nova

I would take an exacto knife and cut a slot in the bottom of the silicone mold. Then insert a piece of metal in the shape of the hook slot you want, up through the bottom of the mold. Then just pour your baits. The metal should have the shape of a "T" so that you won't have to re-insert the metal each time you remove a bait. www.novalures.com

I knew there was another reason that I didn't feel comfortable setting my oven higher than 150. My concern was that I didn't want to "steam" the water and crack the molds. I also take my molds out of the oven a couple of times and set them on a folded newspaper to draw out some of the water. Great article Dave. www.novalures.com

No problem Jay; I had three. Glad to help. Let me know how you make out. www.novalures.com

First thing I noticed as well. Don't keep an eye on the baits; just get them out of there. By the time you see any changes it's too late. Nice job on the pours. www.novalures.com

Don't put it in a paint shaker if it's in a gallon plastic jug. The jug could break apart and make mess like you've never seen before. Stir; scrape and shake it till you think it's all mixed up; then do it all again and you will be fine. I think the half life on this stuff is like 100 years; lol. www.novalures.com

I think you're wrong there Jim. I think every contributing member of TU can take credit for the ideas that any member can take advantage of. The free exchange of ideas is what makes TU the very best site of it's kind on the net. I enjoy watching how someone will come up with something and during the discussion someone else will say something that takes the origional idea to another level. It's like the post takes on a positive life of it's own. I do thank you for the acknowledgment and I' sure Dave does as well. www.novalures.com

In the colder climates we have what's called pipe heater tape or pipe warmer. It's an insulated electrical heater that looks like electrical wiring with a male plug on one end. We wrap this around water pipes that are in danger of freezing in the winter. Surprised I never thought of this before. One could just inbed this in the plaster around the dipping can and then just plug it in. It won't get hot enough to melt the plastic for pouring; but it will slow down the cooling process quite a bit. You folks down south might have difficulty finding this locally but I'm sure you could order it in. It's not an exspenive item. http://www.thomasnet.com/products/tape-heaters-37850401-1.html I'm not pushing any of these companys. I just did a google and came up with this list which looks promising. www.novalures.com

I wouldn't do anything to the clay master. I think the clay would cause the spray to bead up that would make your mold have imperfections in it. If your clay master is unbaked you will have no trouble getting it out of the resin after the mold sets up no matter what the shape of the master. www.novalures.com

When I pre-heat my molds I use old plastic. Just heat it up and pour into the molds. Let this sit in the molds while you get the "real" plastic ready for pouring. By the time that plastic is ready your molds are nice and warm. www.novalures.com

That's a new one on me; I've never had that happen. How soon after making the mold are you using it. In others words, how much curing time are you giving the mold? Do you cure it in the oven and are you re-curing it after you seal it? www.novalures.com

I don't know what a Bunker oil is but what I have found is that you add the scent oils to the plastic before you are ready to pour. Make sure you stir it in well. After you pour the baits you can always add some scent to the baits in the package for an added boost. www.novalures.com

I don't use anything for POP but for resin you can use a tupperware type plastic container. As far as the "smell" goes with resin; I can only relate my experiance with it. Now maybe it's a curing thing but I got the smell for months after it was set. It may also be the chemical comp of the resin that I used. Who knows for sure. www.novalures.com

My trick is to pour the second/third color ASAP. If your baits are quite large the time between colors may not be such a problem as it will take longer for the large volumn of plastic to cool to the point where delamination is a problem. What you might run into is what I call "blending" of the 2 colors. I like the effect but you may not. This happens when the color you pour on top pulls some of the color from underneath up into itself. This should not effect the sides of the bait. www.novalures.com

The quality of the finished mold (resin) is directly related to the quality of the master. Sraying it will not produce a better finish; in fact it may even make the finished product worse. www.novalures.com

No I didn't seal the resin molds. I just set them all aside and made POP molds. I don't use them any more(haven't for years). The smell transfer will not help you catch fish. In order to seal POP the one thing that has to happen for a good finish product is that the sealer must penitrate the POP to give a good base to connect to. In the case of resin; it's going to have to be something that glues itself to the resin and that's where your limitations are going to be. Epoxy will bead and separate; waterbased products will just bead. The only thing I can think of to seal resin is going to be a special paint for fiberglass and with that you may get color transfer. Not to mention the cost for special paint. My suggestion is to go to POP and cut your costs. The end result(baits) will be the same quality as from a resin mold if it's done right. www.novalures.com

I've made them with 6" nails in between the baits to try and stop the warping. That worked; but as far as the smell transfer goes I never got around that one. www.novalures.com

The cracking is probably from a little too much catalyst. This will cause more heat and cure too quickly causing the resin to contract and then crack. Nova Lures

I thought about the dental thing but they will probably want $1 each. Greedy buggers;lol. www.novalures.com

Firstly; welcome to the addiction. lol I tried wax as a master and didn't like working with it but you might.(each of us have our own way of doing things) I use clay or I carve out from pine. Sometimes I even use a combination of both. I don't bake my clay; that way I can re-use it. The glossy finish come from the proper sealing of the mold. I have used resin for molds in the past but I found that if you are pouring a lot of baits at a time the resin heats up and will transfer the smell to the baits. Also, the mold has a tendancy to sag if it gets too hot. I make all my molds from POP. Hope this helps. www.novalures.com

The o rings for the banjo minnows are very small regular elastics. Not sure where you could get some. Try the dollar store or wally world in the craft sections. Also might be in the school sections. www.novalures.com

That's what I do Dave. Tried the salt without flouring it and didn't like the results. www.novalures.com

No, not at all; other than the master will have to be a 360 degree instead of a 180. www.novalures.com

I do the same but with a zip-knife. www.novalures.com

That looks great. Now you're all set for shark fishing; lol. All kidding aside; I bet some tackle shops would buy something like that for display purposes. www.novalures.com