alsworms

If you're married, the first thing I would suggest is moving that table into the garage .....my wife can stand the smell for about 30 seconds! Seriously, I poured for about 5 years with no concern of fumes at all. Call me a dummy, but I never had any problems. I just opened the side door and left the main garage door half open. I ran a fan on the other end of the garage for some ventilation. THEN......I started reading all these posts about fumes and it scared me a little ......I had a ventilation system built in my shop that sucks all the fumes out. It works great, but it was very costly. I guess it just depends on how much pouring you plan on doing. Chris

Yep - I'm a firm believer in scents. By far, my favorite is Pro Cure. I use their garlic, anise, threadfin shad, and bottom fish scents. For crawfish, I use either Lure Craft or Kick N Bass. For saltwater lures, I like to use Pro Cure's predator and minnow scents, and occasionally MF's cod liver oil. Chris

I can't find the color cookbook on our site. Am I looking in the right place? Chris

It has a very minimal odor, but everyone's senses are different. Some guys think Lure Craft has an odor, but to me it has none at all. MF has a kind of sweet smell, and 3-G has a terrible musty odor. Again, that's just my nose...... Chris

Join the club Nathan. I'm thinking of listing something like....... "FREE BAITS AND FREE SHIPPING TOO!!!! I'd probably still get no bids Chris

I like MF's powders and hi-lites more than Lure Craft's because they seem to have a more brilliant color and withstand heat longer. The powders work great, but you are obviously much more limited in your choices. Another note on MF's colors: Again, some guys may have had better luck, but this is my opinion..... Stay away from these 3: Watermelon (turns yellow with high heat) Violet & Pumpkin (WAY too light). And one more thing while I'm ranting ............ I wish MF would come up with another way of packaging their colors. Those screw lids are awfully messy. I can't keep the color from running down the sides and all over my hands. If anyone has a solution to this problem, I'd sure like to know about it. Chris

Yep - motor oil is listed on the inside cover of the catalog; item no. 1x332. MF also carries it, and both brands are almost identical. Chris

I make a couple different styles of paddletail worms. Attached is a picture of my most popular one. Unfortunately, I've never heard of a Zetabait Dingaling. Not sure what kinda action mine would have compared to that. Chris

They look just as good as anything I've seen Nathan. I do have a few questions for you 2-part molds guys though............ I know it's been explained before (probably 1000 times!), but I'm still not getting the picture on how to laminate a 2-part mold. Looking at Del's pictures, the two colors look almost like a perfect "half and half" line in the middle. Are these 2 colors hot enough to mold together? When pouring in a one-piece mold, I always have one color running into the other. Does a 2-part mold eliminate this? Here's the way I picture it......and please correct me on ANYTHING that I'm missing 'cause I don't know a thing about 2-part molds ......... you've got 2 flat sides that (when closed together) form a round bait. Now taking Nathan's example.....do you pour watermelon in one side, pearl in the other, then close the mold? If that's the case, does some of the plastic run out of the mold? Isn't this pretty time consuming? I know it sounds stupid fellas, but that's the way I see it. :oops: And this brings about one final question....... is there any way to pour a vein in a 2-part mold? Hate to dump all this on you guys, but I'm lost here. Chris

You've got mail Chris

I haven't had a problem with Lure Craft's deliveries. Let's just say their customer service leaves something to be desired. Mercury.....you must have a nicer voice than me 'cause Lori won't give me the time of day. She always acts like she's got 15 calls on hold. I sometimes hang up when she answers........

If it's a soft formula plastic, it should only take 2-3 minutes in the microwave, and 4-5 minutes on a burner. When reheating in a microwave, make sure you take it out after a minute or so and stir before putting it back in. This will help keep it from scorching. A production pot also works great for reheating chunks of plastic. Chris

Forgot to mention that I use MF for these colors................... crayfish, blue smoke pearl, amber green, indigo, & transparent brown. Not that you'd need ALL those colors to start, but they're very cool Chris

Yep - it works great! I've never used leftovers for production work, but I save all my extra chunks for tails, veins, and such. Chris

I've never used sand, but I go through a bunch of salt. Everyone has their own preferences, but I only use salt with senkos and trailers. These are the only 2 baits that I need a "sinking" action. I like my worms and other baits to float; much better action and durability. As for colors, my personal favorite has always been motor oil. You might also get small amounts of the basic colors to start; black, red, purple, blue, white, brown, etc. Add different types of flakes in these and you can get some really cool effects. Other great colors?? Amber Brown, Chartreuse, Avocado, Green Pumpkin, Minnow Silver, Root Beer, Pumpkinseed, Pearl White....... These are all I can think of off the top of my head. What am I missin' fellas????? Chris

Thanks Jeff. Just might have to look into getting a grinder. Chris

Thanks for the info Merc. Got a question for ya..... I think I read it somewhere, but I can't find it now...... do you grind regular table salt or popcorn salt? I use the popcorn salt, and it works a lot better than table salt, BUT it still needs to be constantly mixed. Chris

MF only offers the smaller sizes (pints, quarts), gallon, 5-gallon, and 55-gallon drums. Going with the gallon size is your best bet. I think my first gallon lasted like 4 months. It's nothing to go through that in a day now. It was tough to make the transition (1 to 5 gallons). I thought "Do I really need ALL that plastic???". I bought my first 55-gallon drum the other day. Bottom line is you'll go through it fast once you start learning a thing or two. If you transfer your plastic into quart sizes, just make DARN sure the container is completely mixed. I made that mistake when I first started. Didn't know a thing about hardener settling, and I transferred into quart sizes. I remember calling Lure Craft and saying "why can't I get this stuff to gel??". They asked if I shook up the container before the transfer. I was a little embarrassed to say the least :oops: Just like everything else, I learned the hard way, but I'll feel better if I can keep one guy from making that mistake. Chris

Sam sure said it...... if you check out MF's prices, they want 46 bucks for 1 gallon, and 86 bucks for 5 gallons. That's pretty much a "no brainer" Shipping is usually about 25 bucks for a 5-gallon jug, but well worth it in the long run. As for breaking down the softener, like Sam said.....you're better off buying at least a gallon or you'll get killed on price. If you have to buy in a smaller size, just try adding a couple ounces of softener to start. I like my stuff SOFT, but some guys are okay with no softener in the plastic. Chris

Attached is a picture of a reaper. They're also known as a leech. Sounds like you've got your order down. It's pretty much up to you at this point; your color preferences, flakes, scents, etc. I'd also recommend buying a pint or quart of softener. I add softener to the 536 formula; usually about a 1/2 cup per gallon. I wouldn't buy salt from Lure Craft 'cause the shipping kills you on that. You're better off buying popcorn salt locally. Hope this helps Chris

Lee, I'd recommend pouring just straight worms (wide cavity) or reapers when starting out. Reapers are about the easiest thing on the planet to pour. Even then, you'll probably spend a bunch of time trimming your baits. When I first started, it would take me 30 minutes to pour 20 worms; then I'd spend another 20 minutes with an exacto knife trimming the overpours Don't get me wrong....it won't take long to get the feel of it; then you can venture into more challenging pours, like lizards, creatures, etc. I have seen guys who buy tons of stuff, only to have it sit in their garage because they expected too much too soon. My first few baits were some of the most God-Awful lookin' things you'd ever see It can be frustrating because it isn't as easy as it looks. Just hang in there and take it one step at a time. If ya get mad, walk away for a few hours, but don't give up!! One more thing.....if you've decided to customize your first order, make sure you get the 536 formula plastic. The 506 is a bugger to mess with. It's a much harder plastic and very difficult to pour. Holler if you have any more questions. Chris

Hey Lee, Jrav is right on the button. Didn't mean to steer you in the wrong direction. If you're not in a big hurry, get that catalog, then take your time and choose the glitters and colors that YOU want. Heck, if you're anything like the rest of us, you'll be buying more stuff from Lure Craft in no time anyway. There were times when I thought about just signing my paycheck over to them.

Hi Lee, Lure Craft has a neat little starter kit which costs about 30 bucks. It comes with a variety mold, a couple pints of plastic, colors, and pouring pans. I always recommend this kit if you've never poured before. You can call them for a free catalog at 1-800-925-9088. There are a billion different products you can use in your plastics, but it's best just to start with something simple. Once you get the catalog, feel free to drop a post with any questions. Good Luck Chris

No such thing as a dumb question here. If there were, I'd be in BIG trouble I've added salt in all stages, and I usually put the scent in just before pouring. This doesn't seem to make the plastic bubble. I only have that problem with the threadfin and crawfish scents made by Pro Cure. But Mercury solved the problem with that one because he noticed it has sea salt in it. I have never had a problem with any of Lure Craft's scents, although I don't like 'em that much. Their crawfish is okay, but I don't use any of the others anymore. Chris

Well there's the answer to the threadfin scent making the plastic bubble. They must really load the bait sauces with sea salt because the crawfish bubbles even worse. I don't have a problem with the other scents though...... Strange.......