jigmeister

just use a paint brush to apply the devcon to one section at a time and let cure. mask off the sections you are not painting with devcon with masking tape

If you are injecting a a full round swimbait mold you will have to provide for venting at the tips of the fins to allow the air that will most likely be trapped there to escape and be displaced with plastic . Another consideration is the shrinkage of the plastic upon cooling that pulls the surface of the lure away from the mold creating dimples in the finished lure . I fought this and added internal venting in strategic areas in the center of the mold . This will allow air from outside the mold to be drawn in during cooling .You will then end up with some voids inside the bait but no exterior imperfections . I also had to rotate the bait during cooling to keep these air pockets centered in the bait otherwise they will end up at the top just under the surface. I suppose this is why Hud's cost so much...........Jigmeister

"it was tried buy guys on tacklemaking.com before this site was in existance and tried in the begining stages of this site." I used to post all the time on "Tacklemaking.com " years ago under the handle "Megabass" . As far as I know/remember I was the one who originally posted the idea about using vacuum by way of a shop vac to sucessfully fill voids in a two piece mold . I was working on a Mad man craw mold at the time and vacuum was required to get the tips of the claws to fill completely . As I recall Jed (Riverman here on the hardbait forum )asked me about the process as he was working up a shrimp mold and was having trouble filling the cavities completely . I believe I also talked with the trout worm guy. The shop vac was loud and the size of the venting journals was key (not too big) but it did work . I later made an injector and experimented with it . It also worked but was a hassle to clean after injecting the hot plastic . I have a simple injection system I am tweaking on now that is very promising ........Jigmeister

with what you have built I would say remove the tail section (last joint) as it appears due to shape it would have very little effect on the swimming action but only serve as drag killing the swing of the other sections......

silicone sealant is a different animal than the mold-making type . It actually needs water (moisture) to cure . Another troubling charactoristic is that it wants to stick to everything (good for a sealant but bad for mold making) If you add glycering oil and apple barrel paint to the sealant type silicone and stir it all together good it will dry and not stick to anything . I think it was 2-3 drops of each per ounce of silicone . I tried it just playing around and it seems to work...........Good luck ,Jigmeister

Just take a thin piece of aluminum sheet metal the width you want the hook slot and trim it with tin snips to the size you want . You could make one (straight is crucial) slice with a razor knife into the belly of the mold to hold the hookslot in place for pouring baits . If you wanted to make more baits without a hook slot simply remove and the silicone will close itself back up.

I made my own 10" senko mold out of silicone . I had A machinist I work with turn my master out of a hard plastic with a cone shape at the head of the bait for a sprue . I put the master head down in a piece of PVC pipe and filled it with silicone mold agent . Once it set up I removed it from the PVC pipe and cut a slit with a razor knife from the sprue to about half way down the body to remove the hard master . To pour I put the round shape silicone mold back into a piece of PVC pipe to keep it straight and pour the hot plastic in the sprue hole . Works great ! If you have access to a woodworking lathe you could make a master out of wood also . Hope this helps -Jigmeister

I am looking for some plain, unpainted blade bait bodys in 1/4 and 3/4 oz (5 of each)without hooks so I can paint them up myself . I can either pay cash for them or if interested trade for jigheads,spinnerbait, buzzbait , or ? that I have molds for . I would prefer something like a silver buddy /sonar type bait versus the shad head style . Anybody up for it? Thanks, jigmeister

go to walmart and get some nylon upolstery thread in the sewing section . Comes in black and brown and is very strong.

I am thinking about trying foam for the first time and was wondering which type of wood most closely matches the buoyancy of 16lb foam. I was planning on making a proto-type of wood and then making a mold of that (if the proto-type works action wise)

I've done this a bunch of times with factory painted baits . First if the lure has an epoxy clearcoat you will have to lightly sand with med. sand paper just enought to penetrate the epoxy. Now I take a rag wetted with acetone and start rubbing the paint away . it takes a little elbow grease but it will get every bit of paint off. Once all the paint is gone you will be left with a cloudy looking clear (transparent ) bait . Now the last step is to take a new clean rag soaked in acetone and wipe it across the bait in one direction like from the bill end to the tail end . Make one pass on the top ,bottom ,and sides and stop let to let dry without touching . Repeat if needed. If you prefer to sand all the paint off instead you can just perform this final step to remove all the fine sand paper scratches..........

I was toying with the idea of molding a bait out of foam (why not I've tried about everything else ) and read a few posts on the subject after a search only to come away with more questions than I had answered . It looks like the foam/featherlite debate is right up there with the "Devcon versus environtex" debate . I am planning a topwater bait so I need a material with very good floatation qualities but it is also going to be long and slender so I need good mechanical strength as well . I guess my question is ......... How would featherlite compare to 16lb foam in regards to both floatation and physical strength ? thanks in advance - Jigmeister

First off let me say the maker of "Basstrix" baits is a real innovator and I admire his bait designs and ingenuity . The secret to painting these tubes is to use no paint at all ! Just mix any pealescent powder color of you choice with acetone and spray the bait(s) with an airbrush before the final top coat dip in clear plastic . The acetone will dry almost instantly leaving the pearl powder on the bait's surface. The trick is to not put it on too heavy . The final dip in the clear will seal the powder in and give it a deep finish (like clear coat on a car). Now you know ...........Jigmeister

Thanks for the responses gentlemen thats just what I was wanting to know ................. jigmeister

Anyone have one of these molds? It appears to be a copy of the "Roboworm" 6" model but I can't tell from the picture if it's the thickness of the original 6" Roboworm or the new thicker style of Roboworm?

If you're using baitcasting reels like Ambassadeur 5500/6500 series one cycle of the line guide across the reel frame = 7.5 feet . Mark your line with tape at the rod tip and pull line off reel in freespool . when line guide has made one cycle across reel engage reel and mark line again at rod tip. Now measure length between the tape marks .

I just got an order from Lurecraft with their special paint for soft plastics . I bought the paint and a bottle of thinner thinking I could thin the paint as needed for spraying with an air brush only to find out After reading the paint bottle it says to use retarder when spraying with an air brush . My air brush is a cheapo single action external mix job so I am wondering if I will need the retarder ? Anybody got experience with this paint that could clue me in ? Thanks , jigmeister

I just ordered some pearlescent powder from MF over the phone and got a really good explaination about the differences between the various types they sell . I know there has been a few posts regarding this subject so hopefully this will eliminate some of the confusion. Powder color - A pearl powder but not as brite or flashy as what is typical found in plastic baits Brilliant - This is what I think most people think of when talking pearl powder . dramatic pearl effect and a little goes a long way . Dual color - This is one thats become more popular these days showing one color from one angle and then a secondary color from a different angle. Hi-lite - This powder is a semi transparent white color in the jar. viewed from one angle has no effect(allowing the baits actual color to show) but from a different angle the hi-lite color appears. Everybody selling worm pouring supplies is selling one or more of these powders but the descriptions are not very good in a lot of cases so I hope this helps -jigmeister

My first attempta 2 piece resin mold was a disaster with the master trapped inside of the two halves fused together . I tried using petrolium jelly as a release agent and it did'nt work .Next attempt I used a paste type release agent from TAP plastics with a two piece resin mold again with polyester casting resin . Detail is excellent as with any resin mold as long as you dislodge any bubbles trapped on the bait . A release agent is definately needed when pouring the second half in an effort to keep both halves from bonding together . I was'nt sure if they would come apart easy even with the release agent so I put some soft strips of plastic around the outer edges of the mating surfaces of the mold making an indentation . As it turned out this is the only thing that made it possible to get the thing apart as even with the paste type release agent it took some severe prying so finally get the two halves separated and many times I thought for sure I was going to shatter the mold before I got it apart. It is possible but not easy . Good luck -jigmeister

Using a bottom pour heated pot would give you a finer degree of control . The starts and stops are usually the hardest to control the plastic flow when hand pouring . Something I did for pouring small 2" reapers was to make my own mold with all the bait cavities connected by a small channel so you poured right thru a whole string of baits without stopping . This eliminated multiple start /stops and allowed to plastic to even itself out by flowing between cavities if you were a little heavy in one area . I could pull the baits out of the mold like link sausages and trim off the channels once cool . I suppose you could set up the baits in a mold where the small legs are touching the bait in the next cavity so the plastic could flow and even out also . Hope this helps -jigmeister

Yes fiberglass resin will work for soft masters only ! It shrinks slightly when curing so if its not soft your master will either be locked it or even crack the mold .

Bob , I could not agree more ! I bought a Pro max 5600 on Ebay for throwing braided line due to the XXX level wind and was surprised how smooth this reel was after getting all cleaned up . I puchased two Pro Max 1600 's shortly there after for drop shotting and shakey head worms w/ 8-10 lb. test and they are awesome casters with small baits . Its kind of funny because my neighbor had just returned from a yard sale with a bunch of old bass fishing equipment he had bought and I was explaining about some of the many rods/reels when I noticed an almost mint Pro max 1600 on one of the rods . I ask if I could buy it from him and he gave it to me for free . Apparently he was mainly wanting a Curado and some nice spinning reels on some of the outfits. The only fault with the Pro Max series is that they are painted instead of anodized like most ABU baitcasters. That aside they are a gem of a reel and I feel lucky to have found the ones I have . .........jigmeister

OK Del thanks for the info . But another quick question ??? If you can't add softener when using the super floater additive what effect does it have on the finished baits (harder , softer , or same as base plastic mix used?)

I was looking at this product at the Delmart web site but was wondering if anyone has any experience pouring with this stuff? Is this an additive like hardener/softener just a super floating plastic mixture. Does it contain those "micro-spheres" for the floatation? And lastly will softener work with super floater plastic? With all the frog/toad pouring going on these days someone has the answer ........Thanks- jigmeister

Congrats on your catch!!! With a tongue hooked bass you are better off to leave the hook in and cut the hook down so the fish can still feed and let the hook dissolve .