Mid 19th Century Baits

These  baits are replicas of metal baits made by J.T Buel company of Whitehall New York. The larger bait is an Arrowhead. It is stamped with Buel’s 1852  patent . The original patent covered the air chamber and the hollow tube running down the center of the bait. The air chamber is made of copper which I silver plated. The places on the air chamber that look like the plating has been worn away were done intentionally to show aging.

The arrowhead shaped piece of the bait was made from brass that I cut from flat brass stock with snips and a jeweler’s saw. The front is Silver plated and stamped with makers mark and patent date the plating was intentionally flaked in the area of the stampings. The back side of that piece is not plated. I added a patina finish to the polished brass.The body of the bait is four and a quarter inches long and would have been used by the retired President for trolling for Pike and Muskelunge.

The second bait is a replica of an elongated kidney fly bait. The blade is two and three sixteens long. The blade is marked with the number 2 which denotes size, and the Maker’s mark J.T. Buel and Whitehall. The blade is silver plated brass on the front and brass with patina on the back. The feathers on the bait are tied to the brass shaft with the traditional whipping method used in fly-tying

Both baits have my own makers mark on them which is a micro stamp that reads Philip Allen.

I have also included some pictures of Materials, soldering and forming blocks I made to use in forming the air chamber and  stakes for shaping the kidney blade.

Arrowhead (Front)

Arrowhead (Back)

Arrowhead stampings

Kidney Fly Bait

Materials and forming blocks

Arrowhead blade-air chamber forming block and air chambers

Soldering

Work bench

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