longhorn

don't know about carpet tape but the Scotch tape doesn't stick to the mold and leaves a very smooth surface.

never tried carpet tape...may be better. don't quite understand what you mean by sealing around the curves. after I tape the master down I don't do anything else before pouring the POP over. I would use a spoon to place the POP around the master equally before pouring in the rest. If the master is very tall with small top surface this method may not work.

I have used Elmers for sealing POP molds since 1975 and believe me, it is not harmed by heated plastic....I have some of those 1975 models that still pour fine. If the mold is large and open you can paint on the Elmers full strength...I started mixing with water so I could flood the cavities instead of paint them with a brush...this saves a lot of time and trouble. Good luck.

Are you making a POP mold? I've used only double-sided permanent Scotch tape to stick my plastic masters down. It works best for flat-sided baits but also works for round ones. Cover the entire area where the master will be with the tape. Wash your plastic masters with dish soap to remove any oils, dry, and then firmly stick them down on the tape. Once in a while I'll have one of the masters float up on one end but it works 99% of the time. It will not ruin the master but it will have sticky residue on it. Hopefully when you get one good cavity you really don't need the master any more. Excuse my rambling on but if I have only one master I sometimes make the mold the old-fashioned push it down in the POP way. If your POP is thin enough this will work fine. You must stand over it and keep pushing the master down until it stops floating. That way you will have a master with a little flat side that can be more reliably stuck down on tape to make production molds. Good luck.

Great job on your first baits...wait til you catch fish on them....you'll be the one that's hooked:yay:

Also see www.lurecraft.com they have pouring supplies and hundreds of silcone molds to choose from. You might want to consider buying an inexpensive mold or two to try pouring and see if you really like it. Also go to the How To link at the top of this page...lots of info there. Welcome and good luck.

Glad you got it figured out. I may order some of those baits to see the action you're talking about...sounds interesting. Keep us posted on how they work.

Couldn't resist showing my workstation which uses cannister light fixtures with heat lamps to melt the plastic. Really old school but works great for me.

That's a new one for me. LC 536 is actually softer than 502. LC 502 is the medium softness. I think the directions on hardener say to add while the plastic is liquid but I think you may get by adding it to the re-melted plastic which is at pouring temp. As for how much I'm at a loss on that one. A little hardener goes a long way. Sorry for the not so exact answers. Sometimes this business is trial and error. Others may have a formula for you. I'm old school and don't use formulas for anything. Keep trying and I'm sure you'll get it. One more thing, since the berkley bait is for salt water it may be made from plastic like LC 500 which is designed for salt water baits and is the hardest of the formulas, so the question may be how much hardener to add to make 502 like 500.

Are you assuming the tails don't swim because the bait is too soft? Looking at that particular bait's design I would think is should swim just fine when made from LC 536. In my experience with hand poured swim baits the ones that didn't swim well were too hard...I pour most of my swimmers with MF super soft which is comparable to 536. I use super soft because of more action in most designs and better hook setting...even so the baits usually last for several fish. Do the factory baits swim well with the size hook or head you are using? I'm assuming the factory baits are much harder than the ones you have poured. I thought of something else that may be an issue. Are you certain your plastic is well mixed? Most plastic settles when on the shelf and the hardener goes to the bottom...it takes thorough mixing to recombine. If you don't recombine I imagine the 536 would pour gooey soft. So after rambling around....my answer to your question is I would add no hardener to well-mixed 536. Hope this helps.

Here's an example of a simple POP mold I made for a swim bait tail.

Enjoyed the show....great work and thanks for sharing

If the bait is flat or straight on one side maybe you can get by with a one-piece mold...which would be much easier for you. Have a photo to post?

Why not make a POP mold for almost free? You can do it...give it a try.

This idea has been around for some time. These MF molds have been for sale forever. M-F Manufacturing Co., Inc. - 817- 281-9488 / Fax 817-281-9498

Awesome!!!

I bake my molds at 325 for an hour per inch thickness.

I heard at a seminar a long time ago that you could teach a monkey to fish a crank bait so it has to be Magilla Gorilla

LC mold 5X404 is 3 1/4" and looks like the original Slug Go

Another way of making masters which I've had success with is carving the master out of wax, then making a POP mold by placing it down in the wet plaster from the top. When the POP sets the mold is then put in the oven for drying and the master melts and can be easily removed with no residue left in the mold.

Here's a pic of what I've got.