longhorn

This is a very good product. Eliminates having to roll the o-ring on the senko and it's aluminum. My link I think the o-rings are #5 or #6 I make my salt in the blender...it will get as fine as you want it. There is a standard senko formula on here somewhere. I have it at the shop. If someone doesn't give it I'll post it later....fishing tomorrow

The current ebay rate is 12% and that doesn't include PayPal. I just looked up one of my current sales. The total fees were $1.47 on a $9.40 transaction which is 15.6%

The process I use is extremely simple. I put clear plastic in one of my pouring pans (about 2" deep)...get it melted and then dip the bait horizontally....just dip and pull out and let the excess run off back into the pan...I then put the bait in cold water.

Wishing all of you and yours a peaceful holiday season. I enjoy your company on this site and look forward to a great new year. I'm hitting the road for the holiday season so see ya later.

I've read about this before but don't remember any solutions. I pour swimbaits and use both flat and 3d eyes that are sealed in by dipping the bait in clear plastic like many baits I've seen on here. After a while...say a couple months the plastic seems to melt the pupil on the flat eyes and tends to delaminate the 3d eyes. Has anyone figured out a way to prevent this?

A few things. I made the top wide for easier release from the POP mold. I had used a few swim babes in different sizes and liked the way they swam. I looked at lots of photos on tackle warehouse and noticed that most popular hand poured swimmers had similar tail shape and angle so I tried to keep mine similar. I think the most important aspect of the design is the approach to the tail. Too thin or thick may not work. I designed a fat 5" bait from scratch the looked great but didn't swim well with a light weight a slow speed. I had to do a couple designs of my 3.25" bait before I got one that I was satisfied with. Here's my 3.25" (from RTV molds)

My master and bait.

Excellent question. Yes, most swimbaits are probably made from store bought molds. I wanted to have a design of my own. My short cut was to buy several swimbaits...test them in the water...and then make my own design which doesn't copy any of them but incorporates the proportions of the ones that work well. I was lucky enough to get a winner on my first carving and have caught several hundred bass on my design. No..the design is not magic...the fish have to be in the right mood to hit swimbaits. When they are in the right mood any design that swims well will work.

Great work! Are the laminates on top injected?

If speed is important to you then probably the microwave would cook it fastest.

This will burn the plastic too but with a separate switch for each lamp you have more control I think. If one pan is ready before the other you can turn off the top lamp or both and the heat instantly stops...if you overcook in a micro you don't know until its too late. It doesn't cut down on smoking. Experience will do that...if you don't overcook it good plastic doesn't smoke that much.

The lamps are GE 250 watt heat lamps (not the red ones) and are nothing special...Walmart has them and they last forever. The fixtures are cannister light fixtures...the ones available now don't look exactly like mine because mine are so old. If you're going to try this I'll give you the dimensions of how far apart they are if you want them. I'll have to measure.

Here's my setup: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/17165-new-pouring-table/page__p__129929entry129929 I don't have any figures on heating times. Yes, you have to stir while heating...not constantly. While pouring some stirring is required but not much. I'm usually pouring laminated swimbaits so once I get the mix ready to pour heres where the real advantage kicks in...I pour the belly(s) of the bait and then that pan goes back under heat while I pour the back so I can keep pouring until I run out of plastic or mold cavities because the pan not being used is always being heated. IMO much better than putting in and out of the mwave. I can pour 24 4.5" laminated swimbaits in minutes without stopping. A big advantage is pouring out of pans...much easier than measuring cups...you can pour a really skinny stream. I'm not into big production but this has worked for me since 1975. You could set up any number of stations...I used to have three but rarely used the third. A little history...I bought what was called a "worm table" for $25 in 1975 in Mineral Wells, TX. They were home made out of cannister light fixtures and sheets of 3/4" plywood with cutouts where the pourers could get closer to the middle. They came from the American Angler lure company which sold hand poured worms...about the only kind available back then. It was owned by John Fox but he was no longer making worms by then. The plastic was heated in stainless bowls and the pourers used spoons or ladles with a spout on the side. Most pourers I was told were women. That's where I got this design and find no reason to change it. I just substituted pans for the bowls so I could pour directly.

Welcome to the machine

I'm surprised to hear Del say heat lamps work incredibly well. I thought I was the only one on earth using heat lamps.

Punisher says theirs is petroleum based. Good Luck.

Punisher makes just what you are talking about or are you just trying to make your own? Here's a link: http://www.punisherlures.com/fish-dope/view-all-products.html

Thanks for the explanation Del. Are your molds Aluminum? The baits by Jerry Rago have a carved look...not machined. I'm sure there are many mold making processes I have never heard of....the molds could possibly be RTV...couldn't they?