Senkosam

Recycled plastic tends to scorch easier if you're not careful, resulting in a brown tint to clear plastic and small black chunks of overheated salt and flake clumps. Glitter may not hold up on reheating and either get smaller or even disappear. Color may not be as vibrant and a firmer plastic may be a problem for some. I haven't tried adding heat stabilizer, but I cut off any solids, throw then out, add more plastisol and any glitter and salt as needed. Basskat is correct - recycled plastic catches just as many fish. The above problems occured using LC plastic. Calhoun may be totally different. But in either case, knowing the point of no return when using a microwave, is essential! It's much faster than a Lee pot and easy to overheat. One tip is to stir and pause between zaps. Let the melted plastic work on melting the solid plastic still left. Sometimes only 20-30 seconds is all you need toward the end. Sam

Thanks Merc I found another distributor that sells holo cheaper than the other two and in all sizes plus fiber(string). The fuscia sample I got was bright purple*, but bled slightly, epecially on the remelt. This wouldn't be a problem if the color you're pouring is the same or one that you wouldn't mind a mixture of. But again, it was a light tint. The glitter folded on the third remelt and tinted and then disappeared on the fourth. Question: I know everyone remelts excess plastic later on. Would flake-folding be a big problem on the remelt? As Merc said, microwave temp. control is a must with this stuff. A candy thermometer read 230 (the plastic was like water), but a lower temp. may have been enough to remelt. (Great for deep two-part molds, but more flakes must be added.) Mixing every 30 seconds is key with remelts. I also like .090 flakes (LC's .062) *(not the grape that LC passes off as purple.) Your input. Sam

Jeff, did you try out the samples I sent? As soon as I know, everyone who offered to participate will be sent samples. Sam

That's one of the reasons I'm going to sell glitter - poor service, less than what you paid for and not what you paid for. Sam

Did you try adding LC flor. chart.?

The most important factor of a thin curl tail, regardless of it's width, is the shallowness of the tail's cavity. Sam

Would a tutorial be useful for plaster mold making?

LC would not admit that their motor oil is not irridescent and said that I didn't mix it enough. The same for amber pearl which is really copper pearl. I used Tristan's recipe last Nov. and got a reasonable mo, but not the same. There are two mo's - one reddish/greenish, and one greenish/ brownish. That's the clue as to which color to add. Sam

Thanks Jim, that what I though leafing through last years Cabelas.

Tubeman, I'm ordering 10lbs of a few colors Mon. and will send out samples to everyone who've e-mailed their addresses for their input/evaluation. Mercury is getting 5 samples cut from the samples I received and will give me his results next week. The product has to meet the standards of experienced pourers, especially those that are in the business. If Merc likes the product, then I'm stocking up on 9 colors in .015, .040, and .062 initially. (Up front cost about $3k.) Later, I'll see about holographic flakes, string glitter and pearl (mica) powder. For new products and colors or combos, I'll send everyone on the mailing list a jerkworm containing the new color or additive or send it with their order. Also, I'll continue sending free samples for people to further evaluate so that you don't get stuck with crap colors that were misrepresented. I have 40 colors to chose from and 9 are only a beginning! The price per ounce will be determined by adding my shipping charges from the distributor, to the price/ounce wholesale. Once I get my first 20 lbs. and get an idea of shipping, I'll e-mail everyone on my mailing list. Right now I'm looking at a base price of $1.07 per oz., not including my costs (ie. bubble envelopes for larger quantities). The savings will be in your shipping charges, even for small orders. For example: LC charges $5 per $15 ordered. If someone only wanted to try 4 oz. of a color/size or special order, they would only pay S&H on the package weight, not $5 on top of $4.68; or a total of $9.68 for less than 4 oz. You will, in fact usually get 1/4 oz. more included per color/size. Shipping on 4 oz. plus envelop cost isn't much. There will always be a standard cost/per oz. only, no matter how much is ordered. This should benefit the newbie and producer alike. Again, a free sample sent to anyone that emails me their address. Please post your evaluations. Sam

How many of you use .062 flakes. They work great under dimming light (sunset) and in a fog (morning mist). Sam

What would be a good size clevis for a #3 swing or Colorado blade. (in-line or spinnerbait)? I used whatever I could salvage from a Mepps to make these in-line/creature bait combos. (Trickworms work great also.) Sam

Thanks Gr8flyz I also found another comp. that distributes American Fishing Wire: http://www.4fishin.com/Stainless%20Steel.htm Sam

Free sample to be sent to everyone for testing. I'm going to send out samples of one color in .040 for everyone to test. I assume everyone uses black flake, so I'll order 10 lbs. and get your responses. If there is a consensus on another favorite color, e-mail me and I'll send it instead, otherwise black is what you'll get. The feedback I need from those participating is: 1. heat tolerance to 250 degrees. Most plastics don't require even that much heat and anything over will curl flakes badly, if not melt them. Remelting old plastic with glitter, will almost certainly destroy the glitter and require more to be added. 2. Colors and sizes in those colors. Check out the color selection on page one. Also indicate whether you would use string glitter. I like it and could get it in a size larger than LC. 3. Indicate if you would like premixes (in whole oz. parts). i.e. red:black:green in .015 ; 3oz. red+ 1 oz black + 2 oz. green = 6oz total. 4. Holographic glitter is the same price as LC. I haven't found a distributor that sells it cheaper, so it would be the same price through me. If the demand is there, I'll stock it. Also, e-mail me your name and address. Sam

Berkley sold a stainless steel wire for making leaders called Seven Strand. They don't make it anymore. Where can I get wire in different gauges to make spinners and spinnerbaits? Thanks Sam

Valspar gloss coat works far better than Mod Podge to coat plaster molds. It's water soluble, coats smooth and even and stays tough. No more peeling after a dozen pours and the surface is harder than nail polish. A small can will last for years. (Got it a Home Depot.) Sam

Craig, not knowing the microwave's power, it might be a good idea to zap at 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Too much time will darken even clear plastic and flakes curl badly over 350. It also depends on how much you're trying to melt and whether your using up old plastic. The latter requires extra care, but don't expect metal flakes to stay whole or salt to stay suspended. The flour salt I use, makes pouring a lot easier and I don't add it or flakes until the plastic cools a little. I have small and medium pyrex cups which, for me, pour fine details (curl tails and appendages) easier than using the large size. I made the mistake of adding scent to hot plastic and got popping bubbles that wouldn't stop for 5 minutes. I was able to salvage the plastic and pour, but won't do that again! Frank

Got to get some of that glue! A candle and soldering iron are okay, but not as easy as a drop of glue in the right spots.

To everyone who swapped last year, how about some feedback once the season gets in full swing, about how you did on baits you received that actually caught fish? It would be nice to know that more than just the guy that sent the baits had some good experiences. I promise to report my successes only and will post a picture of the lure just in case I got them mixed up in the boat. Everyone is welcome to copy any lure I sent that did well and if you lose the lure, I'll send you one to copy if you see the value of the creation. Sam

You mean,'The Island of Dr Moreau'? I don't think he was into pouring or fishing. More like, Dr. Frankenstein without the Igor - you know, body parts connected to form a new being? I figure that many of the designs of the past and present incorporate similar features that have function and effect certain actions or visualization. The variety of individual elements is compounded by the combinations of two or more, resulting in a lure fish nor angler has seen. Simpler designs have proven killers (Senko and jerk sticks in general) and more complex designs have begun to challenge the skirted jig & pork trailer success (Ika, Hula Grub). Many trailers produced by members of this forum, are as good most of the year, as compared to pork. Building a better mousetrap is fun, but getting it to catch a mouse is a whole different story. Sam

I'm waiting for one more sample in .040 to test for heat tolerance and color retention. If anyone goes over 350 degrees, the flakes curl considerably and I don't want 300 lbs of glitter that no one will buy. Give me an idea of sizes and colors you use. Soon I'll be sending samples to everyone to try. The ultimate problem is the microwave because timing is critical when there isn't a thermostat to regulate temp. Sam

Lure design is an art in itself. The designer for a company has to figure out: 1. what'll get the angler to buy a new creation? (Packaging, ads, cat. listings, price etc.) 2. what will it take to appy the proper hype to the lure? 3. what colors will set the lure apart? 4. will the lure catch fish in a televised tournament (ie. Yelas and Frenzy cranks)(It's hard to edit a real event versus Bill Dance's success on a private pond.) The nice thing about making my own is that I'm my own field tester and have many waters near me to test the versatility of anything I make. I have a tidal river, small smallie river, ponds, small and large lakes and a highland reservoir. In fact, since I live only 10 min. away from a prime crappie, pick and LM lake, I can test my smallie creations on crappie. (Whatever crappies hit in my lake, other species will definitely strike.) Here's a few more: (note: the new dragonfly has a double-take style tail from Reaction lures) (The Salty-Spidas will be wacky rigged for heavy cover) (The Craw Creature hopefully will draw some big reaction strikes due to body, claw and tail bulk. A thicker tail on a large grub, already caught large numbers of fish all last year.) If these hybrids produce in the spring, I'll create molds to pour copies. Sam

Thanks Craig. I also made a Reaction tail of two, opposing, curled tails and added the same stuff. as seen in Reaction's Double Take double tails Also shown are a few Spida creations that I plan to wacky rig.

Materials: 2" Mr. Twister double tail grub 3" Mr. Twister single tail grub Krystal flash and thin wire loop to pull the whiskers through the head candle to fuse the d.t. of one to the longer body of the other tiny drips of bubble gum colored plastic on aluminum foil soldering iron to attach the eyes Spike-It worm dye (watermelon) and a pipe cleaner to apply it to one surface

Most of the posts on the Soft Plastics forum are about pouring. But a friend of mine showed me a simple technique for altering and joining plastics together to form an entirely different lure. That's not to say the new hybrid can't be molded, but that it can at least be reproduced for personal use in the future. Ie.: More than 50% of the 40 designs I've molded, are hybrids. Who says the lures have to be existing designs or bought from LC? Stereo pic: http://www.frontiernet.net/~postcard/stereo%20dragonfly.jpg Sam