Hooks, Split Rings and Wire for 3D Printed Lures — the Hardware Guide

A printed body becomes a fishing lure through about two euros of hardware: one length of stainless wire, two or three split rings, one or two treble hooks, and a pinch of ballast. This guide covers what to buy, which sizes fit which builds, and the two rules we don't bend — stainless everywhere, and never lead.

The wire: 1.0 mm stainless, one continuous run

Every lure body in the catalog carries a printed channel for a single continuous wire from the line tie, along the belly, to the tail. Use 1.0 mm stainless steel wire (304 or 316) — stiff enough to hold its bends under load, soft enough to form with pliers. Hardware-store "craft wire" in mild steel rusts inside the sealed body; spring steel is too hard to bend cleanly at this diameter. One 10 m coil builds a season's worth of lures. The bend sequence — nose loop, belly hanger, tail loop — is in the through-wire guide.

Treble hooks: the size is on your parts list

Each purchased package names its treble size, because hook size follows body size and action — a heavy hook on a small floater kills the action, an undersized hook on a big crank costs hookups. The catalog rule of thumb:

• #6 — the small bodies, around 5 cm, and most 7 cm builds.
• #4 — the mid-size workhorses, most 9 cm builds.
• #2 — the big 11 cm bodies and the largest topwaters.

Quality matters more than brand: fresh, chemically sharpened trebles from VMC, Mustad, Gamakatsu or Owner all serve. Replace hooks when points dull or arms bend — the printed body will outlive many sets.

Split rings: 3–5 mm, stainless, nothing exotic

Rings connect the wire loops to the hooks and give the treble its free swing. 3–4 mm rings suit the small and mid bodies, 4–5 mm the large ones. Buy stainless; a 200-piece assortment costs less than one store-bought lure and covers every build in the catalog. Split ring pliers make the job pleasant but a fingernail and patience also work.

Ballast: tungsten, steel or brass — never lead

Floating builds carry one ballast pocket, sinking builds two. The pocket geometry assumes dense material: tungsten putty is the most convenient — it presses into the pocket, stays put, and lets you fine-tune buoyancy at the water. Steel or brass slugs work at slightly larger volume. We never recommend lead: it is toxic in the water column, increasingly banned, and simply unnecessary when tungsten exists. The lure guide covers how ballast placement shapes the action.

Salt water note

Everything above assumes fresh water. In salt, rinse lures after use and accept that even "stainless" grades eventually pit — 316-grade wire and saltwater-rated hooks buy you time. The sealed body itself does not care about salt.

The two-euro shopping list

Per lure: ~20 cm of 1.0 mm stainless wire, 2–3 stainless split rings, 1–2 trebles in your parts-list size, a gram or two of tungsten putty, plus a share of an epoxy kit for the required sealing step. The links below go to products we would buy ourselves — and the parts list in every package repeats the exact sizes for your build.