Vodkaman

If you are going to mold the sleeve in the body, then a metal sleeve would be better. You could make a separate mold for attaching/pouring the ballast lead to the tube. As for cotton buds, just Google, simpler than me trying to explain. Dave

I am thinking on the same lines as Mark, molding in a sleeve. I recently did this on one of my molds and it worked well. Another possible method is to pull line through with a baiting needle. Line without a sleeve will easily tear out. A sleeve could be inserted down the line if pulled tight. Even two short lengths of sleeve at the entry and exit would probably work. The sleeve material that I use is from cotton buds. Dave

It is a good solution. Beware of any plastic squirting back. If it happens, I have a solution. Dave

Yes, I was thinking that you could cast a plunger inside the tube and tap it out. A bit of sanding for a looser fit. The insert would prevent the burst pressure load on the plaster. The inserted piston would reduce the waste plastisol. I had success making my pistons from a hard resin with a silicon end piece. BUT, this was used in a soft silicon mold, no danger of squirting back. I was injecting resin and not hot plastic. I believe in the possibilities of this method, but once again, you are using different materials to me, and so you should have to expect to do some experimentation to find the combination that works. I believe the solution will be a hard piston in a soft mold, or soft piston in a hard mold. Dave

Is that a built in injector I see there - looks like that really worked well too. Dave

Those look terrific, good job. Dave

It looks like you have solved your problem. Hinge binding is the biggest problem for this type of bait. Even the most insignificant bind, will stop the bait from working. It is for this reason that I balance my baits so that they float horizontal, to eliminate up/down twisting at the hinge. Dave

The magic words are transfer, photo image, photo decal, decal, try a TU search on any of these and you will close in on the information that you are looking for. Dave

Of course, silly me. De-gas and then pour, makes a lot more sense. Dave

That is a good point, and this is were those with experience could jump in and help you. Another point of engineering theory is the rule of least resistance. Water, air, electricity, all flow along the path of least resistance. You have to make it so that the master is attached to the base firmly enough that the least resistance is around the master and/or make sure there is no air underneath. My preferred method of mounting masters is to sink them into soft modelling clay, like plasticine. After rolling out the clay, you could vacuum the clay to get rid of any air bubbles. But if you prep the clay well, this may not be necessary, but I just don't know. I really hope someone with experience jumps in here and teaches us both. Dave

I have never owned a vacuum chamber, but would dearly love one. I keep my eyes open every time I go into town, but no luck yet. So no experience, but I can talk about the engineering side of things. Gravity still works inside the active vacuum chamber. It is not like outer space with everything floating around weightless. This means that your patterns will stay put, as will the silicone that you pour over them. Before you switch on the vacuum pump, the air bubbles in the silicone are at room/atmospheric pressure, which is at around 14Lb/sq inch. When you switch the pump on, the pressure in the chamber drops to close to zero. The air in the bubbles now expands, pushing outwards with that 14Lbs/sq inch until the pressure in the bubble is equal to the pressure in the chamber, close to zero. This causes the bubble to greatly expand, and as we know large bubbles have more upward force, to fight their way through the thick siicone fluid. When the vacuum is released and the pressure returns, what few bubbles didn't make it out of the silicone, are compressed by the atmospheric pressure and pretty much disappear. Safety wise, just follow the instructions that come with the chamber. Keep it on a flat level surface, so there is no chance of dropping, floor is good for this purpose. Don't try making your own chamber unless you REALLY know what you are doing and understand the forces at play. There is a reason why the word implosion sounds like explosion. You are really going to enjoy this tool. No need to fear it, just respect it. Dave

Stirrer and GLOVES. Dave

I pour my own cylinder lead ballast weights: Two slabs of wood, bolted or pinned together for location, usually G-clamped for speed and ease. If I want a different diameter, I just drill a new hole(s), simply drill down the crack. The same drill is used to drill the body, so the ballast fits perfectly every time. I am usually going for a specific gram weight, so I trim to achieve a weight rather than pouring an exact size. You could make a Bondo mold for pouring exact size and shape. You will get plenty of pours from a Bondo mold, but keep your masters for making more molds as required. If you are organized, it is a fairly painless process. Dave

I can think of insert solutions, but mold manufacture solutions are not going to be cheap. Also, the production would be a two stage pour, with the inserts needing to be withdrawn - complicated. Dave

Because the V-cut is the most difficult part of the operation, I like to get it out of the way as early in the process as possible. I make the cut with a hand tenon saw, but not cutting all the way through. Making the cut while the blank is still square. This allows me still to carve the body as a one piece. The V-cut is always going to need some tweaking, but practice makes perfect. Dave

In answer to your question, all I do is wash in warm soapy water. I do not paint my lures, I only build for myself and find they catch perfectly well without the aesthetics. The MSDS sheet doesn't say anything about the final cure time or what you are expected to do for preparation. All you can do is make test pieces and try different times and preps until you find a combination that works for you. There are many different types of resin; epoxy resin, polyurethane (yours), polyester resin (mine) and more. Each resin has its own properties and qualities. I can only comment on what I use. Here is a that explains some of the materials available, more for other readers, as the stuff you are using is just fine. Dave

Have you done any testing in the water, swimming of your baits yet. What did you do about the density, because Fabricast 50 has a specific gravity of around 1.05 which is heavier than water. Dave

Great post Ben, summed it all up very nicely. Dave

It takes several days for resin to settle down, before the resin completely hardens and stops leaking wax. I leave my resin casts a week before starting work on them. Dave

DaBehr - thanks for the reminder Dave

The mold would have had more authenticity if it had been manufactured in China, seeing as the original comes from Japan, certainly closer than Iowa. Demanding that a blatant copy be made in the USA has a humorous irony about it, don't you think. Dave

Figuring stuff out can be good, it certainly isn't wrong. But many will tell you that it just isn't necessary. Figuring stuff out is what I do, what I enjoy, but I will be the first to admit that the REAL knowledge is experience. Dave

The vent system looks fine to me. All the above mentioned suggestions should be tried: slightly hotter plastic, heat the mold, more pressure, etc. It looks like you are very close to a solution. Dave

Resin is water resistant and stable for testing. Dave

Mine takes less than 30 minutes. This is a real pain and causes me problems. But, if I wanted, I could have a production line set up in a day from a single female mold. Dave