mark poulson

And that is...? And how does it apply to sst wire vs piano wire?

I can't tell you exact ratios, but I can tell you to add your hardener to cool, uncooked plastic, and stir it well, until it's completely dissolved. Otherwise, you'll wind up with lumps of the unmixed hardener in your heated plastic. The hardener is a very thick material. Softener is easier to mix in, because it is thinner than the plastic. Same with heat stabilizer. Just experiment, and write down your ratios, so you can duplicate your results once you get what you want.

I also found it was closed, when I tried to include their link in a comment. If you Google Glo paint, there are other suppliers. I still have enough powder from Glonation to last me a couple of years. When that's gone, I'll have to worry about who to order from, but not right now.

I have their 4.8 Keitech stone mold, 1 cavity injection. It shoots fine. The part leading to the tail is thinner than the actual Keitech, so I use a harder plastisol for that mold. I spray the mold with PAM cooking spray before each shoot, because it has deep rings and I want them to shoot right. They do so far, and I've had the mold for more than a year.

Coming from Cadman, that is high praise, indeed.

I make through wire Whopper Ploppers. I buy pre- bent wire from Lurepartsonline, usually the 12" .51 wire, with the front loop already bent. https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Looped-End-Wire-Shafts Then I thread them through the bait body from the head, add my prop assembly, a cupped washer and several metal beads, and then make my tail hook bend. I start the bend with round nosed pliers, binding it around until I get the wire just past the shaft. Then I put the loop I've formed in a bench vise, hold the wire tag with a pair of vice grips, and wrap the wire back around the shaft until it gets to the last ball. I cut the tag end off carefully with a dremel and cutting wheel, and test how the prop spins. If it's too loose, I spread the wrapped wire a little to make it tighter. If it's too tight, I cut a little of the wrapped wire off to give it more play.

I tried it once, and the blade was so heavy it barely turned. I'm sure there are people here who can make it work, but not me. If I want to coat a blade, I'll use either blade dip (https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spike_It_Blade_Dip/descpage-SBD.html), or fingernail polish. I've found that I can even hand brush them with Createx, and then coat them with clear nail polish. That works, too.

I just poured another dozen creature baits with the mold that has the hole vents, and I was again reminded of what a pain in the butt vent holes are compared to grooves. Grrr...

If you post this question in the Wire Baits Forum I think you'll get a lot more replies. Those folks really know wire bending.

You can also clear coat with clear nail polish from the Dollar Store. I do that with some of my spinnerbaits. I actually use a small artist's brush to hand paint the heads, dry with a hair dryer, and coat with clear nail polish. Holds up to weeds and tules, and the occasional levee rock.

Maybe this should be a sticky at the top of the Soft Plastics Forum.

The only mold I've made of a ribbed bait was with Solarez Dual Cure Polyester Resin, because it is runny enough to fill the grooves by itself. The soft plastic masters I used were commercially made baits, not rigid masters. I've made lots of POP molds, but I wouldn't try to make one of a deeply ribbed rigid bait. My rule of thumb, learned here on TU, is hard master/soft mold, soft master/hard mold. That has more to do with being able to get you master back out of the mold afterwards than with mold quality. I'd suggest you make your initial mold out of a pourable silicone, so you can get all of the rings filled and still pull the master out when you're done. You can pour you soft plastic baits from the silicone mold. Smooth On is one such silicone maker. There are others, but I don't know them by name.

I have several two part molds that I had to vent with drilled holes, and they are a pain to clean out afterwards. That's how I know. If I had realized how hard the vent holes would be to clean out afterwards, I would have tried harder to make vent grooves instead. Live and learn. Good luck.

They are to release trapped air, so very small will still work. Just make them big enough so that you can clean them out with a wire. I like grooves instead, because they don't get clogged.

It only takes a few selfish idiots to ruin things for everyone else. In this case, it might also get a lot of people sick.

This is what I posted in your message to me: I went to the med/hard because their med was too soft for me. I bought the med/hard last summer, but just started using it around New Years, when I finished the med. I was adding some hardener to the med to get it firm enough for me, but the med/hard has been fine without it. I use it straight, with a little heat stabilizer and some scent, for my craws, creatures, and small swimbaits, up to the 3 1/2" ripper. I haven't poured anything bigger than that with it yet. I haven't noticed any oil leaching so far, and I've poured probably 6 dozen baits with it. For me, it's the perfect all around blend, like the old bj medium degassed. I haven't had any problems with bubbles either. When this gallon is done, I'll order another. I hope this helps.

Good job on the baits, and the video.

I use a doubled coat hanger wire, with a 1/2" flat at the bend, to stir my plastics, and that makes very few bubbles. I am currently using Bait Plastics' PM262-00 Med/Hard Plastisol, and it doesn't seem to bubble as much.

How long is the working time before it begins to set? Can you add something to extend the working time?

Thanks. Back in the 60's and 70's, when we used it on construction jobs we called it Durham's Rock Hard Putty. Good stuff.

I am serious. You must be a pretty good tier to have them hold. I'm jealous.

What is DWP?

So I put my reading glasses on, and I see you used skirt tabs. I apologize for not seeing it before. I'm glad you have had such good success without glue. You must be a much better tier than I, because I've always had to either use glue/head cement/clear nail polish, or wire afterwards to keep my skirts from coming apart.

I suggest you take a look at the commercial spinnerbaits that are being sold right now..Tacklewarehouse.com has a big selection.

Kris, It looks to me like you're using skirts with an already attached collar. I make my skirts from skirt tabs, and thread without either some glue, or an overwrap with 28 gauge wire, don't hold up to fishing for me.