carolinamike

Why don't you guys just call Chuck at Calhoun? You can buy direct from everyone else.

Mark, now you know a well polished rod works a lot better. But I've found out something, I'm turning 50 this year and the older they get the less polish they need. Maybe the polish gets stronger. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to stick with pouring.

Sea Eagle, I can help steer you in the right direction. I've worked with several people like yourself and doing some work for others that were in your same situation. PM me if you're interested and I'll give you a contact number where we can talk a little more.

Mark you should be able to dip your rods without any kind of releasing agent at all. Just polish them real well. It gives the plastic nothing to stick to. Work your rods down with emory cloth and you can probably stop by a local jeweler and get them to put a real good polish on for you. That's what they do with aluminum molds so baits won't stick in them. Just another suggestion.

I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers. It's been a long hard road. Mom comes home tomorrow. Thanks everyone. Mike

Thanks so much everyone and I pray God blesses each and every one of you. Things are still about the same with Mom. They're doing another run of dialysis today. This is #4. After this they're going to hold off a few days with the dialysis to see if there is any true kidney function taking place. There's also an infection of some kind somewhere and it's not showing much improvement. She's also having trouble swallowing so they are going to check that today too. Again guys I appreciate the prayers so much. The preacher came a couple of days ago and Mother did make a profession of faith so I know my Mom is going to be OK either way. You don't know the last couple of days how encouraging it's been to come in late in the evening and read all the prayers that have been sent. I've always said the folks in TU land are the best, even though there might be some arguments and disagreements sometimes. TU is still a community of friends. Again thanks so much for the kind words. Mike Greene

I hope everyone in TU land is doing OK. I need you folks help and prayers. Mom's in the hospital with failing kidneys and has been there for about a week now with very little changes. The doctors say there's a 50-50 chance of her kidneys starting back up again. There are a few signs that says that they may be trying to. I would appreciate your prayers to help better these odds. I feel there's going to be a lot of prayers needed on this one. And truthfully you guys are the first ones I thought of for help. Any prayer or moment of silence for Mom would be appreciated. Thanks for the help. Mike Greene

Thanks Jason for posting those links. It made for interesting reading, but it seems like the main topics for the problem with phthalates are more related with the food and cosmetic industry. It's funny though when you think about it if you receive blood at the hospital it's stored in a flexible plastic bag that contains phthalates. But I think the scariest thing is that no one knows for sure either way. A couple of years back the larger plastic manufacturers were warned not to sell or distribute any baits to children. I was going to donate some seconds and in between shots to an inner city school but I was told by my supplier that that was a big no no. Reason being, any plastic bait or product using plasticizer must have third party testing and be certified to be sold on the market as a child safe product. From what I understand, if it does not have this certification, from an industry point of view it is the same as any product on the market. This is the information that the large producers were given, if I can get this attachment to work. This is one of the reasons that Berkley, Strike King and the other big boys don't list their products as child safe and never target children as a market. This the reason if you donate baits or sell baits, only do so to adults. New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf New_PZ_Law.pdf

Did anyone else see 60 Minutes last night? Just by coincidence I have already been looking into this subject, and it turns out to be real interesting. First off, let me say that the FDA says that there are no adverse side effects from phthalates. Almost all of this I'm quoting off of 60 Minutes from the show last night. I was told a few days ago by another person that it causes cancer in rats, but not in people, I thought he was pulling my leg. But the doctor on 60 Minutes last night said that when tested on rats and mice it caused cancer, however when tested on monkeys, there were no adverse effects at all. There was a lady on there that was against phthalates, a politician type, who said that phthalates were causing men to be more feminine and not as manly. Apparently they say it slows testosterone growth in male fetuses. Now I think about it this way I can't ever remember seeing a prissy fisherman and one of the first things they said on the program that contained phthalates were IV bottles and the vinyl tubing for IV bottles. With that being said, almost every hospital that I've been to there's always this one male nurse that's not quite as manly as what he ought to be. No to be serious though, I was surprised at the list of items that contained phthalates. Here are some of the items: any soft flexible plastic squeeze bottle, all the vinyl in your car, vinyl raincoats, and a whole list of items used in the medical industry and the food industry. Also there's a lot of make-ups, hand lotions, and lipsticks that contain phthalates. But pretty much the final conclusion was that no one knows what adverse effects if any, phthalates pose. Politicians and doctors both agree that there is no proof that they will harm you and there is no proof that they won't. Sorry, I can't remember the names of the doctors and politicians.

Mindhunter, you need to stir it well before you heat it and around half way in the heating process, just when it's starting to gel up good. And remember, stir don't shake. If it's in a gallon container, just kind of rock it back and forth for a minute or two. Also, try letting her go up to around 360 degrees maybe 365. This stuff is pretty heat tolerable. And also you should have some difference after a 12 hour cure time. I hope this helps. Bass-boys, if you're having trouble with the bubbling when you're using salt, try putting your salt in the oven on a cookie sheet at 150 degrees, or the lowest setting on your oven, for about an hour. If it gets a crust or clumps up, then there's probably some moisture in the salt. I've poured salt out of a container before and seen dust fly off of it and it still have moisture to it. I'm not saying this is going to solve your problem for sure, but it might be worth a try.

Swedes, I've got a customer that uses the Spike-It paint regular. It's real good stuff and won't rub off.

Shaggy, call Bruce at lureworks and Tell him you need purple 45 and red 2125. The red may be a little pricey.

BBK, I mainly mentioned the breakdown process because you said it took 15 drops one time and 40 another. Now if they've switched suppliers, then it's very possible that you got a different shade of green pumpkin. Smallie, good to hear from you, sorry I didn't respond sooner. I had a battle with a smallmouth yesterday at the river and I won. Powerworm's right, you can buy it from Lureworks and Frank's probably about dead on with the price too. But if I've got the math figured right, at a half of a gram per 20 oz's that's around 1300 runs. You need an accurate set of gram scales and remember this stuff is messy, so messy. A little goes a long way. I keep imaging what some of the guys at the late night convenient stores think when a fella walks in with all different colors on his shirt, sparkly colored glitter all over his face and arms and maybe every once in awhile a little hi-lite on his fingers. But seriously, it seems to be like a magnet, it gets everywhere. If you get a little bit on the outside of the container and brush up against it, your furniture is probably going to have a new color scheme. If you get it on your shoes, there goes the carpet, unless spots are part of your pattern. Remember too that to break it down in a little bit of plastic softener, just so it will incorporate well in the plastisol. It will incorporate without it, but I wouldn't do that unless I had an automatic stirrer and probably 30 minutes is a good stir time. But the good thing about this is the consistency, you always get the same color everytime. Even if I was using drops, I think I would prefer to weigh it, just to try to hold on to consistencies. But remember, this stuff doesn't make drops.

BBK, you probably have the same green pumpkin. They've probably increased the break down. Most of the pigments used in plastisol in their pure form are thick like a paste and some are like a real thick paint and some are even powders. To make it user friendly most places that redistribute coloring and pigments, have to be broken down for use by the hand pour folks. This is the reason that if a bottle of coloring sits for awhile you get a separation between the material that was used to break it down and the pigment. A good break down ratio is 2 or 3 to 1. In other words, 2 or 3 parts of plasticizer let's say, to 1 part pigment. But being that the economy is so tough right now, it wouldn't surprise me if some folks are doing a 5 to 1 or even a 6 to 1 break down. That's the reason you get a darker and lighter coloring. The lighter one doesn't have as much pigment. I guess I was one of the only hand pour folks that used the pure pigment and take my word for it, it is a mess. About a half of a gram would do 20 oz of plastic, but I still had to break it down in a little plasticizer to get it to mix well in the plastisol. If not, I would have had to have continually stirred for 15 or 20 minutes to get it incorporated. You may have to use more coloring than what you did on the last that you ordered. And keep in mind it may be a little softer.

salt

Jim, glad to hear you contacted Lureworks. As you know they are a very big company that is used to catering to the industrial aspect of the industry. And I know they would appreciate your feedback very much. The hobbyist or smaller side of this industry is new to them and they don't have all the answers, they just need one or two stand up people that's willing to help out and feedback is a big part of it. I'm sure if you would have contacted them at the very first and told them the product just wasn't working out for you, you would have received an immediate refund or they would have made it good in some way or another. I'm sorry about all that mess before, but I just feel like we ought to give everyone a chance to make things right before we make criticisms. You're a good guy and very knowledgable on the hand pour side of things and any help you're willing to give anyone I'm sure would be well appreciated. I hope they can get something worked out for you and the others that are having the bubble problem. I know there's still a lot of other things that they have to offer, it's just going to take a little time. Your friend,

For you guys that are buying plastic by the drums, what is the weight? 55 gallons is 440 lbs. 50 gallons is 400 lbs. If you're buying your plastic by the drum, you should know your price per lb. Also the price should fluctuate throughout the year because of the rise and fall of the cost of the raw materials. The shipping cost that was quoted sounds about right, that price is probably the same whether you're shipping 1 drum or 5 drums. But you definitely want to be sure to know what you are paying by the lb for the plastic if you are buying by the drum.

If I'm not mistaken I heard a while back that they might have changed their plastic supplier or component supplier. Don't quote me on it, but I thought someone told me this not too long ago. Glad to hear MF helped you with your problem. MF and all the other plastic suppliers out there are all usually willing to help when you have a problem, you just need to communicate personally with them. I don't think there's a company out there that if you're just not totally satisfied with a product, that if you ask they would be glad to give you a refund or replace the product.

Shaggy, I used to use the Lee pots way back when and I've still got 4 or 5 sitting around somewhere. The larger Lee pot only holds around 20 oz of plastic. If I was going to be doing hand injection, I think it would be a little bit better to go with the Presto pot. One of the main reasons is because the Presto pot has a stirrer. With the Lee pots, the temperature controls aren't the most accurate in the world, and you have to stir a lot.

WTR, you won't find very much settling in an 8 oz bottle. It's not hard pack, but it is a thicker substance on the bottom, kind of like honey before you stir it up. But it incorporates at nothing. In a 55 gallon drum, I may get a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of settlement on the bottom, but it's never dried hard pack. With LC in a 55 gallon drum, you usually get 3 to 4 inches. It's usually packed pretty hard and when I was doing hand pours, when a new drum came in I would have to stir it with a paddle to break up everything off the bottom before I could put the agitator in to get it to incorporate. With Lureworks I let a new drum stir at least 30 minutes if not longer, but LC's I used to have to wait an hour or two before everything on bottom was fully incorporated. But like I said the settlement is so little, I don't know whether you'll have enough to notice in an 8 oz bottle.

Frank, sounds like you had a good time. Sounds like the machine is coming right along. I bet before it's over with you'll be surprised what production this thing will do. I know for a fact that they've put a lot into this thing as far as making it user friendly and safe. One thing I like about Bruce and Don is they are very helpful. Things that me and you call new, have been around for years, such as the suspendasol. And still I come up with crazy requests every once in a while, and Bruce always says "Oh yeah we've got that, why didn't you just ask?" As far as new baits go, what you're saying on that end is that the market is still wide open for the next big thing? Gary, suspendasol is available now and has been for years. That's what I like about these guys, there's products out there that's been available that other companies just didn't feel like there was a need to offer to the hand pour or hand injection folks, but it's going to take some time for some products. Remember it's got to go from industrial ready to hobbyist friendly. I bet you never knew there was so many different plastisols for so many different applications. The UV Glo and the other new products, it's just really nice to finally see the big boys take interest in the little guys.

got one

Frank, I mainly wanted to know what kind of new baits you saw and things like that, but I saw on another thread that you mentioned the plastic machine, please give us more information on this. I knew there was a midrange machine in development and heard a rumor that it was supposed to premier at the Icast, apparently you've seen it. Tell us more.

First off, let's get this straight, this post was started only to say that Lureworks offered more variety of plastisol than what's normally been available. It was not started to discuss the good or bad of it, but of course that's what this forum is all about. But there's also been a lot of unfairness on this one too. Jim, we all get it, you have a bubbling problem and you don't particularly don't like this plastisol, but you did reorder and you've talked very little about the plastisol that you reordered. You also made the comment that you didn't feel that your input would do much good, when I know for a fact before your last plastisol was sent out, it was burned in the microwave trying to make it bubble. So it looks like to me that individual feedback has already helped you. You've had very little, almost nothing to say about this. And you've also went through the trouble to be sure to name other companies that people already knew were out there, and the new company that you started the post on. But mainly, what bothers me about this Jim, is you keep saying you're not bashing this company, but if you'll read back over the 11 pages of this thread, about all of yours have been negative. If you've sold worms to someone and they weren't satisfied with them, would you want them to contact you directly or would you want them to post it on the forum and say that well I will try to contact him but it would probably do no good? I've always thought of you as a fair person, there's been times that people have come on TU and bad mouthed mold makers and others and you've always been one of the first people to chime in and say that they should contact the person direct and not post it on the forum. And you yourself keeps repeating over and over how new these guys are to the business. I've watched Bear and others come into this business new and get it from other people but the way this one's went it sure has surprised me. These are super hard working folks. Guys they're not in the business to cheat anybody. And if it hadn't been for Bruce's infinite knowledge, I would probably already be out of business. Your feedback is very important to these guys no matter what anyone else says, and they are working on their micorwave issue. But again there are people that aren't having issues, so there is something different going on. I mean how does someone have a chance to stand behind their product when you won't even talk to them personally about the issue? I mean sure this plastisol may not be for everyone, but I don't know any plastisol out there that everybody on this forum is happy with. These guys have so much to bring to the table, things that most of you could ever even think doing with plastic, an endless color list, and nothing but outstanding customer service. I mean if you don't like it, you don't like it, that's the great thing about living in America and freedom of speech is the other. There's a microwave bubble issue for some of you out there, we get it, we understand what you're saying.

I was wondering, who went to icast and what did you see?