in the case of trophy-sized predators that are planned to be caught using silicone mounted on an offset hook. However, this also applies to the smallest offset workers.
• When such homemade products are just another hobby. Many fishermen make elements of gear without any urgent need to do this, and some even create their own fishing rods.
• In extreme situations. The probability of this is of course low, the chance of being far from civilization is small, but it is still easier to get food by fishing than by hunting.
• Also, minor improvements to factory products are often made, such as a corkscrew to prevent silicone baits from slipping or additional weight on offset presses.

Self-production

In order to do this, you need at least minimal experience in metalworking, as well as minimal knowledge of steel grades and the features of its heat treatment. When choosing a material, you should pay attention to carbon, low-alloy and alloy grades. Poor metal quality will have a negative impact on the quality of finished products.

Important!

It must be taken into account that further features of heat treatment depend on the grade of steel.

Photo 1. Heat the needle in a flame.

The easiest way is to use a ready-made wire made of steel of a suitable grade as a manufacturing material, and while the metal is not hardened, you can form a hook using pliers, thin-nose pliers, and other similar tools.

The choice of shape is limited only by the angler’s imagination, although, of course, it is worth taking into account the attachment or bait that will be used, as well as the type of fish. If it is not possible to use ready-made purchased wire, you can use what you have on hand.

Nails do not fit well, but ordinary sewing needles are usually made of suitable grades of steel.

Photo 2. Bend the needle into a hook.

Next, a ring or spatula is made. The spatula is simpler in this regard, and the hook itself is lighter. A few hammer blows are enough to make it. It's more difficult with a ring. The wire must be pressed tightly and burrs must be removed in a timely manner.

Important!

Before making a ring, it is better to practice using ordinary paper clips, since this usually does not work out the first time. 

After the hook has already acquired its shape, the turn of heat treatment begins. First, hardening is carried out. Heating, as well as whether the hooks will heat in oil or water, depends on the brand of metal. Rapid cooling after intense heating makes the steel hard, but at the same time brittle. The so-called tempering and annealing will help reduce fragility - heating to lower temperatures compared to hardening, followed by slow cooling in air or in oil.

In a similar way, you can make both hooks for catching peaceful fish and offset ones for predators, or you can make options with a wide ring specifically for jigging. In this case, you make an offset hook with your own hands in exactly the same way as a regular one, however, it uses much more wire, and when choosing a shape, you need to take into account the features of the silicone bait.

Sharpening features

How to sharpen fishing hooks? Many athletes believe that it is not advisable to do this, since it will not be possible to restore the factory sharpening created by high-tech methods at home, and it is easier to replace the hook with a new one (many fishermen even believe that sharpening them yourself spoils such hooks).

However, it is still possible to correct the sting, which is what amateur fishermen use. You can straighten a dull hook both at home and in field conditions using “zero” sandpaper or small needle files. If you don’t have anything like this at hand, you can use an ordinary matchbox.

A grater on the side is quite suitable for straightening the sting.

If desired, you can even chemically sharpen fishing hooks at home. To do this, you need nitric acid, as well as suitable utensils for it. Many manufacturers use a similar method - the acid eats away the top layer of metal, leaving an almost needle-like sting.

Checking the sharpness

There are several ways to check the sharpness of a hook. The most famous is to try to stick a sting into the nail, criticized by many fishermen, since in our reservoirs there are practically no fish with such bony mouths, and the hook itself becomes dull during such a test. It is believed that it is better to check the sharpness on the skin of the palm, since its density is more similar to the mouth of a fish.

It is best to check the condition of the sting under a magnifying glass or microscope with low magnification. All defects are easily detected visually, and it also becomes clearer exactly how to sharpen the hook.

Production of small offset hooks

If we talk about the usual sizes of offset presses, then usually there are no problems with finding them. However, ultralight lovers cannot always find small enough offset hooks on sale.

You can make them yourself from wire or from sewing needles, but most anglers still do it simpler. Buy a regular hook of a suitable size, but one that has a long shank and a wide eye.

Next, the forend needs to be heated a little, after which it will quite easily take the required shape. This method can even be used directly while fishing, since most often the flame of a lighter is sufficient.

Fishermen often make various improvements for offset hooks, such as corkscrews, which are necessary for better fixation of the silicone bait, which after several casts begins to slide, or they solder a weight on the fore-end, thanks to which the offset catches less algae than when using Cheburashka weights.

Hooks from improvised means for extreme situations

Despite the fact that the risk of ending up somewhere far from people, straying from a detachment on a hike, after a shipwreck or an air transport accident, is relatively small, it still exists. In such situations, when making hooks, you may have to use the experience of ancient fishermen:

• You can use a branch with a knot extending at the required angle, but the tree should not be dry, otherwise you should not expect normal strength.
• It is also possible to use it as a material for making bird or fish bones.
• Shells of mollusks are also suitable for these purposes.

Naturally, there will be more fish coming off such improvised gear, but you can still catch something. Better hooks are made from small nails or wire.

Important!

Suitable wire can be obtained from pins, hairpins, paper clips; it is also worth remembering that some hats have a metal frame.

Although it is better to use the factory products included in the emergency kit.

Source: https://fishelovka.ru/gear/kak-sdelat-rybolovnye-kryuchki-svoimi-rukami-i-samostoyatelno-zatochit-ix

Sharpening fish hooks at home

Most fishermen are satisfied with what can be found on the shelves, but still some continue to make their own hooks. This may be needed:

• In case the type of fishing is not widespread and suitable gear is difficult to find. It can be justified for fishing for catfish, as well as in the case of trophy-sized predators that are planned to be caught using silicone mounted on an offset hook. However, this also applies to the smallest offset workers.
• When such homemade products are just another hobby. Many fishermen make elements of gear without any urgent need to do this, and some even create their own fishing rods.
• In extreme situations. The probability of this is of course low, the chance of being far from civilization is small, but it is still easier to get food by fishing than by hunting.
• Also, minor improvements to factory products are often made, such as a corkscrew to prevent silicone baits from slipping or additional weight on offset presses.

Sharpeners for fishing hooks, their manufacture and use

The sharpness of a fishing hook directly determines how successful the catch will be, but many of them have to be sharpened before being attached to the fishing line.

Hooks may not be sharp enough due to poor stamping of the tip and groove; this phenomenon is especially often observed in small-sized products. They also gradually lose their sharpness during use.

You can make your own hook sharpener. Sharpening can also be done using a needle file or an abrasive stone.

When opening a new package of hooks, you should check how sharp they are. To do this, you can lightly run the sting over the surface of the nail. A sharp one will stick to the nail and dig into it, and an insufficiently sharp one will slide along the nail. You can run the hook over your palm; the sharp one will cling to the skin. A non-sharp hook will tear the nozzle, so it should be sharpened.

Types of sharpeners for fishing hooks

There are different types of fish hook sharpeners. You can make them yourself, or purchase a ready-made device in a store. Quick sharpening can be done with improvised means; for this, use a thin needle file or zero-grade sandpaper.

Factory sharpening points are a small device made of hard material with a special recess where the hook should be placed at the desired angle, which is indicated in the instructions. You can sharpen the hook in this way in a couple of movements. There are compact versions of sharpeners that are convenient to take with you when fishing.

There is another option - chemical sharpening of hooks. To do this, take a 30% solution of nitric acid, into which the sting is placed.

The hook is kept in the acid for one minute, then removed and checked for sharpness, if necessary, it is lowered back, this is repeated up to six times until the desired result is achieved. Nitric acid can be purchased at a pharmacy; you should work with it with extreme caution.

After processing, the hook is washed and dried. The principle of chemical sharpening is that the acid corrodes the outer metal coating, as a result it is possible to achieve the required sharpness.

Recommended reading: How to choose the right fishing line for spinning rods

What kind of hook sharpeners are on sale?

In specialized stores for fishermen and on the Internet you can find a wide variety of models of hook sharpeners. The following types exist:

• compact, folding diamond-coated sharpener;
• sharpening of a round shape, double-sided, coarse-grained or fine-grained, sharpens hooks to perfect condition;
• pocket sharpening stone with groove.

Store-bought hook sharpeners are very convenient; you can take them with you on fishing trips and sharpen them immediately before getting down to business. In order to sharpen a hook efficiently, you should move the tip along the sharpener in one direction, while holding it at a certain angle.

For emergency situations, you should always take a special sharpener or fine-grained sandpaper with you when fishing. This is necessary in cases where the tip needs to be quickly adjusted.

How to make a sharpener with your own hands

You can make a hook sharpener with your own hands; you don’t need any special skills, the procedure is very simple. To work, you will need two fine-grained abrasive stones and a needle file. The sticks need to be crushed into powder, this can be done with a hammer.

A small amount of epoxy resin is poured into a heat-resistant container and heated. As it heats up, the resulting powder is added to the resin; the mass must be stirred continuously. The output will be a thick substance; a hardener is added to it and everything is thoroughly mixed.

The file handle needs to be degreased and a thin layer of the resulting substance applied to it. After this, the handle must be rolled along a plane onto which abrasive powder is first poured.

The needle file is left to dry, the mass applied to it should harden well, this will take about two days. Once the coating becomes hard, the sharpener can be used for its intended purpose.

How to sharpen a fishing hook

To sharpen the hooks, you can use a regular file with a fine-grained diamond coating, which should not be too wide or too narrow. The best option is 1 cm. This will not jump off the hook. For convenience, it is better to clamp the hook in a vice, this will make it more convenient to sharpen it from all sides. If you don't have a vice, you can use pliers. The tip should be parallel to the top of the vice.

Initially, the metal coating is removed from the sides of the tip with a file. The file should be held parallel to the outside of the tip. The movement is made from oneself. Do not use excessive force; movements should be light. When the sides are ground down, move on to the inside, it is sharpened with fine-grained sandpaper nailed to a block.

After work, the hook is carefully examined under a magnifying glass. The ideal option would be a magnifying glass with 40x magnification; in extreme cases, you can use optics with 20x magnification. If roughness is found, they will need to be eliminated. The whole procedure takes a little time.

Treated sharp hooks are stored in a magnetic box. This is very convenient, because in this case they will not rub against each other and become dull. The sharpness of the hook must be checked periodically and, if necessary, periodically sharpened.

If you learn how to sharpen a hook efficiently, you can significantly save on gear. In this case, there is no need to buy very expensive hooks; you can purchase a more affordable option and bring it to perfection yourself.

A sharp hook is the key to successful fishing.

Source: https://winterfisher.ru/snasti/tochilka-dlya-kryuchkov.html

Sharpening fishing hooks using a special sharpener

Fishing stores sell fine-grained hook sharpeners. With their help, it is easy to restore the sharpness of all types of hooks. Many models even have instructions for use. It is safe to say that every angler should have such items.

Sharpeners come in different sizes, folding and regular whetstones, diamond-coated and metal. But each of them has a narrow groove. The tip of the hook is inserted into it and slowly drawn away from you. You need to sharpen evenly. First, you can swipe one side of the sting 2 times, then the opposite side. Then we sharpen the middle. Finally, we process the inside of the sting, applying it to the edge of the groove. If the sharpener is sharp and the hook is made of thin wire, then this operation will take up to 20 seconds.

With hooks made of thick wire you will have to spend more time. Well, you'll have to tinker a little with the tees.

The correct sharpening should be checked not by eye, but with a magnifying glass. Take a large magnifying glass and carefully examine the results of your work. You should get stings like this:

Naturally, it is quite difficult to obtain a perfect sharpening of fishing hooks at first. But if you have a good tool and you remove metal evenly, you will quickly master this technique. Experienced fishermen can easily sharpen small hooks while fishing. Therefore, always keep a sharpener with you so that, if necessary, you can bring a dull hook to the desired condition.

Sharpening hooks with files and force

For such delicate work, old fishermen always used fine-grained diamond files with a width of 1 to 2 cm. The main thing is that he removes the metal a little at a time. The ideal files for this job are 3000-4000 grit. If you remove too much at a time, the tip will become too thin and can easily break if a normal fish is caught.

For convenience, it is better to clamp the hooks in a small vice. This will make it easier and faster to sharpen them from different sides.

First, we remove the metal from different sides of the sting with a file. We control that the sharpening is uniform. We definitely sharpen it on our own, as in the previous method. The tip should always be parallel to the vice, as in the photo. Movements when sharpening should be light, tangential. You should not put pressure on the fore-end with a file, you just need to scratch one side several times and move on to the next.

We sharpen the inner part of the tip only after sharpening all the sides. To do this, turn the hook 180 degrees so that the inner part is directed towards you. It is better to sharpen it with the finest sandpaper nailed to a small block.

After sharpening, we inspect each hook through a magnifying glass. If necessary, we remove various roughness and bring the sharpening to the desired state.

The sharpness of a hook can be checked by applying the tip to the pad of your finger or to the palm of your hand. Sharp hooks literally stick to soft tissues. Another method is to prick your nail with a sting. If the sting sticks in easily, it means it is sharp; if it slides, it means it is dull.

If you don’t have a file, you can sharpen it with a whetstone or a fork for fine-grain knives. This tool is sold in almost every hardware store. It's very cheap. Sharpen the hooks by force according to the same principle as in the case of a file.

Chemical sharpening of fishing hooks at home

There is another interesting method for sharpening hooks. This method requires a 30% nitric acid solution. You can get it at a pharmacy or online store. Don't just take a more powerful acid, it's dangerous.

Before work, wear rubber gloves. Then pour the acid into a small container and immerse the hook tips in it, as shown in the photo.

After every 10 seconds we check the sharpness of the hooks. Depending on the hardness of the wire, the reaction rate of the acid with the metals varies. But in any case, you'll be done in a minute. After obtaining the desired result, rinse the hooks with running water, wipe them well with a rag or simply dry them in the sun, and put them back in place.

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Source: http://ribalka-vsem.ru/index/zatochka_rybolovnykh_krjuchkov_v_domashnikh_uslovijakh/0-837

How to Determine the Sharpness of a Fishing Hook

It is not always wise to take up a tool with the aim of immediately sharpening the hook. After all, first of all, you need to figure out whether this is necessary. To do this, the angler must be able to determine the sharpness of the sting. The dull tip of the accessory affects the quality of the bite of the pecked fish.

Important! In practice, frequent disappearances of the trophy during a confident and active bite signal the presence of a dull hook in the rig.

You can check the sharpness of the sting in simple ways right on the shore of the reservoir. The simplest method is to check the sharpness of the accessory on your fingernail. A sharp hook will dig, or, as fishermen say, stick, into the nail at the slightest stretch of the sting along its surface.

The blunt accessory will begin to slip, only slightly scratching the surface of the nail. The same manipulations can be done by pulling the sting along the skin surface of the palm.

In this case, the working tip will immediately smoothly dig into the skin, and the blunt one, continuing to move, will only make scuff marks, guaranteeing an obviously weak catch when placing such a hook into the equipment.

How to sharpen a fishing hook

Today, there are several effective ways to bring the point of hooks into a sharp, honed state.

Talk about primitive sharpening of the tip using the first stone or any metal object that comes to hand on a pond is baseless and does not lead to the expected result. Rather, this approach will do more harm than benefit and effectiveness of the equipment.

In order to sharpen a fishing hook, a fisherman must have certain tools in his auxiliary arsenal of devices that guarantee the reliability of this type of work.

Well-known global brands, famous for producing high-quality hooks, have developed special portable devices for sharpening the tip of an accessory, the so-called sharpeners, which can be purchased along with other fishing products in the store.

In addition to branded tools, fine abrasive files or diamond needle files are suitable for these purposes. In addition to mechanical methods, sharpening can be done chemically using a prepared solution based on nitric acid.

Each of the sharpening methods presented above will be discussed in our further discussion.

How to sharpen fishing hooks with a special sharpener

Specialized fishing sharpeners come in various shapes and sizes. Manufacturers produce folding models, models in the form of a bar familiar for sharpening table knives, with the surface coated with various types of abrasive.

The abrasive can be diamond or metal dust applied to the surface of the device.

A distinctive feature of this specialized sharpener is the groove, which specifically contributes to the convenience of sharpening the hook based on its design features.

The tip of the accessory is inserted into the groove of the sharpener and with uniform movements away from you, with a slight force of pressing the accessory to the abrasive, it is passed several times along the surface of the sharpener recess. Then they press the side surface of the hook to one of the sides of the groove, doing the same manipulations, thus grinding the accessible surfaces of the hook tip.

The entire process of sharpening a small hook will take no more than 20 seconds. Thick reinforced accessories, of course, will require more time and effort to sharpen, but with tees and doubles you will have to tinker, having developed a certain dexterity and skill to complete the work.

A factory sharpener will not take up much space in a fisherman’s belongings and will be an excellent assistant in situations that require sharpening of all types of hooks.

Sharpening hooks with a file

Using a file or needle file to sharpen fishing hooks will be an effective technique if the fisherman takes up this task at home. The presence of a mini-vise will contribute to the comfort of the planned task. If using the tools presented above it is necessary to sharpen the tip of the accessory in real fishing conditions, then it will be difficult for the fisherman to do without pliers, which replace stationary bench vices in the field.

For sharpening you will need a small file, the width of the working surface of which does not exceed 20 mm, but not less than 10 mm. Otherwise, the abrasive plane of the tool will slide off the tip and deform the already processed metal.

The most suitable for processing thin metal, which is the hook wire, will be a flat, finely abrasive diamond file or a needle file with a notch of 4 or 5 numbers, the so-called velvet, for finishing the processed metal parts.

The hook is clamped in a vice, placing the tip parallel to the clamping jaws of the device and sharpened evenly from the accessible sides and on top, removing the metal to the tip in two or three smooth movements. The inner surface of the tip is processed last.

Chemical sharpening of fishing hooks

You can sharpen a fishing hook using a chemical method. True, this method will be effective in the case of processing miniature accessories made of thin wire.

Important! It is worth paying special attention to safety precautions when performing this type of work involving aggressive liquids and acids, which can cause burns on exposed skin if handled carelessly.

To sharpen using the chemical method, the fisherman will need to stock up on a 30% nitric acid solution, which can be absolutely legally purchased at any pharmacy.

Having previously put rubber gloves on your hands, the acid solution is poured into a shallow glass container with a collar, adding the level of liquid so that the hooks hanging on the collar are dipped with a sting along its entire length into the prepared solution.

The acid enters into a chemical reaction with the base metal, removing a micro-layer from its surface along the previously made profile, thus helping to sharpen the accessory.

After soaking the hooks in acid for 10–15 seconds, visually check the condition of the point and, if necessary, repeat the dipping cycle. In most cases, the operation of sharpening a hook using a chemical method takes no more than 1 minute, after which the treated products are washed with water, wiped dry and sent to the fishing arsenal.

Quality control of hook sharpening

In order to learn how to properly sharpen fishing hooks, you need to imagine the end result of the work, which can increase fishing efficiency. Therefore, in order to ensure the quality of the work performed and to be sure of the reliability of sharpening the hook, the processed accessory is subjected to visual inspection.

For these purposes, it is best to have a small magnifying glass with 20 or even 40x magnification. The device will help you scrutinize the metal surface being prepared and, if necessary, make adjustments to the sharpening technology by removing the formed burr, excess roughness and finely grinding the working plane at a sharper angle.

Important! It is convenient and reasonable to store sharpened hooks in a magnetic box.

In this special device, the accessories do not rub against each other, without dulling their working surfaces by contact, remaining sharp and effective for fishing for a long time.

Source: https://IaRybak.ru/snasti/zatochka-rybolovnyh-kryuchkov

How to sharpen fishing hooks

All fishermen know that a sharp fishing hook is the basis for success in fishing; sharp hooks have fewer fish escapes and hooking is more effective, which is why many fishermen try to sharpen them. I will tell you below whether this should be done and how to do it.

Why sharpen hooks

In my opinion, sharpening hooks is only relevant at the fishing spot, if you arrived, and the hooks turned out to be dull due to an uninspected inspection, and there is no opportunity to change them. In all other cases, there is no point in sharpening, it’s easier to replace them with new ones. But sometimes there are situations when it is not possible to replace the hook, for example on some baits: for example, silicone fish, winter balancers, jigs, so it is still necessary to have this skill.

Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to sharpen a good modern hook from a well-known manufacturer at home, let alone in the field, but some are possible, it all depends on the type of material from which they are made.

Modern expensive surgical steel hooks

Modern expensive hooks are made of surgical steel and they have a needle-shaped sharpening and thin cutting edges. The production uses high-quality carbon surgical steel, which has high hardness, so if your hook has lost its original sharpness, you cannot restore it at home, even with the use of a diamond stone, do not waste your time and just replace it with a new one.

Stainless steel hooks

These are cheap hooks from various manufacturers from expensive brands and various Chinese manufacturers. They sharpen well and you can try to restore their piercing and cutting edges. They are usually found in jigs, balancers, and silicone baits.

How to sharpen hooks

There are quite a lot of ways to sharpen a fishing hook; you can use special sharpening stones, a regular whetstone, even any stone, it all depends on the hardness of the hook.

I personally use the following sharpening tools, one cheap Chinese one or diamond ones, they all do their job perfectly.

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The main thing is that the grain size of the bar should be in the region of 500 - 600 grid. Some fishermen use files and needle files or nail files, in principle everything works, it depends only on the hardness of the steel of the hook.

The sharpening process is as follows: three or four quick passes along a special groove on the hook, moving from the bend to its tip; if the hook is old, then much more passes are needed.

Watch the video below, everything is shown in detail:

It is necessary to take into account that many hooks have a special protective coating that protects it from corrosion, so sharpening destroys it and the hooks begin to rust.
To protect against corrosion, you can paint the erased area with a regular permanent marker of a suitable color; this will protect it from corrosion and extend the life of the hook and sharpening.

How to check a hook for sharpness

There are a lot of ways to check the sharpness of a hook, you can look at your nail to see if it scratches your nail, you can try to pierce your skin, you can look through a magnifying glass, in my opinion, all this does not reliably show how sharp it is.

I advise you to simply buy one high-quality hook with a factory sharpening and compare how it feels with it; with experience, you will immediately understand how sharp the hook is.

Testing on a nail is not a bad way, but it depends on the type of sharpening; it may not work with some hooks. When checking on a nail, the hook should not slide over the nail; the sharp hook will immediately bite into the nail. Watch the video below:

Source: https://homychok.ru/kak-i-nuzhno-li-tochit-rybolovnye-kryuchki/

How to make fish hooks with your own hands?

The most important component of all fishing gear is the hook. Most fishermen prefer to make fishing hooks themselves in cases where the fisherman himself does not have one or does not have the opportunity and time to buy it.

The quality of these homemade hooks is sometimes not inferior to factory products. The material for their manufacture is often any available material: pins, bicycle spokes, hairpins, a ring from a set of keys and even nails. And the manufacturing process itself does not take much time.

Heat treatment of steel

The main material in the production of fishing hooks is steel. To perform heat treatment, steel must be heated and then quickly cooled in water or oil. This process is called "hardening". During this treatment, the properties of the steel will change.

Raw steel before heat treatment is easily subjected to various deformations (can be sawed, forged), but after treatment it acquires sufficient hardness, but remains brittle. Given this circumstance, it must be treated with abrasive materials.

The brittleness of steel after hardening will help reduce its tempering. This process is based on a method of heating already hardened steel to low temperatures with further cooling in oil or in the open air. The result of this procedure will be that the steel regains its original properties, that is, it will again become damp.

And lastly, annealing of tempered steel involves heating it to a temperature slightly lower than it was during quenching and cooling in air. As a result of this procedure, the steel will regain its original properties, that is, it will again become raw.

The time difference between these procedures cannot be more than 24 hours. The temperature used when tempering steel is always different (from 150 to 500 C) and depends on the type of product produced from it.

When making hooks with your own hands, the material used can be sewing needles of any size or spring wire.

When carrying out heat treatment of hooks made independently, the following rules should be taken into account:

1. When quenched using water at room temperature, the hardness of the steel is greater than when using oil.
2. When the temperature of the steel reaches 330C, it will be viscous and suitable for making only a soft hook. To make a hard hook, hardening should be done in water, and for tempering, use a much lower temperature.

Heat treatment of steel is always carried out in a muffle furnace using a thermometer.

But it is clear that there are no such stoves in homes and heat treatment can be carried out using a gas stove.

Sewing needles are placed on a flat piece of steel and heated over a stove flame.

It is easy to determine its temperature by the heating color of the blank:

• dark brown color – temperature from 530 to 580C;
• red-brown color – heating up to 650C;
• cherry – up to 720 C;
• crimson – heating up to 770 C;
• bright red – up to 870 C;
• red – up to 900 C;
• orange – up to 1050 C;
• dark yellow – heating to 1150 C;
• yellow-white – up to 1300 C;
• white – heating to above 1350 C.

It is impossible to anneal the spring like a needle due to the fact that it has a different design. It is annealed using a solution of salts: sodium chloride, sodium fluoride, aluminum fluoride, sodium chloride, calcium fluoride, sodium carbonate, etc.

When the material used to make the hooks is ready, you can begin making them. After the hook is ready, it should also be hardened.

Main types of offset printers

A hook that has a Z-shape with a bend in the fore-end at the top is called offset. This hook was first used in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, it has been continuously improved for use in combination with other equipment.

What motivates anglers when using an offset hook in fishing?

The big advantage of using them is:

1. The hook allows you to use it for catching fish in dense thickets.
2. It allows you to reliably attach any bait, while preventing it from slipping off the hook. This is convenient when fishing with heavy weights over long distances.
3. Its shape allows it to easily penetrate the side of the prey's mouth.
4. Allows you to firmly hold prey when fishing.

Offset hooks are divided into two types:

These two types are very different from each other. Their differences lie in the dissimilarity of the design and the type of bait used.

Large-faced offset baits are used to attach massive silicone baits.

Moreover, the size of the hook itself is selected so that there is a reserve so that during the bite the bait does not slide down and at the same time the sting is exposed.

If a fisherman uses silicone worms as bait, and they have a thin body, then it will be rational to use worm offsets.

When using offset baits in fishing, most fishermen adhere to the rule that the width of the hook in the hook should always be about 2 times greater than the width of the bait itself.

The invention and the beginning of mass use of these hooks gave impetus to the creation of new types of baits and equipment.

Manufacturing of miniature offset hooks

Unfortunately, specialized stores very rarely have miniature offset printers for sale, and if they do, their quality is often low.

During fishing in the summer, when the temperature is high, it is not possible to catch fish in reservoirs with a spinning rod.

In such heat, she prefers to hide in dense thickets of aquatic vegetation or in places with flooded snags. It is in such places that you can hope for a good catch. For such fishing, miniature offset hooks are very useful.

Fishermen make these hooks from ordinary steel fishing hooks with a long shank. If the steel from which the hook is made is overheated, then the hook may break when bent.

To avoid this problem, it is recommended to first hold it over the fire (for example, over a blowtorch or burner), but only the part that should be bent is held.

When fishing, the main load from its weight lies on the underframe, and a step that has a bend will not be able to straighten up.

Miniature offset hooks are perfectly combined with different baits and types of fishing.

How to make a tee?

The treble hook is often used by fishermen when fishing with spinning rods, when catching large fish using live bait, or when equipping spoons and wobblers with them. You can make it yourself with single hooks.

To make a tee hook with your own hands, you need to prepare the following material:

1. A small piece of rubber.
2. Thin wire.
3. Single hooks - 3 pcs.
4. Solder.

The manufacturing technology of a fishing tee is quite simple:

1. Make a hole in a piece of rubber with an awl or nail.
2. Place single hooks completely into it so that they do not dangle and sit tightly.
3. Copper wire is wound around the ears of the hooks, on their reverse side, which is then soldered.
4. After soldering is completed, carefully remove the hooks from the rubber.

The triple hook is ready and can be used for its intended purpose.

How to make a fishhook from a tin can?

Hooks, which in their characteristics will not be inferior to those purchased, can be made at home with your own hands without much difficulty. The material can be an ordinary tin can.

To make a hook from a tin can you will need a minimum of time and material, or rather, you need to take the tab from the lid with which you open the can. This tongue is made in the shape of a figure eight. The bottom of the figure eight circle should be cut off and sharpened.

Invisibility hook

An ordinary bobby pin is suitable as an affordable material for making a hook yourself. It can be used when catching large predatory fish.

During production, you should prepare the following tools:

1. Pliers.
2. Flat cutters
3. File.
4. A block of wood.

The process of making it is very simple. You should bend both ends of the bobby pin, measure the required length of the hook, and cut off all excess. Next, the ends of the invisible are sharpened with a file. As you can see, using a minimum of time and material, a strong hook will be ready.

Do-it-yourself sharpening of fishing hooks

Many fishermen, when purchasing hooks, are faced with the fact that they have poor sharpening. Before assembling the rod, these hooks must be sharpened. Often, an abrasive stone and a needle file are used for self-sharpening. But they can only sharpen the shank of the hook itself, and they will not be able to remove burrs.

In addition, frequent use of a needle file and an abrasive stone for sharpening leads to rapid abrasion of the hook.

In an attempt to avoid such problems, resourceful anglers have come up with a new procedure for sharpening hooks.

This procedure goes step by step like this:

1. The abrasive bars are crushed with a hammer to a powdery state.
2. The epoxy resin is heated and the prepared powder is gradually added to it.
3. When the resin begins to thicken, any hardener is added to it.
4. The thick mass obtained in this way is applied to a needle file.
5. The smeared file is rolled out on a clean and hard surface.

A needle file prepared in this way can be used to sharpen hooks after two days. In order to sharpen a hook with such a needle file efficiently and without burrs, you need to insert the file into an electric drill and hold the hook with pliers.

The following methods are also suitable for quickly sharpening them at home:

1. To make the hooks dull more slowly and not rust, you can dip them in a boiling solution of table salt for 5 minutes. To prepare such a solution you will need one tablespoon of salt and 50g of water.
2. While observing personal safety precautions, you can also use a 30% nitric acid solution purchased at a pharmacy to improve sharpening. This acid eats away the top layer of metal and leaves a sharp edge.
3. Many fishermen use diamond-coated needle files for sharpening, but only the hook tip needs to be sharpened from the inside.
4. Fine-grit sandpaper is also great for sharpening.

Using the experience of many fishermen, we can say with confidence that hand-made fishing hooks will not be inferior in all their qualities to purchased ones and will take a minimum of time to make. Therefore, you can safely take them and use them for fishing.

Source: https://carpcarp.ru/zametka/fishki/rybolovnye-kryuchki.html

How to sharpen fishing hooks

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• Sharpening fishing hooks using a special sharpener
• Sharpening hooks with files and force
• Chemical sharpening of fishing hooks at home

Every angler knows that sharp hooks are much more pleasant and productive to fish with. Spicy can be achieved in several ways. Some try to promptly change dull hooks, others sharpen them during the fishing process. The best option is to sharpen fishing hooks at home.

In this article we will look in detail at several methods of sharpening hooks. Let's find out what tools and materials are needed for such work.

Do-it-yourself sharpening of fishing hooks – Fish

The sharpness of a fishing hook directly determines how successful the catch will be, but many of them have to be sharpened before being attached to the fishing line.

Hooks may not be sharp enough due to poor stamping of the tip and groove; this phenomenon is especially often observed in small-sized products. They also gradually lose their sharpness during use.

You can make your own hook sharpener. Sharpening can also be done using a needle file or an abrasive stone.

When opening a new package of hooks, you should check how sharp they are. To do this, you can lightly run the sting over the surface of the nail. A sharp one will stick to the nail and dig into it, and an insufficiently sharp one will slide along the nail. You can run the hook over your palm; the sharp one will cling to the skin. A non-sharp hook will tear the nozzle, so it should be sharpened.

Sharpening hooks

Hooks have been used in fishing since ancient times, and are used for setting bait and further hooking fish.

Naturally, all hooks used, no matter what shape they have, must be sharp enough, because the effectiveness of fishing largely depends on them.

But, unfortunately, not all products sold today are characterized by high quality, especially in terms of sharpness and strength, so you often have to observe from the sidelines and personally deal with annoying fish runs. 

The sharpness of the hooks is a relative concept, because the vast majority of these products cannot be called dull. But it’s all about the degree of sharpness, which can differ significantly in hooks from different manufacturers. Some hooks can be compared in sharpness, for example, to a Japanese katana, while others are more like a blunt spear tip.

How to check the sharpness of hooks

Check the sharpness of the hook in several stages. To begin with, you just need to carefully examine the hook, its sting and barb.

Then check how sharp the sting is by gently touching it with your fingertip: a really sharp hook will literally stick to the skin, although outwardly it may appear that the sting has not penetrated at all.

Also try to stick the sting a little into the nail: a high-quality sharp hook will easily fix.

It is not so easy to sharpen ordinary hooks with your own hands, so when purchasing hooks, pay maximum attention to their sharpness. Buy quality products from reputable manufacturers such as Owner, Decoy or Gamakatsu.

Hooks overview

Related article: offset hooks for spinning rods

Sometimes quick sharpening of hooks may be necessary directly during the fishing itself. In such a situation, a very thin needle file or a piece of sandpaper (“zero”) will come to the rescue. Using any of these tools, you can quickly correct the sting and increase its sharpness.

There are also special sharpeners for hooks. They are a small piece of hard material, in which there is a special recess for a hook. The hook is placed in this recess and sharpened at a certain angle.

The angle and direction of turning the hook are written on the packaging. In a couple of movements the hook will be sharp enough for further use.

This convenient device will be especially useful in places where there is a hard rocky bottom and many hooks.

Always check the sharpness of the hook after each hook.

Chemical sharpening of hooks

Chemical sharpening is also possible, which is carried out using a 30% nitric acid solution. For sharpening, only the tip of the hook is lowered into acid.

This acid, which can corrode the top metal layer, can be purchased at the pharmacy.

When working with nitric acid, do not forget about safety precautions. 

Hook sharpener

Source: http://fisher-book.ru/360-zatochka-kryuchkov

Sharpening jigs and hooks

: 1.11.2018

The most important condition for successful fishing is the use of sharp hooks and jigs . Well-sharpened hooks allow you to minimize the loss of fish when fishing.

The sharpness of shreds and jigs can be achieved in several ways. Some try to change them on time, others sharpen them during the fishing process. The best option is to sharpen your fishing hooks at home before fishing.

There are several methods of sharpening. This is mechanical, using abrasives, and chemical, using reagents.

Mechanical sharpening of fishing hooks

Fishing stores sell special hook sharpeners, with which you can restore the sharpness of the sting even directly while fishing, without disassembling the assembly. These sharpeners are very useful and should be in every angler's drawer.

Sharpeners are made in the form of a strip with a chamfer and a special abrasive coating. The tip of the hook is inserted into the chamfer and pulled away from you. The inner part of the tip is sharpened on a flat surface, ground from one side and then from the other side.

Sharpening hooks with a sharpener is very quick and rarely takes more than 20 seconds, depending on the thickness of the wire from which the hooks are made.

The sharpness of the sharpening can be easily checked by lightly running the tip of the hook along the nail. If the hook scratches the nail, then the sting is sharp. If the hook slides off without leaving a mark, then it needs to be sharpened. Such a hook does not penetrate the fish well and will certainly lead to offensive catches.

If the hook becomes dull while fishing, and there are no spare ones, then you can restore its sharpness with the help of a matchbox.

Good sharpening results can be achieved using small diamond-coated needle files. The best needle files for this job have a spray grit of about 3000-4000. To make sharpening easier, you can use a small vice into which the hook to be sharpened is clamped.

Chemical method of sharpening hooks

The method is fast and quite simple. To implement it, you need a small container, for example, the cut off bottom of a plastic bottle. Hooks are hung on the edges of the container so that the tip of the sting is immersed in the reagent.

Source: http://da-fish.ru/%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B0-%D0%BC%D0%BE% D1%80%D0%BC%D1%8B%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BA-%D0%B8-%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%BA% D0%BE%D0%B2.html

How and with what to sharpen a fishing hook

When a series of fish disappears after a bite, anglers often sin on the sharpness of the hook. Without really understanding the reason, they pick up the whetstones and begin to diligently sharpen the fishing hook, bringing the sharpness of the sting to the desired condition.

Such an event was quite common during the years of using our native Soviet products. It had its own necessity - thick wire, when compared with current hooks, “clumsy” sharpening.

Nowadays, few people bother with this. The price tag for hooks is not so high, it has become easier to change. And manufacturers strive to maintain the “brand” - laser sharpening, anti-corrosion coating, use of different characteristics of the source material and all that.

It seems that you can put it aside and forget about the simple, but straining your eyes and, sometimes, your nerves work. However, at the most inopportune moment, a situation arises when changing, for example, a tee is difficult or impossible, and the state of the sharpness of the tip is not satisfactory.

This happens periodically with spinners. In order to change the tee, you need to have additional wire for making the spinner axis, additional tools, and experience. Collapsible turntables are not that common.

Or you’ve found a spot on a body of water, the bite is going crazy, competing fishermen have already gathered around and are trying to invade, and at that moment, due to the dullness of the tip of the hook, you have gathering after gathering.

Fusily trying to change the mood - time during which even a catchy point can exhaust its supply of grace, or overjoyed “freeloaders” will crawl under your very nose.

For such (or other) cases, a life-saving sharpening is carried in the pocket of a vest or fishing bag. I hit the file a couple of times and off I went into battle. In the future - mandatory replacement.

The procedure for editing a hook is simple for those who have already mastered it, but the first times always come out with mistakes. I sanded off too much and took the wrong angle. In short, it completely killed the already deteriorating hook.

If you don’t mind, I’ll now tell you how to upgrade a rotating spoon so that you can easily change the tee in the future. Otherwise I will definitely forget. And then I’ll move on directly to the process of sharpening the hook.

How to replace a tee on a spinner

With some of my spinners, when the hook tip became unusable, I did it in a simple way. I bit through the eye of the tee and instead put on a hitch made from a medium-sized but relatively powerful winding ring and a new tee matched to the size and weight.

I use Ovner or Gamakatsu treble hooks. No deterioration was found in the spinner's performance, flight characteristics or grip. Perch and pike are confidently detected.

If you use it, replace it carefully. With large hooks there is usually no reason to worry, but when jewelry work with small pinwheels predominates, the consequences can be sad. Pulling a tee out of your finger does not bring joy.

I carry out the same maneuver with wobblers and spinners, but on “original” rings.

With a wobbler it is sometimes beneficial to play around with hooks. The fact is that the same Ovner series of tees of the same number are made from wires that differ in diameter, and therefore in weight. In other words, by hanging a heavier or lighter tee on a wobbler, you can achieve a change in buoyancy and not harm the performance of the bait.

But let's return to the main topic.

File

I recommend diamond. It not only allows you to do the job more accurately, but psychologically even the name already gives you confidence.

The price tags for them are different. You can buy an imported one for an amount close to 1000 or more, or you can use domestic ones. For example, from the Zubr company.

In any case, they are used for sharpening and fine finishing of knives and blades, cutting edges of carbide and high-alloy tools, when processing hard alloys, glass, ceramics, high-speed tool steels, bearing steels, and heat-resistant materials.

What you should pay attention to is the length, width of the canvas and, of course, the grain size. The first two criteria add convenience when working, grain - quality of workmanship.

Everyone chooses the length themselves, according to their own hands. I find it convenient to use a 20-centimeter tool with a width of 10 millimeters. Grain size - from 400.

In principle, you can use “ordinary” metal. The main thing is the graininess.

Touchstone

Quite an effective toolkit that is sure to be found in any hardware store. Once again, the basis of choice is the size of the abrasive. Grit size from 1000 to 3000. Stones with such characteristics are used by craftsmen to impart initial sharpness to Japanese knives.

In addition to the size, it is worth paying attention to the surface. It should be smooth, without scratches or burrs.

In principle, this will be enough for quick sharpening of single hooks, doubles and tees in the field. Vises are a good thing, but you may only need them at home.

Hook sharpening technique

First of all, let's look at what's wrong with the hook. Maybe the sting has worn off on the stones at the bottom, a small break in the tip or its bent to the side.

Having determined the direction of work, we take the hook by the fore-end so that the sting points in the opposite direction from you and upwards.

Use a file to move along the tip of the hook. This should be remembered. The hook should always be sharpened only in the direction of the tip of the sting .

Guide the file calmly, without fuss and unnecessary force, adhering to the factory sharpening angle.

Watch the distance from the tip of the sting to the barb of the hook. If after work you leave less than 2/3 of the original value, replacement is inevitable, since in this case, by setting the desired angle of the tip, you will definitely remove the excess and weaken the strength.

It is customary to check the finishing of the sting with a fingernail. However, this is painless only with smaller hooks. It is more profitable to check small ones directly with the skin of your hand. This way we will see the result of our efforts.

What else would you like to add? As a result of sharpening, the hooks lose their protective coating applied during manufacture. Rust will certainly appear if, after fishing, hooks or baits in a “wet” state were placed in a box until the next time out.

If you forgot and signs of rust appeared on the hooks, stick them into a piece of laundry soap overnight.

For those who prefer to do something with their own hands before making a purchase, they can follow the DIY route from the video below and make a fish hook sharpener from scrap materials. It’s a completely working idea, people use it.



Source: https://makchen.ru/kak-i-chem-tochit-rybolovnyj-kryuchok.html