Ed Brabant

You were making me nervos Sunday I put garlic oil that had olive oil in it on my baits. And I thought I ruined them. NO baby oil. I will make a note of that.

I may be a tad wider where the tail comes out of the back of the bait. But it is easier to remove the material from the knife rather than trying to put it back on. I am going to use all the scrap from my other pours as a color for right now. I want to perfect the geometry ofthe knife before I try the harder/softer dips that I read about. Thanks for the info and advice.

I did the search and saw what you meant. After about a 1/2 hour I took a butter knife down to where I think it will work. I will attach the colorado blade tomorrow with a bit of LB weld. I do have a question about dipping the bait. When you do the first few dips you only go up to the bottonm of the colorado blade. Sorry if it may sound obvious. After the 3-4 dips and I remove the bait the tail is dipped to seal the hole in the back of the bait. Dose this sound about right?

Forgive me if this question sounds a bit duh but here goes. From what I gather the form is dipped into the molten plastic over and over like a tube. You then pull the finished bait over the form. What do you do about the opening where the form came out of? Also how many dips do you use? Thanks. Any pictures from a form like this?

Any pictures of the baits he made?

http://www.lurecraft.com/catalog/images/products/Blade%20Dipper.jpg Has anyone used this?

I poured about a gallon of plastic yesterday and one thing I noticed was as you all know when you use salt you need to add a ton more coloring. Is is possiable to dye the salt? Just as a few base colors blue, green, pumpkin and perhaps a motor oil. Just a thought.

What are you using for a motor and paddle as well as the cover?

Just put in a thermometer 350 was the highest I got.

Cooling is my next issue. I am waiting too long for the mold to cool I only have 2 a 5 1/4 and a 4 the the plastic is heating the mold up which is also adding time. I am going to take a granite surface plate I have and put it in an aluminum pan. About the size of the one you cook a turkey in. Then fill the pan up with ice. About half way up the plate. Away from the molten plastic on my cool down bench. With a fan blowing over the mold starting to cool it. When the mold can be placed on it's side I will put it on the garanite surface plate. When I open the mold to remove the baits I am going to place the other half on the plate. that should suck the heat out rather fast. And I will be sure to keep and water from the inside of the cavites and the molten plastic. That could be very messy. as well as painful. But you are right I need MORE MOLDS. I haven't seen an issue with the molten plastic being held at the melt temp for that long. So long as it dosen't over heat there should not be a problem.

As a kind of old Tool Maker 48 I just can't resist trying to make something better and faster.

Yes degrees. At least that is what the theromstat says. Or a better name is the temp control. I haven't put a thermometer in the melt yet. When I put a cover and electric motor and paddel to stir I am sure i can lower the temp. I also have a nipple on the end of the ball valve that pours a nice stream it's about 2" long. Iam going to wrap the nipple wit insulation as well as the outside of the pot. Try and prevent the heat loss. I can pour a 4 cavity 5" stick in less than 90 seconds. It actually works very well. I was thinking of putting up a viedo of pouring the 4 cavites as I stir the pot.

I use a Presto pot. Works great. The total cost was about $35. I set the thermostat at 400 and start pouring. As I fill the mold I stir the pot with a wooden paint stick. Next I am puting a motor on to stir for me.

I got mine from Del. I had a friend of mine cut the slot in the mold. Yesterday I tried the fiberglass joint tape. Looks like it will work out well. The self sticking is a good thing. It stays where you put it. I doubled up the fiberglass joint tape and the fine mesh screen. That really worked well. Excellent hook holding. And it really resists the hook tearing out. I like Stankdogs "French wire keepers" idea. I think that will help prevent the bait from sliding back through the hole it made in the bait. Is there anyone who makes a hook with a barb at the bend? To prevent the hook from pulling back through the hole in the bait?

I picked up a roll of mesh tape last night. Look like it will work well. I am new to the site and did not know that anyone else had posted this idea.

You sure are right it's an addiction. My wife calls me the mad scientist. I wear a magnification visor. Can't quite see as well as I use to. She sees me stiring my presto pot and asks where Egor is. I am kicking my self in the butt. I fished with the guy who owned a company in Mass he decided to stop pouring and had a ton of stuff. He moved to Lynn Mass. Ron was his name. He kept telling me to come on over and he would take care of me. I heard that he sold everything on Ebay for short money. OH well that is what happens when you drag your a$$.

Wattermellon Wattermellon gold flake and June Bug mainly. I would like to expand my color assortment. Perhaps a better question is what colors do you pour for people who fish clear water. Smallies and largemouth?

The time has come to place an order for supplies. I ordered a stick kit from Del and made the mold modification and I think I have it down now. I need to order colors/glitter and such any suggestion on what colors I should buy. I live in Massachusetts. I fish New hampshire and Massachusetts. Mostly clear lakes but a few off colored rivers. Clear is about 10-20 feet visibility. Any suggestions?

One of the back burner ideas is a spring. Lee spring has a tremendous selection.

That sounds very interesting.

The filter at work won't let me acess the site. But I do see an image. I will check it out at home. That looks very interesting if they have them as small as I need. Thanks.

What is the price differance. 1 Mold is just not cutting it. I know that plaster is pretty cheap. A 50 pound bag for under $10. It was cream of tartar. Sounds a little crazy but it works.

I think plastic might so long as it can take the heat. I also was thinking of an O ring molded into the bait. I was going to mold the O ring in the same position that it would be in if you slip the O ring over the bait. I just need to take the mold to the auto parts store and find one that fits. I have also poured the bait with no screen in the slot and the part has only a very tiny flash. It was mentioned before about cutting a mold up. With no pressure on the cavity when it's poured it wont blow out the slot. If anything it would be an extra vent. With out a strain guage I can say that I have x amount of added retention. If I had to guess it would be 25-30% more right now. The only issue I see now is the strenght of the screen. It is it's weakest trying to tear one from the other. Some type of cloth or a substance such as a dryer sheet that some one else mentioned may work well. I am on rev 3 right now. I have about 4 more revisions that I want to try. They sell a bonded type of stainless screen that is a bit pricy. Mabey I can fenagle a few samples from a vendor.

They sell a retarder that plasters use when they need the plaster to stay workable longer. they also have a accelerator to harden it faster. Homless Depot sells it as well as acellerator. I worked with a buddy plastering a few years ago and we used a household product for either retarding or accelerating. i will try and find out what it is and which it was used for. I know it was a spice. I think it is cream of tartar.

I have gone from standard window screen to a finer mesh that I found on line to aluminum screen last night. I am seeing an improvement with bait retention. I have been thinking about the "tube" idea. I was wondering about how you could place the "tube" in the bait. I never thought about pouring 1 half of the mold and then inserting that "tube" I guess because I am new to pouring. What would be really nice if I could find someone who makes the prefoms. Something like a filter screen. I am actually looking at brass filter screen through www.mcmastercarr.com . But if I could get it as a tube preform that would be nice. I will keep you all posted.