HJS

I just cut a swatch of material from my wife's nylon and stretch it over a 2oz jar of PP. Hold it in place with a rubber band. First I dip the hot jig in the base color then quickly apply a secondary color by gentle shaking/tapping the PP jar over the lure. Clean out eye then reheat to cure. I'm sure this method doesn't have near the finesse as the brush method, but it works for me. I'll see if I can attach a pic of a jig I did this way, then you can be the judge.

Yeah, heat jig to 350F and a quick dip (half a second) is all that is needed. After I dip in PP I cool it instantly in cold water then clean out the eye with the point of an old paring knife. Then back in the oven to curer 15 minutes at 350F.

Jeez... I make molds from Durham Water Puddy (almost like PoP) that dries as hard as a rock. Many of them have at least a little bit of undercut (going past the center line). I have no problem extracting soft plastics that I just poured. On the other hand, I also make molds for lead jigheads. With those you'd better be right on the money with the center line or the jig will be locked in place. Soft Plastics are very forgiving.

Oh yeah, I use a Porter Cable, 6 gallon, 150# air compressor I bought at Lowes. I pump it up to about 130# then turn the regulator down to just a couple of pounds. Final adjustments of air flow into each of my PP pots is made with the needle valve installed near the bottom, as per instructions from Cadman. Works great. A 6 gallon tank full of air will last a couple of hours. ================== One other thing. My biologist daughter gave me a couple discs of 11 micron filter paper. Man-oh-man... that stuff works ultra great!! Better than the paper vacuum clearer bag I was using. Sooo, if you have any friends or relatives that work in any sort of lab, ask them for 11 micro filter paper. (All those years of colleges bills finally paid off.)

Ashrod – You still out there??? I don’t come to this forum often and just saw this post. Short version: I’ve made many 2-piece jig molds from Durham Water Puddy (DWP). Yes, they do have a fairly short life span. Now I'm up to maybe 30-60 jigs depending almost entirely on quality of mold. I'm slowly getting better. I suggest to first totally master all aspects of making 2-piece DWP molds for pouring soft plastics, like, make at least a dozen useable 2-piece molds for plastics. Soft plastic is waaay more forgiving then hard bodied jigs. After mastering soft plastic molds then try making one for jigheads. Vitally important that the jig master (mandrill) NOT be submerged in DWP past it’s centerline. Gotta be right on, not a nano too deep or too shallow, or you will not be about to remove the master from the hardened DWP. This is waaay harder to do than you might think. Finally, and most important, the 2-piece mold has be absolutely bone dry before attempting to pour molten lead. I’m sure you are well aware than molten lead and wet stuff don't mix without getting ugly. Following is another thread I wrote a while back that might hold more information. Just let me know if you need more info on this. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/21344-making-dwp-molds-for-jigheads/page__fromsearch__1

I found a free source of excellent containers in which to mix tiny batches of epoxy… no fuss no muss. They are the little containers my wife’s individual disposable contacts are shipped in. They are nicely dished, so after mixing I don’t have to keep chasing the mixed epoxy around with a match stick like I do when mixed on a piece of paper. It stays puddled up nicely. The contact containers are extremely light so you’ll need to push them into a ping-pong sized ball of Skulpy clay or children’s molding clay to hold it firmly in place on the work surface (see bottom/left in pic). Works great!

Crappydiver and defish - I was thinking the same thing about the interaction between soft plastics and enamal. That mix can turn into a sticky mess in no time flat if left in contact with each other in the storage boxes. But I'm still struggling with applying eyes to powder coated jigs. I'm still using either flat stick-ons or the more rigid slightly domed eyes that are set in recessed holes in the jig head. They look good and are durable enough. Btw, I'm about to start a new thread in this forum that deals with eyes and epoxy mixing pots. Might be of interest to some.

Bassbum – Here’s a pic of a 2-piece mold I made from Durhams Water Putty (pretty much same as PoP). This mold pours 8” long lures for striped bass. Vents are fairly important so that air doesn’t get trapped near the tail as you pour into the other end. A vent will allow the cavity to fill out completely. You can see the vents in the pic. I cut in the vents using a hacksaw blade after the mold hardened… very easy to do… and only needed in one side. You can also see the fill hole and reservoir. If you look closely we’ll see that the larger reservoir hole doe NOT go all the way to the lure. It stops just short of the lure cavity and the rest of the hole is of a smaller diameter. There is a steep learning curve to making 2-piece molds. Good luck.

Yeah, "Spike It" is about as good as it gets. I've used it for the past 2 years. The end result is as good as the factory made red tails on plastics. There's no faster way to color a tail. It's permanent and will not rub off. However, I'm not sure if it will bleed to other colors while in a bag. Also, do not spill it on anything good, like plastic boat seat covers!!!

Yeah, what others have ask. Are there LOTS of bubbles in the melted plastic just before pouring OR do the bubbles form as the poured lure (still in the mold) is cooling. Two different problems with two different solutions.

Oh yeah... dang common names. I just googled "Australian Bream" and they ain't nothing like what we call bream (sunfish) in the USA. So I take everything back except the advise about the gravedigger jig.

Very kewl indeed, they "caught" me... and yeah, more detail please. Two-piece mold???

Dave – Thanks for getting back. I wondered what happened to all my old pics I posted on TU. I couldn't find them anywhere. I don’t remember if it was you or someone else on TU that, many months ago, offered a very good suggestion when making 2-piece molds from DWP or PoP. To make a long story short, the suggestion involved carefully removing the master from the hardened 1st layer then lightly sanding the mold surface flat. This procedure removes all the tiny raised edges that you can sometimes get along the lure cavity. The master is then reinstalled and the second layer is poured. Works like a charm. Those tiny raised edges that are prone to chipping are gone and there is hardly any mold seams on the finished lure. BTW, a layer of Vaseline brushed into the cavity before firmly reinstalling the master keeps the 2nd layer of fluid DWP from seeping under the master. That would wreck the mold if that were to happen. Works great and now I use this technique with all my 2-piece molds… many thanks and a tip of the hats to TU.

Cool video. Nice action on that lure. And you're right, with the lure in the video, the bib rides on top and I'm guessing the faster you pull it the more the lure rises to the surface. Just wondering, are these bream the same as our sunfish? (i.e. bluegill, shellbrackers, redear, etc.) Ok, I'm trying to figure out how the Australian seasons compared to our's here in the USA (yeah, I know, 6 months difference). During your tournament, were the bream on their spawning beds??? I've had huge successes with sunfish during the spawn by using small surface poppers on a fly rod. The very same sunfish would totally ignore small 1" twistertail jigs but would smash a small popper. I've also used the gravedigger, and yeah, that might be just what you are looking for. It digs right to the bottom, especially if you are fishing water that's 1-2 meters deep. Good luck with your hunt for the perfect lure.

Ahhh, it worked this time.

Anyone here think that adding a small splash of vinegar to Durham’s Water Putty to retard hardening will result in a weaker end product??? I’m adding about half a cap of vinegar to 2/3 cup of DWP powder. I also mix the DWP to be fairly runny, like warm Eggo Syrup, so bubbles readily come to the surface to be burned off with a torch. The past year or two I have been making 2-piece molds for pouring leadhead jigs. I’ve had a fair bit of success too. (see pic) But the molds seem to be more fragile then molds made for pouring plastics where I generally DO NOT add vinegar. Yeah, I know, molten lead is probably 2X+ hotter than molten plastics and no doubt shortens the life of the mold. So far I’m getting anywhere from 10 to 40 jigs from a mold before the cavity edges become so chipped that the mold becomes useless. 40 jigs per mold is acceptable but only 10 jigs is not. Afterall, it takes 3+ weeks to make a mold for lead pouring. BTW, making 2-piece jig molds is about 4X more difficult than making a 2-piece mold for pouring soft plastics. I have to pay excruciating attention when setting the master in place NOT to pour past the centerline of the jig… otherwise all is lost and the mold is ruined. I have a lot of ruined molds. And yeah, to avoid the whole water and exploding lead issue, I let the finished molds air-dry under the woodstove for a full two weeks before pouring lead. Anyway, just wondering if a little vinegar results in a weaker mold. I thought to add a fair bit of Elmers Glue to the mix but wasn’t sure how well the Elmers would hold up to molten lead. =========================== Hmmmmm... pic didn't download. I'll try again.

Sly - When making a 2-piece mold outta POP I'll use petro jelly to keep the 2 halves from sticking together. Just a light sheen will do. When pouring plastics in properly sealed molds I've gotten to the point that I don't use any release agent... and the lures come out fine. I use to use PAM as a release agent when pouring plastics and it seemed to work fine. But no release agent also works fine. BTW, I once used PAM as a release agent between the 2 halves of a 2-piece mold. Seems like PAM and fresh poured PoP or DWP don't get along as well as they do with Petro jelly. The surface of the plaster had a strange texture to it when I used PAM. I blamed it on the PAM.

Frank - I pour using a 250ml scientific beaker slipped into a beer cozy... pretty much same as a Pyrex measuring cup. I find I need to firmly support my pouring hand at the wrist to get a good pour in either a 1-piece or 2-piece mold. If I don't support the pouring hand my stream of plastic dribbles all over the mold.

Thanks Dave. Sorry for not getting back earlier. My home computer (dialup modem on old country lines) does not working well for this site... really slow So for this site I generally use the lightning fast computers at the local library. I saw the "softener" on the Calhoun site. Its not that expensive so I think I'll give it a try. And thanks for suggesting the amount to use.

I've been pouring my own soft plastics using molds I also make. So far I've only poured using remelt old plastics. Not only do I keep all my old plastics but my bro-in-law also keeps me well supplied with many pounds of old 9"-12" sassy shads he uses on his umbrella rigs for saltwater trolling in the Cheaspeake Bay. These larger sassies are made from noticeably harder/firmer plastics then what manufacturers use to make smaller 4" & 5" paddletails and curlytails. However, these firmer plastics do not lend themselves well to making smaller action lures like 4" paddletails and curlytails. Seems the action of these smaller lures is dampened when made from old plastics that are too firm. Also, when remelted, molten plastics from big saltwater plastics is more viscous and, as a result, more difficult to pour, especially when pouring 2-piece molds. QUESTION: Are there any additives I can add to the pot when remelting big sassies that would result in a softer, freshwater grade soft plastics? I remelt small quantities using a microwave. .AOLWebSuite .AOLPicturesFullSizeLink { height: 1px; width: 1px; overflow: hidden; } .AOLWebSuite a {color:blue; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer} .AOLWebSuite a.hsSig {cursor: default}

HeadBanger (or anyone) - Do you have any more details about this prohibition of non-biodegradable soft plastics in Maine? I spent 30 minutes going thru the Maine freshwater fisheries site and saw no mention of this issue. Is this just being talked about or is this issue on the fast tract for implementation in the next year or two. I read on the LLBean site that they will be selling only biodegradable plastics beginning August 1 of this year. I'd really like to know the individuals or groups that are pushing for this ban on non-biodegradable plastics... and more importantly, what is their hidden agenda that the general public doesn't get to hear. I can't help but to fear the worst for the future of recreational fishing.

blurgrass - I've made a couple dozen 2-piece molds out of DWP, and I've always wondered the same thing each time I coat the bottom half with Vasoline. But like Vadkaman says, it doesn't seem to be an issue during sealing. Keep in mind that I brush on a very thin sheen of Vasoline using a soft bristle artist brush. Don't let the Vasoline glob up anywhere on the mold's surface, especially where the master meets the surface of the DWP nor in the alignment holes. To seal the mold I use 30 minute epoxy cut with a couple drops of drugstore rubber alcohol. Also, I think if you try to clean off the residual Vasoline with soap and water before sealing that you might snuff-out some of the detail. If I'm not mistaken, water will dissolve curer DWP, not much but just enough to compromise the quality of the mold.