carolinamike

Some states require a business license and some don't. It's taxes that you want to check into. If you are a manufacturer (make your own products), you definitely have to pay 10% federal excise tax on all of your sales. Talk to your local IRS agent, they've always been very helpful whenever we've had any tax questions. Remember state is separate so you will need to contact your state's department of revenue to find out what requirements apply to you. Sounds complicated, but it's real simple and you're starting your business off right. One thing I've figured out, part of having a good business is doing good business, so it's best to start out on the up and up. It'll pay off in the end. To sum it up, don't take the chance about paying your taxes. It's not worth it in the end.

Headshot, Always add flourescent coloring before you heat your plastic. If you need to add more coloring to the plastic after it's heated, mix your coloring with a small amount of uncolored plastic first. Then add it to the already heated plastic. This method will work if you didn't quite get enough when you first started.

There's a couple of things that can cause this. Too soft plastic will do it. If the plastic is too soft some baits will naturally form a small dent when cooling, it's according to the size and shape of the bait. The way most large injectors get by this is by holding continual pressure on the bait until it's had enough time to set up. Next time maybe you can overfill your injector a little and when you make your shot, hold the pressure on it for a minute or so. That will probably take care of your problem. If this doesn't work, then I'd use just a little bit of hardener in the plastic and try holding continual pressure on the injector. If that doesn't work PM me or make another post maybe with some pictures. I'm sure there's enough of us on here that can put our heads together and come up with a solution.

What is your cup of tea when it comes to lures? I is a plastic man myself. What if I told you that there is a place an hour from your house that you can fish water that's hardly ever fished and catch 20-60 smallmouth a day, ranging from 12 inches to 3 pounds. Since I've discovered this spot and it's only 15 minutes away, I hardly fish any of the lakes anymore. As far as getting a bunch or luremakers together, I personally would love to see it happen, but as you know in our area, the business is so cutthroat, I don't know if we could pull it off or not. But we could definitely work out a fishing trip or something I'm sure. How do you like kayaks? Not the sit in kind but the sit on top.

Just down the road in Shelby used to do a lot of business with Tackle Town. I have fished Lake Norman all my life.

Guys I used Lee pots for 8 years and I think I made the first post about the dimmer switch. Everyone is right, I had to come up with the dimmer switch idea because I had one Lee pot that no matter how low you set it, it still would overheat. As far as getting the pot to heat up more, I don't think the dimmer switch is going to do any good but it will stop overheating. Off hand I can tell you for sure the small Lee pots aren't worth a plug nickel, unless you're trying to do a very small tail. I have 1 of the small ones left but I don't use any of my Lee pots anymore. The larger Lee pots (20 oz) I find do work very well, once you get used to each individual pot. No matter what you do if you start out with raw plastic, your heat up time is going to be an hour. I conquered the heat up time problem with 4 large pots. When one was ready to pour, I would turn the other one on and just made sure that I had enough molds that it took about an hour to pour the first one out. That way the second one was ready to go when I finished the first pour. You do have to stir often, like right before you make every pour. Using this method I poured massive amounts of plastic. 10 and 12 hour pours and had very good results. Flake and salt distribution was always even as long as I remembered to stir. The aggravating part is learning where to set your pot once it reaches the pour temperature. And when the plastic is half way down you must adjust the heat down or your last half will discolor from overheating. I think if I had it to do over I would have went with a Presto pot, but back when I started it was the Fry Daddy's that everyone was trying to convert. And from what I understood they had their own set of problems. If you're just wanting to play around with your own stuff, then I would suggest a Lee pot if you're not going to do that much. But if you're thinking of doing larger pours, then I'd definitely get in touch with Bear and consider a Presto Pot. And if you need 90 worms every minute and a half, then I'd call Mike at Carolina Baits.

LC makes a mold for a ring worm with a curly tail. It's flat on one side, but I made and sold them for years and never had any trouble with them coming out. I used to make a lot of them that was red with a black core, if that's the one your thinking about.

Wildtail, I have 2 of those pots. One I purchased from LC, one I built. I do not recommend the LC one at all. These are not made by the LC company and they don't have a whole lot of control over the manufacturing of the pots. I have shot up to 17 psi in the pot I built but when the manufacturer's gauge on the pot reads caution at 20 psi, and my pop off valve goes off at 18 psi, that would be the most I would do. On my machine, I've used up to 50 psi, so I take it you're shooting a large mold with a lot of cavities. I tell you, I really don't know a safe way to do it with the pots. The company does make bigger size pots, but I wouldn't trust that much air pressure. What most people don't understand is that machines do not work by air pressure. Hope you can figure something out, but please be very careful.

bosshog, welcome to TU. You'll not find a better bunch of guys than the ones right here:yay:

Cobra, Sorry to hear about the fire. Sounds like a couple of people might have been exposed to the smoke off of the plastic. If within the next day or so if anyone of these folks start feeling bad in any way, do not let them hesitate, tell them to go to the doctor and tell him that they have been exposed to smoke and fumes that can cause serious chemical pneumonia. I'm real serious, don't play around with this stuff. From what I understand, it can take very little exposure to do damage. If you haven't yet, check out the thread that I posted "Burning plastic warning". Just thought I'd give you a heads up. I don't want to see anybody get seriously ill. Just something to keep in the back of your head for the next few days.

Hey Pitbull, I have a private label line if you're interested. Simple stuff, pretty cheap and will be glad to work with you on minimums. That's what I do. Try to fill the hole that the bigger guys jump over. PM me if you're interested.

Dave, Post a picture of what you've got so far. Maybe we can help you work it out.

Dave, This color is absolutely hilarious to me. If you'll notice it resembles non bleed chartreuse. If you over heat non bleed chartreuse, voila, pumpkin chartreuse. Just a tiny drop of green(watermelon) or maybe just a little bit of schoolbus yellow and you can probably get the effect you're wanting. Or get you some non bleed chartreuse and let it overheat to the point of yellowing. And you've just figured out how Zoom came up with this color. Hope this helps.

Guys, I agree with Jim, he's not taking Zoom's side. I know exactly what he's talking about. That's another thing about our company, it's went totally in the opposite direction that we intended. Now I'm priviledged to have the opportunity to produce other companies lures, some of which I'm producing many months before they actually premier on the open market, so secrecy and careful discretion now has to practiced regularly at my shop. So I'm not mad about what's going on, there's just so much he says she says stuff on this end of it as far as what's infringing and what's not, sometimes it just all runs together and you just don't know what to think. For anyone else besides you loving and caring TU members out there, remember I complied immediately with the first letter, the second letter was no problem to comply with because I have never produced the first bait off of that mold, nor do I plan on producing any baits off of either one of the molds until I'm absolutely sure that a legal resolution is made. Again, we are not a copycat company. I sold these trailers for 8 years when doing hand pours, supplied at least 4 different stores, and never heard a word. I did the same as any of you guys would have done, the products I was selling the most of is what I had molds made for. After 8 years, I had no idea there would be a problem. But now our main business does not even concern our personal molds. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have 2 machines instead of 9 molds. But either way, let it be well known, that I am not producing or intend on producing either one of the jig trailers until I can get it straightened out or the patent runs out. I've only got around 13 more years to go. By the way, could I interest anybody in some molds?

Pitbull, That's the thing, money depletion is a big playing factor in this game. Zoom's attorney actually told me what I needed to do was hire a patent attorney, after complying with them completely. Imagine that. I did do some checking around and just to find out whether or not I am infringing and what I could do not to infringe will only cost me $2000.00 and a 100 mile round trip. And now remember, all of this is based on his professional opinion. That does not mean that it wouldn't go to court. When it comes down to it ultimately, the decision is left up to the judge. Being that Zoom's patent leans more toward the function of the bait (independent operation of the legs being a big thing), it's hard to say what the outcome would be. We're also considering attaching the legs together, such in a way that the beavers are done, therefore you wouldn't have the independent action of the legs, unless the fisherman decided to break them apart. I guess it would be OK to do that, fishermen might have to call Zoom and ask for their permission. I wish there was someone out there that had for sure definite knowledge about something like this. But from what I understand, the judge could interpret it several different ways. Now how do you work around that? Remember guys we live by the Golden Rule, the man with the gold makes the rules.

No that's alright Pitbull, Walmart wants six months to pay you. That's a whole different story there. Like I said guys, I value your opinions very much, so I've got a picture of them side by side. The pictures are a little distorted, so I'll give you a description of mine. As you can see Zoom's is much larger, much more of an oval shaped head than mine, which is more round than oval and a lot thicker to hold a hook better. Coming off the head, it's actually round with a flat bottom for about 1/4 to 1/2 inch before you get to the actual tail. The tails are more rabbit ear or mule ear shaped. The bait is slick all over and is much smaller all the way around. Now before you criticize, be sure and take time to look at all the trailers similar to this on the market. You'll find mine to be a whole lot more different than others on the market. Like I said, I value your opinions and I can take the criticism, just might not agree, but I still would like to know what you think.

Jim & Dave, I couldn't agree with you more. And I also agree with Zoom, the big chunk may have been too close for comfort, so even after paying an attorney to send them a letter, refusing to drop the bait, we decided it wasn't worth the hassle and dropped it anyway. Now they're using the same patent to go after the smaller trailer, which is an original design that I carved out of a POP block. It's similar in design to all jig trailers pretty much, a head and two tails, and if laid beside Zoom's it's nothing like theirs. That's the part I'm not understanding. Remember, I only put a picture of the hand pour version on the website. The new version, which was made from the hand carved mold, has never been produced. I'm currently manufacturing for two other companies and do not have machine time for my own molds. Even after complying and dropping the bait off of my website, they're asking for a letter saying that I will never produce the bait. Guys, never is a long time. I'm learning more about Zoom, from what I understand, they're not doing a lot of their own work these days, and that their equipment is a little outdated. If you think about it, since the arrival of the Paca chunk, Zoom's chunks have dropped in popularity. Maybe when you've been on top for years, paranoia sets in. Who knows, I doubt if I'll ever make it that far. And if that's how it is when you get to the top, I like where I am at just fine. With so much backstabbing in this business, I just wonder what a co-op of 10 or 12 companies working together to share the business would do. If someone calls me for a private label item and I don't produce it, I always give them the name and # of another injector. I am in the process of having my mold checked out so that I'm absolutely sure that I'm not infringing. Little over a year in the injection business and already got the biggest plastic company in the US's attention. Maybe it shouldn't but it makes me feel good. Thanks for all of your opinions, even if I don't always agree with them I do value them.

BassnRandy, Your making the same mistake that I made. The patent is more towards the function of the bait rather than the looks. Although the designs are very well pointed out, each little area of the bait having its own number that's referenced in the patent. Also just because the bait is hand poured, does not make it patent proof against an injected bait. The process of making the bait is not listed in the patent, therefore whether it's injected or hand poured it does not matter. If it looks like it, functions the same way, then I'm sure it is a patent infringement. The trouble is, all jig trailers function this way. It goes into real detail on independent operation of the legs. Any legs not connected on a jig trailer will function this way. Also, my trailer does not look like theirs. It does look somewhat similar, but if you set them side by side, there is a very large difference. First off, my legs that come off the head of the bait are rounded on top with no ridge. The head of the bait is completely a different shape and thickness. The legs of the bait, when put together, only touch at one point. It's just a completely and totally different design. I'm just wondering what's next, are they going to go from one bait to the next one with me in hopes that I will quit selling altogether? WRONG!!! Chunk or no chunk, I'm here to stay. I'm a firm believer in what comes around goes around. The circle will make it back to Zoom one of these days, you wait and see, and we'll all get a laugh out of it. And Delw, I agree with you, they're not blowing smoke. That's the reason I went ahead and dropped it off the website. But until I find out for sure where I stand legally, and until I actually make the bait, I'm not going to send them a letter. Like I said, I'm not advertising the bait, I'm not selling the bait and I've never produced the bait, so there's no way that I'm guilty of infringement. Remember, I complied when they asked. I just wonder how much more they're going to keep asking.

Delw, We did call it a chunk, that is one thing that we thought about too. Zoom's lawyer was kind enough:nuhuh: to send us a copy of the patent. Through all this I have learned that there are two types of patents. A standard design patent and a patent that leans more toward the function of the product. It's funny, I sold both chunks for eight years without a word. Now all of a sudden, I'm a target and they specifically targeted my large chunk which I had produced some of with the new mold before I received their letter. The small chunk, I've never produced, I've never even had the mold on the machine, and the bait looks nothing like Zoom's small chunk. With so many other chunks and trailers out there that look a whole lot more like Zoom's and function a whole lot more like Zoom's than mine does, I'm still not sure particularly why they're wanting to pick on me. If I'd done massive amounts of sales and my product was out there everywhere, I could understand it but we're talking about something that I have never sold one of from the new mold. I was targeted for a picture on a website which I removed. They still want me to send them a letter stating that I will not produce this bait. I'm to the point where I have not produced the bait, have not sold the bait and at their request, I'm not advertising the bait, so I guess it's up to them to prove patent infringement now, which I have never done. Each time I received a letter, I complied, which generated another letter. I'd like to know what Mr. McConnell is charging Ed & Eddie at Zoom. The way I look at it, it's just expensive harrassment. I wish there were more companies that could work together in the fishing industry than constantly stabbing each other in the back. And if I was to produce the chunk and sell it from LC's mold, would I be infringing? All this stuff is worded where ordinary people can't understand it on purpose. I'll be glad to give you the patent # Delw and you can look it up on the US Patent website if you would like to look at it.

bryanmc, Going from transleuscent to opaque is very easy. The trick is the right shade of the opaque. Most people commonly try to use white to get the effect. White will work with some colors, maybe what you need to do is make you an opaque brown or an opaque watermelon by mixing brown or watermelon with white. Then use this tinted opaque to get out the transleuscence that you want. I hope that makes sense to you. To give you an example, Zoom's pumpkin blue can be a very tricky color to get exact. If you opaque pumpkin coloring and then lighten it up or weaken it down, you get close but not exact. If you take a little red and white and make an opaque pink then use the pink to opaque the pumpkinseed and lighten this color, you can hit it dead on the money everytime. It can be very tricky because it only takes a very small amount to opaque your main color, but I think if you try a tinted opaque instead of a white then you'll probable get the results you're looking for.

This ought to be interesting to some of you guys out there. Since July, we have been back and forth with Zoom's attorney over our jig trailer. My trailers were hand carved from POP and were my design. Yes it did look similar to Zoom but how different can you make a jig trailer? At first it started over our large trailer. Zoom and Zoom's lawyer admitted that they have never held my trailer in their hand all they did was see my trailer on my website. When I took my trailer to my lawyer (who is not a patent attorney) he said he felt sure that there was considerable, visible, marketable differences in the baits and he said that he felt like we would be okay. He faxed Zoom's attorney we would not cease and desist from making the trailer. Well, we are in the process of changing our website I decided I would just go ahead and take the trailer off just to make everybody happy. Now here it is February and now they're saying that the little trailer is an infringement on their patent. After looking at several websites I've noticed that a lot of Zoom's chunks (or look alikes) are being sold, most of them have a v cut out in the tail. I was looking at LC today and noticed that their 5x858 mold is an exact copy. I'm hoping Kim or somebody at PoorBoy's can chime in on this one and help a brother out. I have talked with a patent attorney and he said Zoom's patent leans more toward the function of the bait rather than the visual design. What are you guys that aren't being bothered by this fellow doing to keep them off of your back? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks James, But, I know what the problem was, and I'm sure the heating elements are fine considering it got up to 612 degrees. The trouble wasn't a bad thermocouple both thermocouples are good. These are brand new heat exchangers and what happened was the company installed two (grounded) thermocouples, which caused the readings to go haywire. The temperature was reading 360 degrees. When I unplugged the thermocouple that wasn't on, the temperature immediately shot up to 612 degrees. The machine works well with one thermocouple grounded and one not, or two ungrounded thermocouples. But two grounded thermocouples - bad news! Again thanks but it didn't take but about 2 seconds to figure out what was going on. I just mainly wanted to give a warning on how bad this stuff is when it burns to this point.

JD's Baits, You're correct in the regular use of plastic. It doesn't produce this particular chemical, it's when the stuff is burnt beyond the liquid form and becomes a black spongy mass that it becomes very serious. My plastic manufacturer said he'd seen people develop chemical pneumonia in less than 6 hours after exposure. So please don't play around with this stuff at this stage. If you're using a microwave, the best thing to do would be to not even open the microwave. Jrav, The bucket of water is a good idea but the problem is that you're taking a chance of exposure going from your heating area to the bucket. I wouldn't take this chance. It would be best to do as Bhorlings said and completely evacuate the area. I personally will never blow my system out again if this happens. I will let it setup in the heat exchanger and then after it cools down, I'll just have to take it apart and clean it out. As far as respirators go, it would probably give a reasonable amount of protection, but I would think your filter canisters would have to be designated for this chemical. Guys this is bad stuff! Nothing to play around with. I happen to take the mold off and the acid actually stained the aluminum plate of my press. As in permanently stained. And it's left a very rough feeling surface. I'm fortunate everything goes to the ceiling of my building and my exhaust fan is set up high but after looking at the metal today, I realized that could have been my lungs, my eyes, or my sinuses. This was a metal material with just a little moisture, imagine what would have happened if it would have been moist, soft tissue. Please folks, always keep this in mind. You can buy new microwaves, pouring pots and pyrex dishes, but I think Walmart's quit selling bait makers. God bless each and every one of you, please be safe.

The other day, I had installed a new heat exchanger on the machine. The temperatures were off, so as a result, I ended up heating 4 lbs of plastic around 600 degrees. I did not realize I was having a malfunction until it was too late. I blew the burnt plastic out and immediately left the building. I told this to my plastic supplier, he immediately freaked out. He informed me that burnt plastisol is a serious health hazard. When plastisol reaches the stage of burning, as in turning black and not being liquid any more, the fumes off of it and the smoke become very very toxic. I forgot the chemical name that he told me, but when it contacts moisture, or moist tissue it immediately turns to acid, which if breathed in, can result in a very serious case of chemical pneumonia. I was lucky, I can remember doing hand pours and leaving a small amount in a Lee pot to heat up, and forgot about it. I burned the plastic badly. I entered the building, unplugged the pouring pot and then turned on the exhaust fan. A few days later, I ended up developing a very serious sinus infection, it caused me such a problem, that I didn't pour plastic for a long time. Now I know what happened. I can remember trying to hold my breath with my mouth closed. Apparently, I breathe through my nose. Please guys, be very careful! If you burn plastic to this point, don't enter the room, stay out until the smoke and the fumes settle. Remember your sinuses, your eyes, and your lungs are all moist tissue. This might have been mentioned before but I've never seen it and I thought it would be good to pass along to everyone.

Guys,from what I understand they do use large flat molds with a special plastic formula that they distribute in each cavity with a squeeze type ketchup bottle. Some of the ketchup bottles have needles on them that put out smaller amounts of plastic for dots, stripes and so on. From what I've been told, raw plastic goes into the cavity and then the large mold is run through a pizza cooker. I'm not sure if this is everyone's method, but I am sure that this is one method that is being used in Mexico. As far as squeegeeing the plastic off the mold, I agree with Del, it would have to be hot in order not to roll the bait out of the mold. Maybe if one was made of metal and heated, it might work. I just wouldn't want to be the operator.