jm

M-F 3316 Brown-grape (changeable) Another killer in that vein is M-F 3317 Motor oil. It's a bright green in direct light, changes to yellowish brown by transmitted light. If the fish don't get it on the way up, it changes color on them and they take another shot at it on the way down. hope it helps John

You might be amazed at some of the tidbits of information us old pharts have.

Most epoxies can take the heat you would expect, at least for awhile. Welding (aluminum or stainless) or silver solder (stainless) would be best. You can also solder aluminum if you first tin it by melting a little solder onto it and brushing through the molten solder with a fiberglass brush. You can make the brush by taking an old piece of solid fiberglass fishing rod, or any other small fiberglass rod, and burn the end to get rid of the binder. What remains is a suitable brush. There are some really good aluminum brazing products out there also. hope it helps John

The TAP display of mixing with a short wooden stick looks hard. The WalMart cheep rubber spatula allows you to scrape the sides as you mix, and systematically get a very uniform mix with reasonable effort

Yellowing is overheating. A couple of things from experience. A microwave oven concentrates the heat about 1/2 inch inside the heated object. Picture a cup shaped shell inside your pyrex cup. That's what gets hot. It doesn't heat much right at the glass, or in the very middle. Plastisol is an insulator, so it's pretty easy to scorch that narrow band of plastic and not even melt some near the glass or in the middle. That's why you need to heat for relatively short periods and then stir throroughly. The second item from a yankee, coming into winter, is that if the room you pour in is too cool, as in below 60 degrees, it'll mess with your mind trying to pour. hope it helps John

Mike, This place reminds me of the lyrics of a 1950's ditty called "It's a Quiet Place Here in Crossbone County." The punch line goes something like "They may shoot you dead, but they're likeable guys." Eric, Sometimes someone who is not an "expert" will look at a problem and be totally unencumbered by knowledge, and not "know" what won't work. This person is the one most likely to come up with a novel solution. We've seen it many times here on the board. That's what makes it so much fun, and so profitable to be here. jm

Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty should be available at Home Depot, or Menards, or a hardware store in small quantities. Ultracal 30 is specificially designed to capture fine detail in a hard casting. Get it at a serious art casting outfit, or here http://www.plaster.com/Ultracal.html hope it helps, jm

reelnmn Plaster of paris is a little bit soft to start with. Try Durham's, or if you do a lot, go get a bag of ultracal 30. These products have a little more portland in them, and set up real smooth and hard. hope it helps, jm

What material are you using? Most of the "plasters" have portland cement in them. This material forms a chemical bond with the water. I think this is called "hydroset". Anyway, if there is not enough water, the surface will dry out prematurely and chalk. I always try to keep a new mold wet for about 24 hours to be sure that there is enough water to form a rock hard set. One clue is that the top half is the one that chalks. If you bake both at the same time, the top one is the one that was cured for the least time. Keep it moist for another day, then dry it. hope it helps jm

I think it's just a laquer, and probably not very heat resistant. jm

Makes sense. The cloudy look of table salt stirred into water is the additives. Pure salt goes completely into solution and is as clear as the water was. The "solar" salt (cheap stuff) you put into your water softener is also pure salt. It's a little course unless you're making Texas size baits. The fancy stuff usually has some sodium sulfite and sodium bisulfite in it to take care of metals (like iron) in the water. Flaked salt is preferred in wet chemistry also, because it has a high surface area (the same characteristic that would make it stay in suspension in plastic) and disolves fast. If you're curious, here's a link to the Alberger Salt Process. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberger_process here's Cargill's Link http://www.cargillsalt.com/food/dc_salt_food_fineflake.htm jm

It depends on storage conditions. Cool and dry in a tight container: many years. Moisture from condensation, loose cap: toast Continuous elevated temps, sun, stove: Settles out, cakes. The technical term for this is agglomeration. I found some commercial stuff in the back of the shop that's been there about 15 years. Stirred it up, and it isn't changed. Of course, it's not the same soft, relatively oderless stuff we're getting used to now. It's still the same stinky kinky plastic it was 15 years ago. jm

Beautiful model. Polyester resin (bondo, etc) shrinks about 3 percent, Epoxy, plaster, and RTV don't. hope it helps. jm

Jim. I was referring to the actual bad smell, as in baby diaper odor in a baggy, and strange drips into the plastic from the microwave. I believe I pointed out the wall-mart baggy thing as a good example of exactly what you're talking about, helping others on the forum. Thanks for the heads up jm

You did disparage someone, however, and then made it right. Welcome aboard, friend. Dad