plasticpaul

awesome thanks... will they make the baits harder? im using calhouns soft formula and the hooks arent holding as well on the bigger baits so i thought if i could stiffen it with salt it would help this, my next order will have hardener in it but not sure when thaat will be...

just wonderin if the salt used in plastics is your ordinary cooking salt? and what effects it ahs on plastics and when to add it?

i decided to go to a cheap shop and got a bag of glitter to try, cost me bugger all so i thought why not, worked really well i didnt see any shrinking or melting, and it lasted quite a few re-heats and still the same.... maybe i got lucky with the first one

is there any rule to the type of glitter that can be used?

awesome, thanks a heap. i'll need to get some pva and not sure if the supplier is opem today, i made the box out of ti,ber but its since been destroyed on other projects. i'll get cracking and post the results soon

im thinking that if i am doing the same curl tail i will have to do the gel coat in 2 halfs on the master with some sort of release between the two half (of the master) or ill have to cut the gelcoat somehow to get it even in both halfs of the mold, do you get what i mean, hard to explain.... when i try this, maybe tomo or next week, i'll take photos as i build it as a reference for anyone else trying this, hopefully i can help others and get feedback on perhaps a better process, maybe add to the tutorials when perfected...

i dont think that the perosity is the problem here, ore likely the finish of the master im using. good call about the gel coat, i didnt think of that.... i have some lying around so i'll give it a go, the filler is mixed in with the resin but is only very fine, its called omyacarb but i did mix it 50-50 into the resin, but still other polyester resin molds havent had that shine. the only problem i can see with using gelcoat in a 2 piece mold is one half will be poured with green gelcoat and the other half will be fullly cured when poured, do you think this will affect it? i'm going to try nd buff this mold with a dremmel too, and see if this helps. the baits im making are definately working, (havent tried the one in the pic) but other ones caught me a few bass this morning, maybe im just picky in my search for perfection... this site has such a great think tank and you've already saved me a few hours of think time and opened me eyes to a wider vision. thanks alot!

hey tauruck, i get what your saying in regards to molds replicating the product molded, maybe i should have been a bit ore specific, although i do have some buffing compound for f/g so ill give that a shot. im making my molds off another s/p. these are for my use only but im a bit fussy, is there any way of glossing up a sp before molding? even the atomics with there high sheen come out dull when molded. also am i breaching copyright with this if they are for personal use?

heres a mold i made using casting resin and omyacarb ( talc like product) its of a 6'' grub (obviously). My question is to anyone else who makes resin molds. mine arent that shiny? not alot of gloss, are you guys doing anything else to your molds after ie buffing or waxing? i would assume that i wouldnt nead to seal it with epoxy or "elmers" as its already sealed, or will this give a better shine?

i guess its a case of wait for the dollar to go up and buy offshore, last time i got a gallon and a heap of colours etc and the shipping was around $40u.s. works out to be an expensive hobby...

good idea with the bolts, will try that today.... thanks all

i thought that was the problem but just wanted to double check... as for the shrinkage i have been over filling them, so much that i need heaps of trimming around the edges but it still sinks in the middle, i'll try a little cooler and try and get a thermometer and see how that goes, when you say to "top up" do you mean top it up as the plastic cures or when its still liquid? or just when i notice it drop, i trieed a laminate the other day and left it a bit long and got seams, wont it just do that? oh one other thing ive noticed is that the baits ive made still have a slight stickyness about them? as in sticky to touch, even after worm oil... any ideas? and thanks to all for your input, a great help. ill by you a beer when i see ya's

i think i made a booboo when re-heating plastic, it was a clear plastic with glitter(black glitter and super sparkle), both from bears baits and it worked the first time (only time this has happened). But when i reheated it, probably for too long 1 min ( it wasn't in a liquid form) and opened the microwave it had a slight yellow tinge to it, all the glitter seemed to clump and expand in one big black mess? i still had slightly yellow plastic in the pyrex pourer but the black stuff was a bit raised..... to help me from doing this again, what have i done wrong? is it as simple as just burning it? or are there other rules i should be applying to reheating plastic? while im putting a post up one here, why do you guys put salt in them? also any tips on pouring bigger baits? i'm pouring into a one peice mold ( both POP and resin) and mine all seem to shrink on the top and sink into the mold cavity abit, any pointers there? thanks in advance....

correction on last post, 1/2 a kg of resin then doubled the mixture with talc

thanks bear, maybe i hould have read that first. Im really happy with the order i got from you too, thanks. Postage is a killer though....

these are the molds that i made with 1 kg of casting resin, i probably could have used less but it doesnt really bother me.... not a bad finish either 100ml made one of each lure with a fair bit left over.... still playing with different resins, next mold i'll try without talc and compare notes on here. Catalyst was at 2% at around 19 degrees celcius, not sure wat that is in farenheit. hopes this helps you out.... oh yeah, the first lot were a bit sticky in the mold, i sprayed some cooking oil in there and it comes out sweet now

I know its a pvc plastisol but wats the chemical name for it, im trying to source a supplier in my country as frieght from the US is kinda pricey.... If anyone can help with specifics or a way for cheap frieght drop me a line, Cheers:tipsy:

I got 4kg of polyester casting resin, catalyst and a 25kg bag of a talc type product(only size they had). total cost: around US$ 70 (rough conversion as im not in the US). Should be cheaper over there. I've used around 1 kg and have made molds for 6'' stick bait 5'' stick bait 2x3'' stick baits, a 5'' swim bait 3''' swim bait and 2x 2'' swim baits... all in 2 molds, there curing now and nearly done, ill post pics when theyre done and ive poured a few.... looks the goods so far...8O8O8O8O8O

there is a castable epoxy resin on there, i didnt read too much on it, epoxy is alot worse for you than other polyester resins so wear a respirator or very well ventilated area epoxy i pretty expensive too, but so is tooling resin, i'm trying to find a low heat or slow cure vinyl resin to test also. haha i baked a test mold last night with polyester resin, cracked the whole thing and melted the plastics i was casting:nono:, all sorts of trouble, that'll teach me for being impatient and not measuring catalyst:nono:. would have been a wicked prototype too!

im not from the U.S. so i cant help you with brands sorry, im sure if you told a supplier what you whrere using it for the'd point you in the right direction

for a thicker laminate ( resin mold thickness) you'd be better off to use less than recommended mekp, or mix a talc through it. this will help stabilise the resin, also when buying resin ask about exothermal reaction temps. you really want one that will peak very low. Also there is so many types of resin and most people will be familiar with polyester resin but there is also a "casting" and "tooling" resin, casting resin is for exactly that (casting molds) and is a lot more stable and is often an epoxy,, tooling resin is a resin normally used in the production of boat molds and can handle alot higher temps and wont chip or crack as easy. Polyester resin itself is not a structural material and can be brittle and unstable. By the way i like you're molds and i've been reading a bit on here for a few months, you seem to know what you're doing and i've learnt a few things from this thread so i thought i'd pass on my knowledge, keep up the dedication!