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 .

Hey Tator thanks for the help!

anyone have experience with copying this color? I am terrible at painting and color matching especially so any help would be appreciated. Thanks - Jigmeister

With the good (US made) flat strand living rubber being hard to come by I have been contemplating attempting to dye some to get the colors I want . I have a bunch of flat strand ,fine , purple rubber that I would like to turn brown . I know from pouring worms that you can combine black and orange coloring to get brown but not sure about turning purple to brown . Anybody have any experience in this dept. ? Thanks -Jigmeister

Go to any autoparts store and get the Red colored hi-temp RTV sealant . It has a continueous temperature rating of around 600 degrees and will be easy to clean out of the mold cavity when you're done.

Here is a link to the foil I use . It already has the adhesive on it and is much thinner than the alum. duct tape many use. It comes in gold and silver and is very bright (shiny) Good luck -Ken http://www.happycraftnsmosaicsupplies.com/MosaicGemTiles.html

Bama Bass , You need a white base coat under the irridescent to make it show up properly so try that - Jigmeister

I have alway dreamed of having my very own test tank set up for experimenting with lure designs . OK actually I'm getting a swimming pool installed and the wife and daughter won't be in it all the time so I can try out some lure ideas . maybe some day I can get a digital video camera and post some movie clips of lures I've made (that would be cool) . My new cell phone will do some video clips so maybe that will would work (I'll have to ask my teenaged daughter to see cause I don't know yet ?) Got a few new lures I have been dreaming of making so once I get the yard put back together we'll see what happens................Jigmeister

The original jitterbug has an aluminum lip . Perhaps the stainless lip is too heavy causing the sinking to occur . You could try making the body bigger for more floatation ?

if you check out Gary Yamamoto's web site he makes a flippin jig head with an offest Gamakatsu hook poured in . I found some jigs in the bargain bin at a local tackle store a couple of years back with the same basic design as the yamamoto head . I liked the design alot and wanted more . upon searching the internet to buy more found out they were no longer being produced .

is that the "round" stranded rubber or did he start getting the flat stranded rubber made in "China" ?

Anybody know where I can find this stuff for sale ? I looked at BPS but it doesn't look like they carry it anymore . I tried the spike it web site but they want $8 shipping on a small 1/2 oz bottle Thanks Jigmeister

I saw Cabelas has a 4 oz. model for marinate injecting . Nickel plated brass and $25 .

oops

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vibrating-blade-converts-jigs-to-chatter-lures-bait_W0QQitemZ7227784487QQcategoryZ31690QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have the mold set up to pour with the sprue end at the top with the mold sitting verticle . as the plastic is slowly poured in the the air escapes by rising upward as it is displaced by the plastic . The first prototype I made was made of hand shaped balsa that I coated with devcon to seal after shaping . I wasn't happy with the outcome with that one so I had my buddy make the next proto out of delrin plastic since thats what he had available . I coated that one with epoxy to eliminate the machining marks

I came up with this idea a while back and puchased some silicone mold making agent and finally got around to trying it out . I had a friend with a lathe turn me down a prototype Senko type bait with no rings or segments (smooth tapered sides) and a cone shaped sprue on the end sized to fit into a piece of PVC pipe 3/4" . I put the proto-type bait master in the PVC pipe tail up and poured the silicone in . After setting up I de-molded the master from the silicone which took more than time than I anticipated . I used dish soap to lubricate the master and was finally able to pull it out of the new mold . It came out a perfect duplicate . Since it worked I am planning on making a rack to hold several of these single round molds in a row for fast pouring . Probably easier just to buy one of Dels molds for stiks but if you want a custom full round mold of your own design this works - Jigmeister

most hardware stores will carry small rolls of copper,brass, and annealed steel (bale'n wire) in various guage sizes . I was tying vast amounts of jigs the pevious two years and needed to step up tying speed . I machined out one side of my jig mold to accept a 4" piece of black annealed steel wire that was then molded into the jighead . Having the wire anchored in the head made tying jigs much easier . Hold the rubber strips on with one hand ,make a couple wraps pulling tightly on wire using pliers with the other hand, and snip off tag end of wire . The wire holds firm and even though its steel wire it doesn't rust . I'll never go back to thread again!

Short answer is " NO" Tungsten has an extremely hi melting point and I think has to be forged rather than poured . Somebody was selling tungsten powder that could be mixed with epoxy as a binder for making jigheads

whats the blade thickness on those things - looks to be brass?

I use clear polyester casting resin so you can clearly see the bait on the bottom after the resin is poured into the mold . After pouring in inspect the bait and look for trapped air bubbles. I like to use a fine paint brush to lightly brush the bubble(s) off the bait and up towards the surface . usually once you get the bubble going it will float up to the surface but if not help it along with the brush . I have made a few zipper molds that came out perfect using this method..............hope this helps