mark poulson

I have made some two part POP molds that I can hand pour.They are both large, simple molds like my fat Ika mold, and my swimbait tail mold. Most of my two piece molds pour better with my Cajun Injector that I bought from Cabela's. Being able to get the hot plastic all the way down into the mold, so you are filling it up from the bottom to the top, is the key with hand pouring a two piece mold. Most two piece molds have small details, or are long and thin, and need to be injected.

I've been able to do it with top pour swimbait molds, but it's harder with two part molds. I have to hand pour the first two colors in one of the halves, and then close the mold and pour the third.

I found some feathers that were barred and about the size of a silver dollar. I don't remember the name of the bird they came from, but I think it was some kind of pea fowl. I put them in my fat Ika two part mold, closed it, and poured them with a clear plastic. They came out looking like a fat minnow with full dorsal and anal fins, front to back. The mold is top pour, and has pretty big vent holes at the bottom, so, as long as I pour them slowly, they fill perfectly and look really neat in the water. I haven't gotten on them yet, but I am going to throw them this spring.

I've found that the chartruese will bleed into any adjacent plastics, so keep them separated, and with chartruese touching chartruese.

Nil, Everything here is good. It's been in the high 70's/low 80's all week here in LA. But the temps are dropping and the winds are up to 45mph on the lake I'm fishing tomorrow. Life jackets and hold on!!! Strange weather, for sure.

Bob, I got my 304 .041 sst wire from McMaster-Carr this week, and tried to "twist one up" today. What a difference! It is so much easier to work with than the "soft" tempered .041 wire I had been using. Thank you very much.

You might try dipping the sealed bait in acetone, quickly, to clean off any residual wax and to "open" the surface a little for a better bond with the Createx. That's how I prep clear plastic baits before I paint them, and have found I don't need a primer for good adhesion.

That is a neat looking rig! It will certainly keep your plastics on the bottom, but let them move a lot more than a Texas rig. I am going out to the garage to try and make some for tomorrow. Thanks. And you cut a full day off my building process with Solarez, so you are a God!!!!

My mold boxes are usually made with 3/4"X 3/4" pine sides, and 1/4" masonite bottoms, so when I clamp them together I have 1 1/2" for my POP. I usually mark the center of each cavity on the top of my wooden mold frame, clamp the two halves together, and use a drill press to make a 1/2" hole in my wooden frame, and then a 1/4" hole on down to the cavity through the POP. After I've drilled the holes, I clean them out, sand the wood part smooth with a dremel, and seal them with D2T epoxy.

How do I not post something about hairy beavers......

Dave, I agree, theoretically. Hahaha

I see you subscribe to the Chaos Theory of lure building, too, Sensei. Hahaha For me, part of the mental exercise of lure building is trying to find all the stuff I need, hidden in my garage somewhere.

What kind of wood did you use?

I don't paint dropshot weights. I loose them too often, and the weight is on the bottom, while the bait is above and is what the fish see. Bass 100, Thank you again (and again) for Solarez!

I am no engineer, so what I know about swimbaits comes from building them. Trial and error. In hindsight, here's what I've learned. Way back when, Dave posted some interesting info on votices, the effect of water passing over and around lures. With that in mind, I came to the conclusion that the flatter sides made more prominent vortices along the sides of the swimbait, which encouraged less roll and more stability. The more round the sides, the more evenly the water flowed around the bait, and the more easily it would roll side to side. I tapered my swimbaits because I was trying to remove buoyancy from the belly without altering the shape too much, to encourage stability at higher speeds. It worked. Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

Plus having them so local, you can just drop by and ask any questions you have about how the products perform and how to use them from the people who make it. Sweet!!!

Since you're just getting started, check out the Solarez threads for top coating.

Ishi, I find that rounder bodies tend to roll more. I make my swimbaits with flat, tapered sides. They are tall and thin. I make them from 1"+- PVC decking. They generally start out 7/8" thick at the back, and then about a third of the way down, I start my taper, so the belly is 5/8". This still leaves plenty of room for ballast and hardware, but I find the flatter sides reduces roll, and the V cross section lets me burn them without roll at high speeds. You bait looks almost round, so it has a lot of buoyancy to overcome to get it to sink. If you flatten and taper the sides, you will remove some of it's buoyancy, and should be able to remove the ballast in the rear section, or at least reduce the amount of ballast you need to get it to sink. I hope this helps.

My 1/4lb spool of .041 304 sst wire from McMaster-Carr was $11.93 to my door. Thanks Bob. $6.83 for the wire, .61 CA tax, and 4.49 shipping.

Sound like Del is in the same boat as a lot of mom and pop, one man shops. Not enough hours in the day. I came to contracting as a carpenter, and I am still way better at the building part than at the paperwork, even after 35 years. Being a businessman is a whole 'nother animal than being a tradesman. He is probably better off not dealing with the public directly, because he is too small to do that and produce his product at the same time.

Jdeee, If you're concerned about how your lure looks when it's sitting on a table top on display, I understand. If you're worried about a high gloss effect in the water, all lures look glossy when they're wet. Are you sure you want to go to the trouble? My baits come out glossy with Solarez. How are you curing your Solarez?

I'm sure it can, but why?

Most of us on TU use water based paints. Here's a site with how-to videos. It's only one of many, so shop around, but the info in their videos is helpful. http://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=11 After you're comfortable with using air brush paints, check out the gallery here. There are some really talented people on this site. Also use the search feature. Type in what you're looking for, and you'll find a ton of info. Bring popcorn and a cold beverage. You'll be reading for a while.

If you glue it well to the master, and then spray it with a release agent, it should work fine. I spray my masters with clear acrylic, to seal any small holes and prevent the RTV from keying into them. I would ask the RTV manuf. what release agent they recommend.