redg8r

Hi, You might be able to make a clam mold with RTV, but theres a few concerns to look at first. #1 you mentioned your RTV has been sitting around awhile, you might wanna test it to make sure its still good. RTV has a shelf life, usually around 6 mo. but depends on brand & how you store it. #2 durometer. in the clam mold tutorial I use a typical household silicone. it has a high durometer/low shore value which basically makes it "thick" most RTV's are pretty flimsy so you might wanna sink the bait a little deeper than the 1/8" I recommended in the tutorial. The RTV wont be thick enough to support the bait, so you will need to either suspend it from above using something like a thin wire or a needle or something. I called it a clam mold because its totally encompassed by silicone. #3 The clam mold is made from clear silicone, so you can see where you need to cut the mold to extract the original, I havnt seen many "clear" RTV's & theyre pretty pricey, So finding where to cut might be tricky. Other moldmakers will use a method called a "glove mold" where one end is open & creates the pour hole. heres a link to a similar tutorial for more reading: http://www.alumilite.com/howto.cfm?ID=7 On Step 4 of this tutorial the author uses a marker to make note of where he needs to cut the mold, I recomment you mark the Inside of the container so the mark will transfer onto the RTV rubber, ive done it & makes it easier to find the mark. I used a glove mold to make my swimbaits, I stood the bait on its flat tail to make a glove mold described in the link above. hope it works out for ya.

Ahh, I think you mean the "Swaps". 1-on-1 swaps & trading is permitted in the "traders post" forum, The swaps are now hosted & run by a TU moderator. If you wanna get a spinnerbait swap goin, send Celticav a private message & bug him until he agrees to host one ("wire baits" is his forum) Thanks for the interest.

OK Fellas, All packages are accounted for. They all look Great & we're now proud owners of some fine molds from all over. We have a good mix of Plaster, Resin & Aluminum molds. I have them sorted & packaged, just waiting on Monday mornings pickup. I sent them all Priority mail & Big Splash, your parcel is setup as requested. Ive attached a photograph below, so if you wanna be surprised, dont peek ...yeah...right Thank you men, you all came thru & quality work by all. just a testament of what a group like this can do to help us further our craft together. Enjoy em.

I'm just takin a stab in the dark, but i think they might be using the resin inside the bait, or incorporated it into the body material. maybe a slight chance they could use it in an epoxy undercoat. Ive seen a new tungsten "putty" available, they market it as a pinch-on sinker....supposedly you can take the putty & roll out a ball & form it right on your line like an instant sinker. Tungsten is available in a fine powder, but I have no clue on how you would spray it. Im sure it would affect the color somewhat. anybody gotta link to these handy?

no problem

No For security reasons HTML isnt allowed here' date=' you can use BBcode instead. When posting just click the "[b']Img[/b]" button twice & place the image URL in between the BBcode tags. Example: [img=http://www.yoursite.com/pics/mylure.jpg] Please keep the image sizes as samll as possible for our 56k (dialup) friends. 320x240 is an average image size. Deleting is only possible via a moderator, we automatically delete accidental double posts, if you want to remove a post completely, use the "Report" button & ask that your post be removed. Thanks,

just an update, I have everyones package except bigsplash's lil patience, because his is coming from Canada & shipping has been screwy lately. all look great, cant wait till you see em.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=824&highlight=senko+recipe (4th post down, courtesy of Mercury)

pyrex measuring cup (3-5$) & a microwave. The smoke your getting may be from overcooking or impurities in the old baits like scent, oils or something else. Make sure your not cooking 3x baits or any of the bio-degradable plastics. try & nuke it in 30 second intervals & then stir it between each cycle. itll take some practice & trial & error. especially since your recycling old baits. but it works.....recycling is good

wow, i recieved it today (monday) Thanks! Nice molds too!!

I think USPS had a rough holiday, cause I had a few packages i needed for christmas arrive late. (12 days from mississippi to sw. fla) luckily the kids are so spoiled, missing a couple gifts didnt bother them

Theres a soft plastic color cookbook in the Soft plastics forum: http://www.tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=721

alot a hobby sites & shops have a kit, they are usually a lil pricey. some even include clay & other materials. I bought one from smoothon.com awhile back for a good price. NOTE, they only allow you to buy a starter kit once, no matter which one you choose. I recommend the silicone kit (omoo i think) I bought the urethane kit (reoflex) & had problems getting parts out of the mold. it comes with sealer, silicone, catalyst, & mold relaese, along with instructions & a catalog.

Welcome aboard bearpaw, Yeah Del is a good guy & hes worked hard to bring Calhouns line to the smaller manufacturers like ourselves. I use a paint stir stick to stir calhouns, other brands will need to have the hardener scraped or shaken like hell to pull to pull it off the bottom of the container. Calhouns is a lil hard right out the bucket, but hey I'll trade some softener in leu of a mechanical mixer anyday.

will it pour a tube with a frayed tail/skirt??

Man Ken, its cold down here... no joke We had a freeze warning & had to bring the tropical plants in. I'm sure the citrus farmers were stoking the orange groves with bonfires last night. Ive never had the opportunity to icefish, but after seeing some of the coolest ice huts, all decked out w/ heaters & plush seating, makes me wanna give it a go sometime. Someone hook me up with a hut that has TV & a ballgame & I'd never leave

I C now...

Is a thousand too many for you, or were you wanting to buy bigger lots for a better price break? Theres some links to suppliers in here, but I cant think of none off hand.

You might have to look into jewelers rubber (vulcanized rubber) its heat cured in an oven or machine, but there are RTV (Room Temp Vulcanized) alternatives out there that will withstand white metals (low temp metals, like lead)

www.Jannsnetcraft.com www.barlowstackle.com www.staminainc.com All have what your looking for. Good luck w/ your travels.

I'm in..... Im one of the 5. Just send 4 molds, I'll arrange each package correctly so no one gets thier own mold back. I'm makin a few extras too, but this cold weather down here has me a lil behind. They arent due in the mail until the 27th. So we still got about a weeks build time.

No problem, For those who havnt paid, you can send it with the package if you like. I have Roberts (BTS Baits) Molds here & they are awesome.......oh & BTW they're Aluminum!

Hi Snookin4, Where you at in Florida? There are a few resource books available for making baits, but I'm not sure if pouring soft plastics are covered. Everything Ive learned come from this group & good ole trial & error. MF has a small how-to on thier site, but heres a link from Zeiners: (Same thing) http://www.zeiners.com/mfhow.html Theres a plastic dye available called "Spike-it" but its for use after the plastic has cooled. Most people add plastic "pigments" or dyes to thier plastic before they pour in the mold. these are 2 different types of dye. But to help answer your question, I think "Spike-it" can be used for live/cut baits, someone correct me if I'm wrong, Ive never used it. Welcome to the group.