Frank

MF has the least that I have tried. But if you put the plastic in a container that is easy to mix like a five gallon bucket with a flat bottom it takes no time to mix. Most jugs and bottles have corners that are hard to get to and mix. I use five gallon buckets with a screw on lid so I have access to the entire top. Mixing takes about 30 seconds at the most.

Name one and I will see if I can do it.

Sounds like a microwave malfunction then. 30 seconds to go up 200 degrees thats fast. Not sure mixing plastic would do something like that they all have the basic components. Keep an eye on that microwave.

There is one already there.

This happens, your breathe has moisture in it and if you breathe through your mouth it worse. I have this same thing happen to me all the time, the pressure from the seal makes me breathe through my mouth. I just put a tissue on the bottom over the valve and it will stop this. If you use this for a long period of time you may need to change it out. Even with a valve up more moisture will gather on the bottom. Over 30 years actually using them in a body shop.

I see you said you put it back in but sounds to me it would have been hot enough without putting it back. Do you have a way of checking temps? If not get one and if you do check temp every time you stir. This gets you used to how long colors take to heat up. I only go on auto pilot when it is only new plastic. Never when it is colored. But i still check it just before it is done.

What kind of number are you pouring? And what kind of numbers do you need. I have had one since it was new so I know what it is capable of. PM me if need be just might be able to point you in the right direction.

You are doing just fine. Like mentioned before keep at it and you will get it. Don't need to spend a lot of money when just starting out. I still don't have a pot with a stirrer and I shoot more baits by hand than 99% of the guys on here. Made plenty of videos on you tube showing how I do it just to prove it can be done without a bunch of equipment. Salt i do try and avoid but i can do it. If it still clumping keep stirring till its gone.

No reason to make this hard, I shoot a lot of baits and salt kicks my butt too. Wait till you inject with that much salt. Give them the colors they want and let others figure out how to make them work. Thats what they did when they got baits with salt.

I want to say the plastic is to hot. It lets the salt settle so fast you can't get to pouring. I thought I read somewhere you were new to this. If you use a recipe with a large salt content it's going to be a hard learning curve. Maybe get comfortable with pouring with less salt and work your way up. Just my thoughts. Oh and it is also much easier to work with large amounts of plastic at first just because the temp fluctuations are way more forgiving than a small amount.

Yes you can get both of them from Spikeit. The glow powder is very heavy and requires stirring to keep it suspended. The uv stays suspended well but if you add to much you will get a blue hue to some colors. Dark colors seem the be the worst.

I was thinking about this today for some reason and believe i have one way to get close to this. I was cleaning up the work bench when this hit me. It's the drops of plastic off the table dropped into hot clear plastic, sucked up and shot. It took awhile to get what I wanted but it's close .

Shoot half a bait with a laminate plate pull apart and paint then shoot the second color. He does nice work.

Call them and see if they can help. I never use the site because it way cheaper to truck my orders than use ups. I believe they could use the postal service too if you ask. Don told me the post office is next door.

He is the only one I know that has offered those type molds in a small form. He makes big mold with that same type thing. Seems to me that would be the way to go also but people buy tail molds and insert them manually. Kinda like laminate plates to me it's way easier to use the Twinjector. Just think shoot the tail and then use the Twinjector for a three colored bait. Or two colored tails and body for a four colored bait. Endless possibilitys .

[For example, I've made 500 or so 7" ribbon tail worms, some with insert molded tails. When I look at the process I immediately want to add a hand actuated slide in the mold so I can shoot the tails, move the slide and then shoot the top. Looking in the forums there are some old topics about this but I can't find any off the shelf molds. (This must be how the big lure makers do this, I can't imaging insert molding a 48 cavity ribbon tail worm in the press)] You mean a mold like this one. Basstackle has a few of them but not to many. I am sure he could make you what you want if he was not so busy. No harm in asking though. http://cdn3.volusion.com/r9tyo.ruqm9/v/vspfiles/photos/4.5inchinjectionworm2color-2.jpg

It was more of a problem because I was trying to match baits. The others he had were pretty much bubble free. Not that I figured it out it was Don from Spikeit that educated me on the vacumn part. The preheat was a fluke that happened. Don told me the difference between there injectasol and there pourasol is the pourasol is deaired. The extra cost is from the process he uses. But also told me it could be done at home without a lot of trouble. He was right and I always have bubble free plastic any time I want.

Basstackle.com is the one who makes that one.

At first the bubbles did not matter. But lately bait that I make are transparent and small. So bubbles could be seen easily. Even with most swim baits I make it did not matter because with a pearl belly you and darker backs the bubble were not visible. Now it's up to me on how I want it.

Good point but it's still not for me. I am sure there is plenty of videos with a vacumn chamber on you tube.

Well I am not a scientist so can't answer the voc question but I am sure if it was harmfully to you it would be on a msds sheet. But the one I have read had no great concerns. Not being a chemist all I can say is the finished product is clear and free of anything that would cloud clear plastic. It's really amazing when you watch how much air that some of the plastic has. But I know one thing when I get a fresh drum of plastic in and stir it once there is a lot less air then when I stir it the next time. It get more and more as I stir it again and again. Not going to make a video of plastic being vacuumed to me it's kinda like a video of paint drying.

That pretty much my point people could control there own end result. Now that they know how and that it's not hard. But how can you control how someone mixes a product when it is in there hands. I have one mixer that makes a froth in plastic. But I have a choice so I don't use it. Others might not and make a problem worst. I also transfer all plastic into a container that has a flat easy to reach bottom so I know it's mixed well. No jugs with corners that make it hard to mix.

I know some people have had issues with bubbles in fresh plastic. For dark colors this is not really a problem. Awhile back I was pouring for a customer that is real fussy about color. So I made up four quarts one in each cup. While I was injecting I had the uncooked one resting on a griddle that was set at about 250. So it pretty much preheated the plastic. It takes me awhile to shoot these baits so they were setting on there for awhile. When I cooked them no bubbles. Seems to me the heat made the air trapped in the resins let go. So on the next one I took the temp of the preheated plastic and it was about 210. Same thing no bubbles. The other method is to put the plastic in a vacumn chamber and remove the air that way. I now have a four gallon vessel to remove air. This way works much faster that the preheat way but both seem to work great. This way I can really mix my plastic good and remove air just before I use it. I know there are plastic out there that don't have a bubble issue but they have a premium price tag. Some now are selling plastic that has been vacumned but they cost more. And if you aggressively mix it you could put it back in then you paid extra for nothing. Purchasing a personal vacumn unit may sound expensive but in the long run it will save a lot of time and frustration. A simple cooking pot and a clear lid with a gauge and some valves to regulate what is going on. I say clear lid so you could see what is going on in side. The plastic grows at least two times it's volumn so you have to watch. The griddle way is much cheaper but takes much more time. This process takes more time as the plastic really has to be there for awhile to let the air release. Either way you at home can choose a way that works for you. And now that you know the bubble issues can be controlled by you and not who you buy it from. Mix your plastic as much as you feel it needs and be assured there will be no more bubbles. I know of at least one guy that does it after it is heated but with it growing so much I will stick to doing if before. Hope this takes some of the mystery out of the bubbles in plastic. Frank

You just don't get it. The baits smell too till they dry. Just like any other type of paint does. Glad you have an opinion now though.

Ok so in your perfect world there is no smell from a product that smells to high heaven for everyone else. For anyone who has not tried it and would like to know what it smells like go to a store that sells PVC pipes and smell the cement for bonding the joints. That is the smell. But I can tell you have not tried the waterbased from Spikeit on soft plastic. It is the best bond coat there is for recoating plastic. You see if you put it on the bait it WILL make a bond and won't peel off. The trick is to clear the whole bait let it dry and dip. Also like I said before high lighting a back of a bait is a breeze but more detail is where the water shines.