smallmouthaholic

Buy your double-fluxed ,soft-lead from various e-bay preferred sellers. I've never had a problem in 5 years dealing w/ them.I pour thousands of 1/16 and 1/8 oz. jigs of various ,custom designs every year - 80% w/ double barbs. I'll even flux it once when i melt new lead- just to remove any excess dross.Free and junk lead causes nothing but problems. 24 years of experience has taught me to stay away from freebies and cheap deals. I mentioned this before-I smelt lead free solder in the soft lead to get the harness I desire for spinner baits and buzzbaits. You'll know it's correct when it becomes harder to cut off the lead sprues w/ the dykes. Avoid using Harbour Freight dykes for harder lead as the handles will break. They do work fine for soft lead. Here's a link to purchase Lino-type lead with a good explanation of this product http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1124392345/certified-linotype-bullet-casting-alloy-4-pct-tin-12-pct-antimony-and-84-pct-lead

The Worth wire bender,although probably too expensive for many here @ Tackle Underground will create most any bend and wire form you need. http://lurecomponents.worthco.com/industrial-wire-former

You're on a suicide mission w/ your lungs breathing plastisol fumes.The two,open presto pots can give off plenty of fumes and some smoke.I have a 25"x25"x25" enclosed booth w/ a 320cfm exhaust fan w/a 10" duct and I still wear a mask when using the shooting star system. The fumes/faint smoke can build up to the edge of the booth in a circular pattern. Get a pair of hot mill gloves from Bear w/ using this system. I shoot 24 molds @ a time ,then set another 24 in the booth and repeat.That dual injector really gets hot- even when using the hot mill gloves. You need enough molds to appreciate the short time in which this unit can produce two-color baits. I even wipe the multiple cavity molds down w/ a damp sponge since they can get extremely hot when doing repetative prodution. Once the presto pots get down to 16oz in each,you'll start sucking air into the injector. Turn your heating unit to 160 providing your baits are shooting full and you can lower your P.P. temps a sthe amount in the pots decrease. My wife will come in and help me demold and hang the baits when i'm shooting large amounts. She even remarked how fast the Shooting Star System is compaired to the micro wave/ blending blocks and the old ,non-heated two color injector system.

Kudos to you sir for creating a realistic, original bait.

Good sarcastic answer there Bob. I've spent years developing swim-baits and testing various weighted heads until they work for a variety of conditions. Is it possible any product costing more the $1.00 per 100 would probaly offend you?-sarcasim intended. There's a free education out there waiting for you to read-all you have to do is click-on it-WOW -didn't cost a dime. Free- Free-Free!!!!! You mentioned before about your various CNC machines- do you really know how to use them for basic and intracate lead and plastic injection molds? Lead molded onto an offset hook( such as shown in a previous post) requires you to re-tie each and every time you need to rig a new swim-bait.There's a variety of weighted swim-bait heads available today- you just have to be willing to pay for them!

I'm sorry to pick BOB but your advise is W-A-Y off base. The balance of swim-baits w/ the proper ,weighted hook is very important and paramount for sucess. They must run straight and drop vertically w/out rolling over-maintaining an upright position of the hook.. Rubber core sinkers are snag masters and smashing the weight on the hook will cause an off-balance ,loose swim-bait hook that will not perform properly w/ consistent ''roof of the mouth" hook sets.Sometimes you have to spend the $ for a custom CNC lead mold to get good performance. Without results ,there is no economy -no matter what the price

PM sent

They'll cry real tears when the I.R.S. levies penalty and interest. All the I.R.S.has to do is check the business links of signatures here on T.U. and then punch up the business name and see if any form #720's have been filed.You'd be surprised how many will "drop dime" on their buddies when they get caught.This business has enough caveats w/o the I.R.S. making your financial life miserable.

Not at all!. I called and they said they're cutting back on expenses and no longer mail quartertly forms #720. they tolds me to download the forms from their website. What's next-free baits??!!

Mike- i brought up that subject in this thread- http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/24473-how-do-i-sell-my-baits-in-a-tackle-shop/ Opps-I just reminded myself that 3rd qrt , 10% excise tax is due by Wednesday

Bear's ultra-fine salt is the bomb! Don't grind and save time.

A real nightmare for sure.. That's why I stopped using it years ago.

Remove the s.s. rotating paddles and motor( 2 wing nuts mounted on 1 horizontal ,aluminum plate) to clean the pots and paddles. You will need to purge the lines w/ some clear,heated plastisol when changing from a dark color to a light color. You do not have to take the entire system apart.

Painting soft-lead lures that have been poured and used for spinner baits /buzzbaits will not tighten them up-neither will leaving them in the mold longer to cool.You must use a harder lead.That said,I never use wheel weigts- too many negatives associated w/ them.Smelt some lead -free solder (15% for starters) in w/ your soft lead. You can also buy harder lead from quality sellers on e- bay that does not contain any wheel weights. Soft lead lacks the necessary antimony that will make it harder and suitable for spinner/buzzbaits.

Your guess is a good as mine.

Wipe 'em out w/ a paper towel before re-use! They are a P.I.A. for sure. I use them only sparingly for specific,small mixes. They're an accident waiting to happen if you fill them over 50%.

Good,honest advice. Those who try and fly under the I.R.S. radar screen are in for one,very rude and expensisive awakening when they catch-up w/you. Penalties and interest and in severe cases-fraud charges will ruin those who play games w/ the I.R.S. I had the occassion to talk w/ the I.R.S.agent (2 months ago)who signed my form #637 5 years ago and we got into a short discussion about those small manufactureres not paying their 10% excise tax. I was asked one specific question." Do you have any names I can investigate/?" They will investigate any name they are given,no matter how small of a business they seem to be operating. Trademarking a name w/ specific drawings and logos is not terribly expensive-UNLESS another company w/ big bucks objects. You can use your own name to save some expeses for sure. Time is money so don't waste it trying to re-invent the wheel. Manufacture custom products that catch fish and be prepared to hand out a bunch in the beginning. Webmasters can cost a small fortune for an active,multi-product website. I've preached about the 40% discount off of retail to tackle shops and dealers in proir threads. The 10% excise tax due on those gross sales can be the straw that breaks the camels back- so be advise, know you numbers,cost and profit margin as well as manufacturing capabilities before you jump into the fire. It's normal to jump for joy when a tackle shop says 'I'll take 200 bags of those". Now let's look @ this senerio a bit closer. Your average profit may be $1.50 -$2.00 per bag before the 10% excise tax due and your cost to run back and forth and/or mailing expenses must go into the equation. Now .how long will it take you to make those 200 bags of products? What's you costs for manufacturing overhead and equipment replacement costs? Last but not least- never deliver product to a shop on a consignment basis. You deliver-you get paid on the spot in full Operating a small tackle manufacturing business will keep away from the t.v. set for sure!Best of luck to you-and the advice-"Don't quit your day job" has a great deal of merit.

I cut a 3" diameter circle out of the center of the pale w/ a box cutter,then insert the drill attached stirror and "fire away",reversing directions. Then I use this- http://www.walmart.c...-Pump/15125755 to pump the plastisol into smaller containers.Leave 3" of clearance in the smaller 1 gallon containers to permit easy shaking and distrubution.Then cut a V w/your box cutter to the edge of the lid on the 5 gallon container to pour out the remaining plastisol the pump won't remove. The sirror will fit inside the screw off cap on a Pourasol(spike -it )2 12 gallon container and getting any settling off of the raise ribs on bottom of the container.

Here''s the best 5 gallon pale stirrer I've ever used for plastisol hard pack- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003U6H7I4/ref=asc_df_B003U6H7I42207779?tag=thefind0010300-20&

Neither Chemionics,Calhoun's or Pourasoll equire the amount of shaking and stirring to loosen the hardpack associated w/ Lurecraft plastisol. I've experience d the hard pack in the 1 gallon container take 5-10minutes of very vigrous shaking to loosen and mix. you will need on of these if it sits in a 5 gallon container fpr a couple of months.

You may wish to consider one of these. Plastisol is a heavy liquid but the pump does work slowly. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Battery-Operated-Liquid-Transfer-Siphon-Pump/15125755

1-What type,# of cavities and manufacture/name of the mold? 2-Is this a single cavity mold in a vertcal or horizontal position? 3-Is there a hook slot plate in the mold?

For what reason? Laminates are not good or effective enough?

It's a good,heavier/stronger blend for sure. That said,make sure you stir or shake the hard pack on the bottom of the container before using.