nova

Same old same old Blades. It will happen every time. Like they say,"it's not personal, it's just business". (BS) It's all about money and to heck with the little guy. But, they expect the little guy to buy the product to keep their emotionless compay going.

Try wally world for the pans. Don't get the really thin ones, but then you don't want the really thick ones either. One quart pans are great; they are small enough for a small batch and large enough for a bigger batch. If you want 4 oz. pans go to LC.

Use aluminum pots instead of steel. steel will scorch the plastic alot easier.

I think that for a large company to "technically" be able to say hand-made, all that would be required was for a human to be directly involved in the manufacturing process. This could be someting as simple as putting in screw eyes or putting hooks on hangers. Or even applying a coat of clear finish 100 baits at a time with a spray gun. Some of these companys will "split the hair" many times. I also think that with more and more of them using these terms it is a direct reflection of our work and maybe we should take that as a compliment.

Post a picture.

I do my molds in a metal, square cake pan. Super glue to the bottom well. To start to release the bubbles, if there are some, I tap the pan with a kitchen knife. This will start the bubbles toward the surface. If you pour the resin into the mold very slowly you should reduce the amount of bubbles. Oh, I forgot, do not stir the resin after you add the activator like you are trying to make whipped cream. Do it slowly. Hope this helps.

What I do is melt down the lead or tire weights (separately). Then I use a muffin pan I found in the kitchen (wife looked for that for quite awhile,lol) to make ingots. I keep them in separated boxes so it's much easier when comes to mix them in the pot.

It will all float to the top; but you do have to work to get it to do that. I use a big spoon to stir the lead and scrape the sides. Then just spoon it off the top. I use tire weights and pure lead; about 50/50 mix.

I agree with Danny. Couldn't have said it better.

I would just like to take this time to say Happy Valentines Day to all the wives and girlfriends of all the TU members. Remember guys; if it wasn't for their patience most of us wouldn't be making lures and then there would be no need for TU.

In order to come close to Zoom you'll have to flour your salt. You will have to play around with the amount of salt. Make sure that you add the salt before you heat the plastic and stir it in really well. If you don't do this before you heat it the salt will clump up.

Plastisol; as far as I know; is not available in Canada. When I was buying it in 5 gal containers I requested it be shipped buy mail. It's a little slower but you won't pay all those brokerage charges. All you will pay is the $5 customs fee at the post office. I use the same setup when I order the other supplies as well. PM me if you want any more advice.

I couldn't agree more Cal.

5" stick that I pour in green smoke 4" jig worm I pour in yellow pumpkinseed 3" shad "assassin" type finesse bait in baitfish that I also pour. Am I the only one that likes to rely on his own products? lol

I just looked at their on-line catalog and they have tons but they didn't put hardly any of it in their hard copy catalog. I guess they expect more people to use their website. Oh well, I spoke too soon. :oops:

Just got my spring master catalog from Cabela's. I was shocked to only find 6 pages of baits and two of the pages were nothing but kits. What's up Dick Cabela? Is Cabela's getting out of tackle sales altogether?

Like Jim said ^. It makes your baits really soft depending on how much you use. I replace about 1/3 of the salt with the sugar.

Try kitty litter. It's used to soak up oil spils.

Don't use mineral oil. It will turn your worms into pencils, lol.

Start with a microwave(nutt'n fancy) and a couple of pyrex cups. Just get the basic colors to start.Don't over do it at first.

Black neon is simply black with lots of red flake.

I can't wait to use the ones I got from you. They are a great looking bait.

Draw it out on graph paper to size. Make sure you draw it from each angle. That way while you are making the proto you can refer to the drawings.

Don't forget you can't create a market for a product no one has seen or used.

The biggest problem with clay is that it shrinks. I have used wood and lead separately and together. Once you get a proto made then make the first master mold from silicone caulking (see tutorial). After you make a number of baits and you are happy with the product then make a master mold with resin. If you are happy with the resin master then you can take old rubber, melt it down; place the resin mold in a container that gives you at least an inch all the way around the mold. Then you pour the old rubber all over it making sure that there are no bubbles and ther is at least 1/2 inch of rubber over the resin mold. After it sets pull the rubber mold off the resin mold. Now you have a real master mold so you can pour another resin mold which will be the same as the first one. Be sure to check quality of each mold/bait at each step so that the end product looks as good as you can get it. Hope this helps.