sammy01007

To me it looks like it may say Shallow R. Did a Google search. Looks like the newer Shallow R's have square lips but older ones have a round lip, like whats shown in the pic. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161079127309&item=161079127309&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466 Good luck!!

Pete, I am very jealous!! I have been wanting to do this process for some time, but can't get my head around the 3D software. I have 2 swimbaits I want to make on a 3D printer. One is a 4" six segment bait, the other is a 9" six segment bait. I have spent the last year making the 4" out of resin, to see if I could get it to swim right. Just an FYI What I discovered is adding microspheres did not make the bait boyant enough. Instead I made the first 5 segment hollow, and filled them with expanding foam. As far as the molds go, they were tricky and I am still not a good mold maker. I made 2 piece squish molds, and used a quick cure resin. Although I would like to try a slower curing resin n a pressure chamber in the future. Good luck with your project!

Hi, I am not really clear about what process and materials you are using, but I had trouble joining hollowed halves made from Alumilite regular. It was suggested I use Zap a Gap, which worked well, but has a very very short working time. What I found worked better was mixing small amounts of Alumilite Regular and using that as my glue. It has a longer working time and I think a better adhesion strength.

I ordered some online this morning. Sucks shipping equals 50% of the unit price, but what can ya do.... I also sent Alumilite an email looking for their recomendation, I'll let everyone know when I get a response. Looks like Micheals might carry the small bottles, so next time I am near one I will check to see if they have any onhand. Using the 30 minute Devcon 2 made no difference, just does not stick strong enough to the resin.

Markinorf, Thanks for the info. I will look into getting the Zap a Gap if the 30 minute epoxy doesn't hold.

Thanks for the input. i did not clean the resin with anything, just lightly sanded with 220 prior to gluing. Gino, I like the idea of drilling some small holes and filling with epoxy to increase surface area. If this works I can include them in my next mold. I will also try some 30 minute epoxy. Thanks for the advise!

To lighten my resin swimbait I have been exploring casting hollowed pieces. The idea was to make a hollowed 1st segment with solid resin, then forming the following segments with resin and micro spheres to obtain an ideal weight. The first segment came out lighter and stronger than expected. I tested the shock resistance by repeated throwing onto a concrete floor. I took a lot of force to get it to crack. But a slight twist of either the line tie or hook hanger easily separates the two halves glued together. I am using devcon 2 ton (5 min) to join the two halves. Is there anything stronger? I think the weakness is the ability of the Devcon adhering to the resin. I do not use any release in my casting, and I lightly sand prior to gluing. Not sure what else I can do except increase surface area. Attached is a photo of 1/2 of the first segment.

If it is a solid peice, making good square cuts will be difficult. My swimbaits are made from2 peices of wood (left and right side) that are eventually glued together. One thing I did early in making resin swimbaits is I made a mold of my shaped bait (left and right side) before cutting it into sections. This allowed me to quickly make a resin bait, then try different configurations, like changing the number of segements, and location of joints. I quickly found resin does not behave like wood and not having to carve the entire master over and over again saved a lot of time. I am still working on getting better molds, but this has been my experience so far.

I have recently been making a swimbait mold, and after several poor attempts the best method I found was setting a segment into some clay, pouring half the mold, removing the clay, and then doing the second half. This method is used a lot in tutorials, and I suppose for a good reason. For larger, single peice baits, I suspended the bait in a mold box and dont hassel with the clay.

Could a local Steel Rule Die Shop cut those lips. I had several around me when I lived in MA. Some even had water jets that would make a super clean cut. If all they have are laser, then the quality would depend on the ability of their laser and operator. Another possability would be making a mold and casting them. If they need to be clear, this creates a challenge thats probably not worth exploring due to equipment costs. If they can be colored, then this would be an easy solution.

As everyone has mentioned, grerat work and thanks for sharing. Next time Petco has their $1 per gallon tank sale, I know exactly what I am getting!

My understanding is vacuums are best for RTV molds. If you use a vacuum on casting resin you are likely to increase the size of the bubbles as the resin quickly dries. Pressure chambers will crush the bubbles, making them undetectable. I am not sure exactly how much pressure I will need crush those bubbles, but according to some, as little as 20 psi is sufficient.

I have been having trouble connecting too. I have been getting redirrected to another site again .

I will tell him about the wax paper, hopefully that will work for him. Thanks again!

Thanks jdr, I will check that out! I did a search for "homemade pressure pots" and found some articles that were building pressurized canasters far scarrier than I wanted to attempt. I will try a search using your key words, Thanks again

Thanks Jon, This is what I am currently trying. My brother, who works for an autobody shop, offered to try to clear all my baits for me. I sent him one assembled with fins as a quick practice one since I dont have anything else right now. My concern now is the clear filling in the slots for the fins (not sure how thick the auto-clear will be). I cut the slot with a hack saw blade. I find the thickness of the blade provides sufficient wiggle room for the fins, without leaving an obviouse gap after the fin are glued in. Time will tell.

Thanks for the info guys, I emailed Alumilite asking if there were venders in the central Jersey area. I recieved a reply equivalent to "Yes". Not exactly the deapth of info I was looking for. I order some small quanities online from Amizon when I could get free shipping, but eventualy bit the bullet and bought the 2 gal kit. Hobby Lobby still has not re-stalked the Alumilite regular. Actually it seems as if they are phasing Alumilite products out completely! I do like the Alumilite regualr over the Smooth-On resin, but I preffer the Smoth-On Oomoo 30 over Alumilites silicon RTV.

I was reading online about making 2 part molds and came across an article that briefly discussed building a home made pressure tank for use with casting resisns. The materials called for a "Remote Paint Tank" from Home Depot, but I can't figure out what exactly it is I am looking for. Here are the exact directions & link "You can make a pressure tank for around $100, all you need is a "Remote Paint Tank" from a hardware supply store like Home Depot or even Sears and some fittings to attach it to your compressor hose. You need to remove the "Siphon Tube" from inside the cover of the tank lid and you may need to make a flat floor out of wood in the bottom of the tank, mine has a rounded bottom." -http://home.roadrunner.com/~man_o_war/RTV.html Anyone try to make a home pressure tank for casting resins?

Dave, Great Reply. As a fairly new member I can certainly relate to spending time trying to search out an answer and getting no-where. Reading abbreviated text after another, I often couldn't even figure out what products posts were referring to. One thing was clear, there is several ways to accomplish a single goal. I did find the search function difficult at times, and being led to a specific post was extremely helpful. Your list of cringe worthy comments hits home. You may have been driven by discovering the whys, I have always been motivated by productivity and efficiency. I can build a nice 5 segment 4 inch swimbait (to my satisfaction anyway), but I can't do it fast enough. And this has been my goal for the last year. Experimenting with different joint configurations and building methods to speed production, without sacrificing quality. My philosophy is, there is always a better way, you just need to discover it. "I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won't work" -Thomas Edison

I can see how those fins are deadening all the action of your middle segment. Have you tried with just one of the two fins in? I use DNA Fish Fiber for my fins and found on a few removing the anal fin improved the swimming action. But the Fish Fiber is probably a lot more plyable, and has less effect on the baits movement than your plastic fins.I also wonder if moving the dorsal fin forward may help, so it doesn't overlap the rear segment. I have never experiemnted with the plastic fins, so these are just speculations. But I aminterested in how you make out. Keep posting your progess!! Good Luck

I have looked alover the NYC and central NJ area for microbeads. I even went to a sculpting specialty store. Couldn't find anything. Finally broke down and bought some from McMaster-Carr when I ordered some wire.

A-Mac, Could you use some of this soft brass tubing and mold pour your resins around it to get your "U" shape? http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/soft-bendable-brass-tubes-151977/ Just a thought

My concern would be, How are you going to test your bait prior to making your mold? Because the foam is so light, I don't think you could replicate it with resin, and therefore, your lure may respond very differently. Making a mold and pouring resin is a very expensive way to test a bait. I use to live in a apt in Brooklyn when I first started carving. This is what I did. 1. Use Balsa. Buy a bunch from a local hobby store to determine what thickness and size you like working with. Then, order some hard balsa online for making your lures after you've decided what thickness is best. 2. I carved inside an old armour I bought used for $60. Cost me another $40 to have it delivered. I cut a hole in the back of it and put a box fan there, blowing out. I bought some cheap air filters from Home Depot to put against the fan. This caught about 80% of the dust I created. Just change your filter frequently. Here is a link to a picture. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/21009-brooklyn-apt-lure-making-cabinet/ You can see a lot of the tools I used too. The two tools that helped the most were a dremel with an attachment to sand fairly square edges and a good miter box saw. I included a link to the saw I bought, and still using today. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100197650/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=miter+box+saw&storeId=10051