mark poulson

I use a one cup plastic, 1/2 cup salt or blasting media ratio. That's what I learned here on TU.

I do have the problem of fine streams drifting when I hand pour thin lines, so I cut the fan speed down to 1 or 2 when I do that.

I use a piece of shirt cardboard with a small hole in it, and a slot cut to the hole, to act as a spacer/masker when I paint my ploppers. I spray them with Rustoleum X2 Gloss Clear, two coats, with the cardboard removed, and they still spin fine.

Wouldn't the woman you get them from get pissed, especially if she's sober when you rip them off?

Good luck!

I haven't had any problem with heating my plastic with blast media glass beads added. I add the beads before my initial cooking of the plastic, in the same proportions you use. I subtract one tbs. of beads and add one tbs. of salt for flavor. I also add one tsp of softener, and 1/2 tsp. of stabilizer. I heat to 350+, and don't stir until the plastic has become clear and runny. I use Baitjunky's soft for my senkos, and I know he adds stabilizer to his plastic before I get it, but I've always done it that way. Once the plastic is cooked, I add my BJ glitterand colorant, and stir well. I check the temps again, and reheat until the plastic in the middle is up to 335. Then I inject. I use spray PAM (actually the store brand version) to lubricate my injector, and relube after each injection. I also push the plunger all the way out and shoot some PAM down into the injector tube before I put the plunger back in, to cut down on the scratching sound as I inject. I've only injected three gallons of plastic this way, but the injector still works fine, with no plastic getting past the O ring.

I run the screw in and back out again, put a drop of glue into the hole, start the screw, coat the rest of the screw with a thin coat of glue, and run it in all the way. As the screw goes in, it squeezes out glue that forms a mound around the screw eye when it's all the way in. Once the screw is installed, and the eye is in the position I want it to be, I put a drop of accelerant on the eye to set the glue around it and hold it in that position. If I put it on the screw before I tried to install it, it would set up and I could never get the screw in. That's why I use the gap filling glue, because it gives me enough time to install the screw and adjust it before it sets up. I have never had a screw come out, or unscrew. When I used to use 5 min. epoxy, I had a screw back out, because the epoxy was only water resistant, and the water softened it over time. But the ZAP glue is totally waterproof, and strong. For my crankbaits I use .072 sst screw eyes. Mostly I use the 7/8" length, but I'll use the 1 3/4" if the tail section tapers, like with a popper. I use the .092 eyes for swimbaits and big gliders. I even use the runny version of the ZAP glue to seal my PVC before I prime it, to keep any bubbles that might be generated from heat drying my paint from forming and bubbling my paint. I apply it with my bare finger, and then use acetone on a corner of a towel to clean my finger when I'm done. It takes a little soaking and elbow grease, but it comes off, and I haven't found another way to apply it that doesn't stick to the glue. I move my finger fast, and apply the glue in small sections, so I can avoid drips. I hope this answers your question.

I use ZAP gap filling super glue, and their accelerant.

The short answer is don't. Even if you can stand the smell, your apt. will smell like a tackle box on a hot day. If you pour indoors, you should have an explosion proof exhaust hood that vents outside, and use an organic vapor respirator with replaceable carbon filters. I pour with a 20" box fan blowing from behind me and out the overhead garage door in the summer. In winter, I use a mask, too.

At the risk of being misinterpreted, I like to do #2.

Some tip dry is inevitable with water based paints. Using a good reducer, like Createx 4011, to thin you paint helps cut down on tip dry. Instead of trying to avoid tip dry with some kind of a thinner additive, try putting a tupperware full of water next to your paint station, with a wire holder on one side to set your airbrush into, so the tip rests in the water when you set it down. It will cut down on tip dry, and having a tub of water handy for back flushing between coats and colors will keep you brush cleaner longer.

I've found that the round tail lets me use a stiffer plastic than the paddle or boot tail, which needs asofter plastic to get the tails to swim side to side effectively. Maybe it's because there is more flat tail surface in relation to bait size with the round tails, but that has been my experience. Kinda like a wide bill on a crank bait.

Than maybe I'm wrong. Keitech is the first truly round tailed swimbait I've seen that works at all speeds. I've noticed many other bait companies are now imitating them.

I've modified molds with my drill press. I make sure I have sharp bits, and chuck them high into the chuck, to reduce the amount of bit that flexes. I also go really slowly, and use a vise.

Dave, I bet I miss your test tank almost as much as you do. Thanks for the videos. Here' a link you might like:

The Keitech Fat Impact swimbait is the gold standard for boot tail swimbaits, and it catches fish. I think the boot tail has been around for a long time, in one form or another, but Keitech finally got the body and tail shape, and the plastic consistency right. Those rings must create the right vortices to get that tail moving, because it swims at any speed, and is stable on a fast retrieve, too.

Sorry. I left that back in SoCal when I moved north. It's just a block of wood with a channel down the center. I made it just to see if I could. It was more fun to make than to use, since I don't like to dip tubes. I'm lazy, and it's too much work!

At two bucks a leaf, and one leaf per bait, it's kinda expensive, but it follows details so easily, it's amazing.

I don't stir my plastic, when I'm heating it for the first time, until it's at 350, even when I've already added salt or blasting media. Then I stir in my glitter, and my color. Maybe you're getting air into your plastic while it's heating initially because you're stirring it too much.

I use those Essential molds and Baitjunky's medium degassed plastic, and don't get bubbles. Maybe you're stirring your plastic too hard. I use a metal coat hanger, bent so there are two long wires connected by an inch of flat at the bottom. It stirs without making bubbles.

Check this out: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gene_Larew_Rattln_Crawler_6pk/descpage-GLRATCR.html

Glad you found a way to access the site.

I get my medium balsa here: http://www.balsawoodinc.com/