nova

Doesn't work for me either. Site must be down. www.novalures.com

Here's a pic of the mask. It's a 6000 series. 3M 6000 Series Full Facepiece Respirator - Large - Half Mask Respirators The filters don't come with the mask. I think I paid something like $200 for mine complete. www.novalures.com

What Dave is showing is for dust and would not handle the fumes we make. I don't have a pick of mine but it's a 3M and fits snugly over your face so that no fumes get to you. They can be exspensive but what price do you put on your eyes and face? As far as a 1/2 mask and glasses goes, you are right Richard that your glasses will steam up very quickly. The way I see it; you can go with a full face mask or get contacts and a 1/2 mask, lol. www.novalures.com

Richard, the one I use has a full face mask. I did this because I had a pyrex blow up on me which peppered my apron with glass and plastic. Just lucky it didn't hit my face. Just thought I give you something else to think about if you use pyrex. www.novalures.com

There is a type of soft weatherstripping that is about 1/4" wide. It has adheasive on one side. I would give that a try. Usually comes in a flat roll (like a spiral) and is enough to do a door; so if it works you'll have pleanty for replacements. Oh, by the way, it's quite inexspensive. Try Wallyworld. www.novalures.com

Happy Birthday. 47, man I can't remember that far back; lol. Have a good one.

Welcome Jay. Warning:- there is no pill or cure for this condition; lol. I'm just across the water from you. If I can help, just ask. www.novalures.com

One of the best producing colors I ever found came by accident. I mistakenly put a red shad worm in the same pack as Berkley pumkinseed baits and didn't notice it for two weeks. What came out was a reddish; almost dark blood color; with black flecks. I tried to copy that color for quite a while without luck. I had forgotten about that (happened years ago) until I read this thread. I think I'll have another go at it when I get time. www.novalures.com

Fish are no differant than any other creature on earth. There are smart ones and dumb ones. All these "type" of people are focusing on the dumb ones because that's what suits their deranged purposes. Delw; we use much differant names for those people here; lol. Thanks Chris. www.novalures.com

Don't even give it a second thought. The soft plastic bait industry is way too big and way to powerful to allow anything to happen to hinder their future sales of product. Not only that; just think of the spin-off industries that depend on the $ that fishermen/women spend. ( gas, food, lodgings, motors/repairs, boats, trucks, etc.) Just relax, go fishing and enjoy nature. www.novalures.com

I don't seem to any color until I'm around 35 PSI. Could it be my paint is too thick? I thin it 50/50. www.novalures.com

Once the paint is dry and set it's not as fragile as it was before. You still have to take care though. I just did a bunch of ST baits in white pearl belly and black back. Came out not too bad but I'm still trying to re-learn the airbrush thing. Getting some over spray and some spots where I don't want them. What PSI do you folks use to spray? www.novalures.com

I just discovered something today that I want to pass along. I've been trying to airbrush softbaits with waterbased paint and have been running into a problem where the paint wants to separate because of the oil in the plastic. What I did, after trying all kinds of things, was to wipe down the plastic with alcohol and then airbrush it after I heat the plastic with a heatgun set at the lowest setting (heat and fan). This dries the paint very quickly and stops it from separating as you paint. Don't try to lay too much paint at once. Just do a light coat and then pass in front of the heatgun. Then lay more paint and repeat the heat. Takes a little longer but you'll get good results. www.novalures.com

Good for you. www.novalures.com

Welcome to TU. Hopefully you can learn things here and we can learn from you. www.novalures.com

The problem with adding food coloring to PJ is that the coloring is water based and the jelly is oil based. You need to find an oil based tint. www.novalures.com

The only time I use gloves is when I'm doing a lot of pouring with my aluminum molds. Other than that I don't like to wear gloves. Drives me nuts taking them off to pick out the baits and then putting them back on to pour. I also find that I pour better when I can have full contact with the pyrex. But this is just me and I'm in no way telling anyone to not protect their hands, etc. www.novalures.com

Wasn't me Longhorn. I haven't used paints as yet on softbaits, but I'm getting ready to on a new bait I just designed. I've done airbrushing before when I used to make hardbaits so I should be able to pick it right up with a little practice. We'll see. lol Thanks for the mention though. www.novalures.com

Well there. I learned something today. I always say you should learn at least one new think per day. Thanks. www.novalures.com

I've done the salt no color and flake as well Longhorn and you're right about the flake. I tried copper flake and it turned the whole stick a sort of reddish amber. Neat color. As for the food coloring in the salt; I think that is what Headshot has. It's the only thing I can think of that Dept of Health would allow for consumption. I am wundering if the permanent ink in a sharpie;for instance; would permanently color the salt. Might be worth a try to open up the pen and roll it around in the salt just to see. www.novalures.com

It would have to be a permanent coloring Richard or else it would bleed into the rest of the plastic. An interesting question though. www.novalures.com

It will look a little like frosted glass. I put a little white pearl powder in it and use it for a belly color with a light smoke back. Makes a nice baitfish colo. www.novalures.com

About the only time I pre-heat is when I'm pouring 2 or 3 color baits. I pre-heat by pouring old plastic in the mold and let it set there until I get the good plastic heated. www.novalures.com

I just use a rolled up piece/s of sculpy clay in the shape of a pointed gumdrop(lol) and place it in front of the master making sure it extends out and touches the mold frame. After it sets up theres just a little clean up and you're good to go. www.novalures.com

What I do is simply take a table knife, hold it at right angles to the mold (once it sets up) and spin a tapered hole into the 1st mold half. No need to go deep, 3/16" is plenty. Clean up the debris and then prepare to pour the second half mold. No need to run around looking for things to stick into the half-set plaster. I've done it, it's a pain in the butt. Try to work as simply as you can. Don't complicate the process; there's no need. As far as the second question, the 2 sides of the mold should still set together properly. It will just take a little to find the sweet spot and then clamp and pour. Don't throw the mold away it's still good. www.novalures.com