camrynekai

I use both, but IMO the hex curls easier.

It sucks that my recent batch is doing what it is.....the one gallon jug of Calhouns that I purchased for testing was great, it didn't have a single bubble. I ordered 5 gallons and the bubbles are so bad I can't use it. I have read mixed replies from Del and that is one reason I haven't called to complain. I'm not sure where a phone call would have gotten me.

M-f's is like raw chicken meat with a touch of blue Hi-lite and LC is a rusty looking color.

Hopefully Del will get it resolved ....I'm now sitting on 4.5 gallons of plastic that I can't really use. Looks like I have to place another order for some one gallon jugs and that sucks because of the cost involved. Also has anyone returned their unused plastic for exchange with one gallon jugs?

You may have hit the nail on the head. And like I said earlier, Calhoun's plastic rocks when it comes to making sticks!

Take a worm made with all three different plastics and bend each worm gently and place in a bag for a few days. Then remove each worm and set in a pan of water.....then you tell me who's plastic is better. The bait made with Lure craft plastic will have what ever shape it had when laying in the bag, Calhouns will also have some bend to it but not nearly as bad....but the M-F bait will look as straight as it did when it left the mold. Now add the other benefits explained earlier and its a no brainer. A bent bait= poor action and an unhappy customer. When tacklelogic wraps were big it presented many problems to hand poured soft plastics....at least until M-F came around.

The best way to describe M-F's earthworm color....it looks like raw chicken with a touch of blue Hi-lite.

Hi Jim, These findings were all done using super soft formulas only. I have used M-F Salt water blend and Super soft but not the standard mix they have....gonna have to give it a try with the sticks.

Great products and service glad to see you on the board. Northern Hand Poured

I have been pouring since 1995 and I have used M-F, Lurecraft and Calhouns and here is my take. I'll try to break down the qualities that make a good plastic. Separation of raw contents. 1st. place hands down is M-F--------This stuff only needs a shake or two and your ready to go. 2nd. place goes to Calhouns----------------It does separate very fast...but for the most part it separates into two liquids that can be blended with about a minutes worth of work. 3rd. and this is definitely the worst ever is Lurecraft---------This plastic separates into two liquids and a hard concrete in the bottom. I have a 5 gallon bucket of this stuff that has been sitting for a year and it will need to be mixed at the paint shop with a industrial mixer for a half hour or so to be able to use it again. Heat stability / Smoke. 1st. place goes to M-F------This plastic can handle some heat...not quite as good as Calhoun but its odor is by far the least offending. 2nd. place goes to Calhoun-----It can handle the heat with little browning, but its odor is very strong. 3rd. place is lurecraft's-----It can't handle the heat at all with out color fading and browning and don't even think of over heating this stuff...its a real smoker. Pour ability / Clearness 1st. Goes to M-F----Whilie its not as clear as lurecrafts this stuff pours at a much lower temp allowing color and glitter to last and not needing any heat stabilizer is a bonus. 2nd. Place is Lurecrafts-----Very clear plastic if you don't over heat it and pours well...but it has no tolerance to over heating and will brown. 3rd place goes to Calhouns----Not quite as clear and even though it doesn't burn easily it needs more heat then the rest in order to pour in a Lee system, giving your glitter a run for its money. Softness/Memory/Strength 1st. Ill have to give to M-F----Its softness is no match for others, has the lowest memory of the others, but its not as strong as Calhouns. 2nd. Place goes to Calhoun-----This is the king of plastics when it comes to making sticks but due to it pour ability issues in a Lee pot I have to give it a second. 3rd. place goes to Lurecraft----Mainly because its has the most memory by far compared to the other plastics. Now onto bubbles.....To be honest I would laugh at you guys talking about bubbles in your plastic......Well I was mainly a M-F user but I was not impressed with the sticks that it made. I went out and purchased a gallon of Calhouns to try and the results were astounding. It was the answer I was looking for when it came to making a perfect stick bait. I then went and ordered five gallons and I was shocked to see how many bubbles it had.......I have been pouring for a very long time and have melted over 1000 gallons and I have never had a single bubble until my recent five gallon purchase of Calhouns. I can tell you this...Its not moisture in the mix....I went and added a water absorber used for Oils and fuels and it did not solve the problem...This issue with bubbles in Calhouns is with a filler that they are using and NOT moisture. I can add a cup of water to a quart of oil mix well and add a moisture absorber and suck every bit of water out in a day, I have had a moisture absorber in my Calhouns for two weeks and still no change... confirming a different sort of problem.

Some colors are Dyes and most are pigments. There are pros and cons to both. You can ask your supplier if they are pigments (non-bleed) or dyes they will gladly answer you. A rule of thumb....if its a clear color its most likely a dye and will bleed and if its opaque (normally a pigment) it shouldn't bleed. Each supplier colorant is different and they each have their place in this hand pouring gig....there is no one stop shopping place unfortunately.

You cant use silicone over cyberflex or berkley power worms (it will start to melt the baits and not cure). I only use silicone from lurecraft, mainly due to FORMALDEHYDE. The silicone lurecraft sells will NOT give off any formaldehyde until 450 deg. Most other silicone blends give off allot of formaldehyde starting at 250 deg. Lurecraft is much safer to use with heated plastic.

Good luck on finding skirts in that color. As far as I know, Micro-munch is the only one with a jig skirt in that color.

I didn't realize no right click wasn't full proof....thanks for that bit of info. GaBassNerd, I just checked out your site and your baits still look sweet even with the text.

I see it all the time and it sucks. You can add a no right click applet to your web site and they wont be able to save or copy them on you.

To be honest, I also dislike the shipping bucket....but it would be great for Lurecraft or M-F because their plastic really separates and gets a heavy, almost solid in the bottom and having a bucket to stir it in works well. The Calhoun plastic also separates, but differently......kinda like into two liquids, which makes it easy to mix in a one gallon jug.....All I do is turn the jug over a few times and I'm good to go. With Lure craft you have to beat it to death for many minutes to get it blended and M-F you also have to blend but not nearly as long as Lurecrafts.

GaBassNerd, give a look at the Morphology link.....it has photos showing some of the things you can do with it.

Here are photo's of them.

When I was in business I strived to have uniformity in my pours. So when dealing with glitter and pearls I used gun powder measuring cups. They come in kits that range from .2cc-5cc, .2cc is about the size of a pencil eraser. Between counting drops of liquid color and measuring glitter and pearls, you can have the same exact color every time.

That's strange....I talked to Yamamoto enterprises and they said not to use mineral oil and Lure Craft also advertises not to use mineral oil. I can see Lure Craft saying no to mineral oil...because they want to sell their worm oil...but Yamamoto has no reason to not want you to use mineral oil unless it has a adverse effect on their plastic. I always wondered why they don't give you the properties of the actual worm oil they sell to us hand pourers. When I was in business, my insurance carrier was not happy not knowing what I was using...these are chemicals that WE should know what they are...its our health and we should know what we are exposing ourselves to. I have been pouring for 10 years and have asked my suppliers a 100 times...."what is worm oil?" and the response has been the same.....no answer and most times no response at all.

Can you send me one of yours to check out along with a sample of your purple glitter? Thanks Tom

Good luck ...I have tried to find out for the last 7 years ...nobody will say ....I'm not sure why??? I do know that it is not mineral oil. Yamamoto industries does not recommend mineral oil to be added to their soft plastics...they say it will harden them. I don't know why its such a big secret.

Here is a scan of a 2.5" Drop-shot minnow. I use an HP 4C scanner.