Frank

The Hagens one has three sizes for the eye and loops. I just got the smallest one but wish it was a little smaller. It is .092. It looks way better on small wire than the others. Frank

You will find the price all over the place but here are a few. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=frgbld&gs_nf=1&cp=12&gs_id=1a&xhr=t&q=safety+wire+pliers&biw=1280&bih=647&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&wrapid=tljp1332392032132022&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=3603262653544696976&sa=X&ei=U7BqT7uIKebmiALumJnEBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CKkBEPMCMAE# Here is the wire I use. http://www.mcmaster.com/#stainless-steel-safety-lock-wire/=grnwqe Neither is very expensive but the results are nice. Frank

Yes Basstackle has one but it take some effort to use it to its full advantage. I use it and leave it hot so I dont have to clean it out every time I shoot. Basically I just leave it in the presto pot and keep shooting. It is monster though. 99 bucks delivered is worth a try. Not sure about the real capacity but they must be reading this forum because the size of there injectors has changed a bit (just a bit longer). If you need something a little bigger you might want to talk with the anyways as they actually make there injectors in house(Kevins Dad is the injector doctor over there). Frank

These are the same pliers I am talking about. Used to wire on nuts so they dont back off. Frank

The wire straintener from Dubro works with friction and has to be done a couple of times to get the desired results. There is a utube video on its use .I recently bought a bearing one from ebay and it is the cats meow. Insert one end and pull it out the other end straight. It was used and real cheap compared to new ones. Like 30 shipped. Not sure what it was used for but it works for me. As for wire I have had some that is so hard it breaks when bent. The American fishing wire seams to work for me for now. I think that one is the one most are talking about, also it is the easiest to find. Frank

I use what they call safety wire. It is a special SS wire that can be twisted tight and cut without coming apart. The pliers are called safety wire pliers and imports can be bought pretty cheap just search for that name and get the small ones. They have a knob on the bottom that enables you to pull it and it twists the wire as you pull. I have two sizes of wire .015 and .020. My most favorite one is the .015. I spool it on an old thread spool with a drill and load it in a fly tying bobbin and use it from there. It is so easy to use that way you will be amaized. But I only add it to the top. Beneth I use thread just to hold it there till I top it. The .015 wire will break before the skirt gets cut. Frank

With alll the arig stuff around it has been hard to get coast lock swivels so I have been making my own and they work just like this one in the picture. I can load my baits and never open the snap. Not the fastest thing to make but at least I can say all of my Ariggs are made in the USA. Frank

Got the first one but not the second. Pm me your address and I will get you the five at least Frank

Got the first one but not the second. Pm me your address and I will get you the five at least Frank

Which one do you want a sample of maybe I have it and I will get you one

Dels has a couple but it might be hard to get if you know what I mean. Pretty hard to beat the selection from Basstackle. Frank

Some would think that the tax is not owed but there is a record of the sale on ebay and the tax is owed and can be collected from the goverment at any time. Dont think at anytime that the 10% excise tax will be dismissed. When they put a lean on your house or your next tax return. Funny thing is they always think there is more owed and it is your job to prove the anout is not as high as they think. Had a friend that this happened to, from an article in a news paper. Kind of like this public forum where some people actually admit they sell and dont pay the tax. Frank

If something close is what you will go for Kevin has made these just for the Arig craze. http://www.basstackle.com/634_Swimbait_p/634-1-2.htm http://www.basstackle.com/632_Swimbait_p/632-1-8.htm http://www.basstackle.com/636_Ring_Swimbait_p/636-1-4.htm http://www.basstackle.com/635_Swimbait_p/635-1-1.htm Most are available with hook slots if you want to fish them weedless with weighted swim bait hooks. Plenty out there that are close. And with these they are available with large cavity versions to save time. I sillt cant keep up either but I can get closer faster now. Frank

on the left there is a how2tutorials section. there is a few of mine there or look up franksrooty2 on you tube and see them all. Frank

I have made some videos of single cavity molds but then I have some with multi cavity ones. I would prefer multi but some mold makers dont offer it. Dont have a reason why but I guess they have there reasons. Multi caitys are the way to go. Frank

The money is not always the issue, time is worth more than that. Do the math on how many more time you have to open a mold if you can get double the baits. And He is getting a Twinjector that has a 12 oz compacity so that is not and issue. The sprues left over will be half as much too and they can add up in a hurry. But Kevin has informed him that there might be a problem anyways, so out with that idea. Frank

Ask Kevin if he can double up the mold for you. You know 5 on each side. This way the sprue will be shared and the waste from two colors would be cut in half. Frank

I knew this would come up. And here is my reasoning for that. I cant make the kind of money like I do making one bag of baits. In fact I cant do it making even 100 at a time. And bagging labeling and taking care of things does take time that should factor in cost. The shop that sells alot of my products tells me what they want, that gives them the confidance to sell my product say over a name brand because it suits the needs of the area. Good point though and it is true. For me at least it is easier to sell something that is in there hand, than a web site that is just a picture.I guess I was just made to be behind the scenes and not in the for front. Frank

I can tell you one thing if you produce a bait that moves off the shelves there is profit in that. Not being retail lets me spend more time on what I can make a profit on. Not sitting on bags and bags of baits in colors that just dont move. Retail for the most part has overhead and all that comes with that so you make more but have to spend more to keep it going. Frank

LCs oblood changed awile ago. The old one is orange but the newer one is more brown red looking. Frank

You can also use flo red it is a little more orange than the orange. That sounds wrong but it is right. That is with LC colorant. I can give you cc for four cups around 30. To get it more opaque you can add some white and it will get you there but you may have to add more colorant. I shoot alot of those types of colors. Spike it has some too that are real concentrated but dont have formula for them yet. Frank

Maybe that is where I am differant. I sell some baits with my name but mostly pour for others that have there own designs. So custom molds are on there dime not mine, If a color does not sell well that is theres too. So I make money for just what I do and not all the other things that go into the whole game. I know for a fact that one of my customers pays more to bag a product that the product cost him. Sounds funny but it is true. I dont have time to get ever pennie on the table just what I want. I know for the products that are under my name it is a pain to finish packaging and labeling just to deliver it and do it all over. This is fresh in my mind because I just finished doing it and it is late. SHK and Smallmouth I guess it matters where you live as to the needs for your business. My summers hit 100 plus for more than 50 days a year but dont have air, I just sweat it out. Frank

They both are made for painting. I have one of the harbor freight ones. Not some thing I would fill up with hot plastic it just lacks the quality I would want. Now the one from LC is a differant story totally. It looks like a Binks pressure pot very high quality and I would use that one,but as you can see by the price it is not cheap. By the time you are done trying to heat and stirring the HF one the price will be up there close to the Jacobs unit. Frank

Bill let me say I get both of your points but you are talking about the same thing just differant amounts just like my example. He used a 1/2 pound because that is what it take to fill his mold. I used 1/2 oz because that is the weight one of mine is. In my mind apples and apples. Mike cant quote a weight for a mold that he does not have. Price per piece has to include a sprue so some sprues weigh more and like I said before there is a differance if there is a 1,2,4,6 or 8 cavity mold. Here is and actual bait I make in two sizes Small craw bait. actual weight including sprue .47 which cost me 12 cts for plastic and 16cts to open the mold cost 28cts per bait plus fet. Large craw bait actual weight including sprue 1 oz which cost me 25cts for plastic and 16cts to open the mold cost 41cts per bait plus fet. My plastic cost is from the worst case possible at the highest price it will cost me to get it to my door. Pretty simple for me and it works for now. I will remelt sprues and reuse but that way the money is for me. If a customer can use the colors from some of the laminate sprues I just charge for the labor per bait. You can see the cost would be lower per bait if the sprue was shared. Not the only way just the way for me right now. Frank

I use a simple formula but not sure if it is real acurate but it gives me what I want out of my time. I do charge for the weight of the plastic. I believe an liquid ounce of plastic basically weighs an ounce of weight. It cost me say 25cts. I charge for my labor a cost for opening a mold say 10cts. If a bait weighs .5 of an oz and a mold has two cavitys the charge would be 35cts for two baits. I include the weight of the sprue too. Laminates are not used again so it is kind of a watse. Some sprues cost 7cts and you only get one bait from the mold. If it was a two cavity it would be half the cost because they share the same one. I know this wont work for Mike but for the little guy like me it works OK. Frank