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Are you looking to make a mold and pour them yourself? If so, I'd suggest making a prototype of the baits. You can carve a bait using wax or wood. Some people also use sculpy clay to make prototypes. Do a search and you can find more detail on it. As far as a mold, most of us use RTV or POP. You can also get someone to make a mold out of aluminum if that's the route you want to take. Del frequents the site and can help you with that. Eric

The density of anything changes with temperature. Something in a solid state (like your lure) is affected much less (most of the time the change is negligible) than a liquid or a gas. So, yes...that is true. Especially if you are trying to get a bait to suspend. Water at 36 degrees is more dense than 70 degrees, but the density of your lure won't change enough to be noticeable. look at the density of water and ice section... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_(molecule) Eric

The weight of the hook will make most lures sink slowly. If you want to make something that will float with a hook you'll need to add something to make the plastic more buoyant. Eric

It is my understanding that people use the spinning blanks for both spinning and casting rods. I built a spinning rod with their 6'6" med. action spin jig rod. I don't see why you couldn't use that rod for a casting for as well. Check out rodbuilding.org. I know that this has been discussed over there. I'm not sure where you live or who you usually order your rod components from but the guys at fishsticks4u are a great resource as well. I usually just call them and tell them what I want and they hook me up. Hope that helps. Eric

Are you just buying plastic or are you buying molds as well? I'm assuming your talking about the kits that lurecraft and Del sell with plastic, dye, glitter, and a mold. If that's what your talking about, it's more of a question of what kind of mold do you want (aluminum or silicon). A lot of people start with Del's stik kit. Also, what kind of baits are you planning on pouring??? Most of us use supersoft plastic (Calhoun's 1207, LC's 536, or MF supersoft) for sticks and dropshot worms and we'll use the regular plastic (Calhoun's 2601, LC's 502, or MF's regular) for just about everything else. If you're looking to make tubes, you'd want the tube or saltwater plastic. Everybody here has their favorite plastic. For the most part the softness between brands is very similar (MF supersoft tends to be a little softer than Calhoun's and LC's though). Hopefully that answers at least some of your questions. If you give us a better idea of what you plan on making we could give you more specific answers. Eric

I found that lurecrafts glitter tends to fade to a turquoise when you reheat the plastic a couple times (At least the glitter that I bought from them did). I get my green glitter from senko sam (http://senkosam.tripod.com/id1.html). He is a TU member that just sells glitter. I've never had a problem with his green glitter fading. Also, I typically use 0.015 for my junebug. Eric

that's what I use. works great. Eric

braveviper, You may want to be careful with the lexan. It melts around 300 degrees. Eric

clear water: my version of baby bass (similar to kinami's baby bass) or light smoke with small black and silver holo flake Stained water: dark smoke with gold and blue flake

POP stands for plaster of paris. And yes, some of us use durhams water putty as well. Eric

The pros have been doing this for a while. Zell Rowland showed this at a Bass University I went to a few years ago. Eric

Iodine is just an additive. It shouldn't hurt if you use it in your baits but iodized salt is typically a little cloudier than non-iodized. Eric

Pat, I had the same problem with my first resin mold. After about a week it wasn't sticky anymore. I just assumed that I didn't mix it enough. It eventually did cure so I didn't think much about it. Eric

I don't add salt to the baits that I use but I have some customers that always request salt. I think it makes the plastic harder to pour with finesse worms. Also, it makes the plastic a little stiffer which usually hurts the action. Just my 2 cents. Eric

challenger, use the search feature. many people have shared formulas. the best thing to do is pick one and use it as your starting point. trial and error is the best way to learn when you first start pouring. also, i wouldn't make too many baits over the winter if your just starting. i have a gallon size ziploc bag full of baits that i made when i first started that i'll probably never use because i changed my formula a few times after i started to fish the baits (hence trial and error). if you play with the formula a little you should be able to get the same rate of fall as a senko but the baits will last at least 2 to 3 times longer. Eric

Saint, I'd start by cutting your drops of dye in half and see where that puts you. I think that's a good starting place for most colors. Like nova and swamp said though, it all depends on the color and the affect you're trying to get. Just make some small batches until you get the color you want then go at it. Eric

are you looking for a mold??? Del and shawn collins both have molds for the body part of the Ika. You'll have to get the skirts (buy them or figure out a way to make them). Eric

The best way to make a mold with RTV is to attach (glue) the lure down and pour the RTV over them (so you're making the mold upside down). I usually glue the lures to the shiney side of a cereal box with a Duco cement (I got it at Wal-Mart). Then I cut strips of the cereal box and makes sides for the mold. Make sure you tape all the seams (bottom and sides) of the pieces of the cereal box so the RTV doesn't leak out (I just use masking tape). Also, make sure the shiney side of the box is going to be against the RTV or it'll be difficult to pull the cardboard off the RTV after it cures. This is the process I've always used. I found it in a thread on here when I started. It's easy and cheap to make a jig for a mold this way. Also, you have a lot more control over the orientation of the lures because you are physically gluing them where you want them (you can make sure they are straight and spaced the way you want them). Hope that helps. Eric

chad, I agree with Saint. Start out with a few colors of dye and glitter (maybe get different sizes of glitter though). When I started I bought Del's stick kit and got an additional mold and bottle of dye. I use a lot of light watermelon, black, and green pumpkin dye and black, red, and gold flakes (red and gold in 0.015" and black in 0.035"). after you get the hang of it and go through a gallon or two of plastic, then start getting more dye, glitter, and molds and go at it. Eric

I have the bulk and skeletal densities of del's 0.035" and 0.015" glitter as well as senkosam's 0.035" sugar flakes. You need both the bulk and skeletal density of them if you are measuring them by volume, only need skeletal density if you are measuring them by weight. Depending on how much you're adding, it will change the density of the bait. Like you said though, if you're comparing the bait to a lead or steel weight it doesn't matter as much. My analysis was mostly for stick baits. PM me if you want more info on what I did. Eric

If you do a search I had a thread about this stuff a while ago. I did a lot of testing of materials and have created a program that calculates the density of lures taking other factors into consideration (amount of salt, amount and size of glitter, etc.). It is almost complete. Unfortunately I just changed jobs and I'm in the process of moving so I won't be able to finish until later this winter. Eric

Coosa, I'm still experimenting with the process as well but I found if you put a light coat of worm oil on the knife it's easier to pull the bait off when your done. I think some people use pam cooking spray for this as well. Just a thought. Eric

152, Just use your left hand next time.......

squigster, My advice is to use a paint stirrer on your drill to mix the plastic in the jug instead of shaking it. When you shake it, you put lots of bubbles in it. If you stir it you shouldn't have bubbles. Also, if your plastic is discoloring when you're heating it you may be on the verge of scorching it. Try heating it for one minute at a time instead of 2-3 minutes. After each minute take it out of the microwave and stir it. This will help it heat more evenly. When it is all clear, then heat it in 30 second increments until it is thin enough to pour. Practice makes perfect. When I started pouring I went through about a gallon of plastic before I felt like I knew what I was doing. Hope that helps. Eric

OK, now how do you get them to look so smooth and even. I tried to make some last night and mine looked like a 5 year old was making them. I was having a hard time keeping the plastic evenly distributed on the knife after I pulled it out of the plastic. I tried holding the knife horizontal and rotating it until it cooled a little and that helped but the bait still didn't look right when I was done. Does anybody have any tips or advise on how to fix this??? Eric