SlowFISH

Agree with Travis - you'll need something that hardens a bit to help the molds avoid chipping at the part line and thin areas. At one point I was mixing a heavy dose of elmers white glue into my plaster when I poured the mold... this seemed to help give it strength as well as "seal" it up a bit. I'd make enough to cover the bait with the POP/Glue mix - then backfill the mold with straight POP mixed "normally" - seemed to work well and I noticed I didn't have to try and go crazy sealing the mold as you would with a bone dry pop mold. J.

You can use almost anything that will take the heat... I've even used moisture cured urethane's I didn't like that I bought for coating hardbaits.... key things to figure out is will you're coating hold up to heat and how well does it fill into small areas shoudl your mold s have fine details. J.

There are two different types of US patents.... a design patent and a utility patent. A design patent provides you rights to own a "shape/form".... for instance Coke has a patent on their bottle shape/silhouette.... anyone who sells a beverage in a bottle reasonably close to their silhouette usually has a fight on their hands. This type of patent is the "weakest" of the patents as it's usually subjective to some degree and open to people designing things that may be close to the same shape - so can be more of a hassle to protect - conversely it also allows the patent holders to try and scare people away.... as again it's subjective in both directions. Usually people get scared off with a well written letter - notably if it's form a large corporation with cash. A utility patent is usually a much "stronger" patent - locks in a functional/physical method for doing something that's unique, novel and new. Because of this - it's usually a little it more cut and dry regarding infringement. It's usually harder to get a utility patent as in the process you have to prove the function of the idea is unique, novel and new - as well as different than any other patented idea - where a design patent is just about shape. In this process you'll be required to do a patent search and provide in your application any other patents that may be "close" so your idea can be evaluated to be new/novel/different. I believe String Kings patents are utility - basically their patent locks up the utility/functionality of placing a vertical/perpendicular rib on the outside edge of an appendage (The edge of the claws/tails/etc). So you can sell a curly tail grub - but you can't sell one with a rib on that outside edge of the tail - as that is the utility piece Strike King has protected. The challenge with all patents is if you don't protect it - then it's useless and once the market floods with your idea unprotected - you have no rights to stop it anylonger. IMHO if you don't have something worth a getting a utility patent - they you probably don't have much more than something with a different shape - which can be copied by someone else with some well though out design changes. J.

I've used Mend-It... it works... but it's not really a "glue"... but more of a solvent that melts the ends of the plastic - allowing you to fuse it together... I mention this so you understand it won't "fill holes/gaps" like a white/wood/etc. glue. You basically "wet" the areas you want to bond and press them together - which the solvent melts the bait surface then evaporates - leaving the plastic to fuse back together. It's great on the boat to fix baits that have gotten nipped a bit or the ends of senkos. But be aware you have to hold the parts together for a good 10-15 seconds (minimum) to have it work well... so it's great for repairs or one off creations to test - but not really great for doing ALOT of work or putting things together that are very small or hard to hold together. J.

These two tips (insure mix is right, no hard pack - and heating to 350 to set the plastic up) solve probably 95% of the problems people have when starting out... I failed at both for awhile!!! To layer on those suggestions..... One is how are you heating the plastic? If in a microwave.... the temp will vary within the cup of plastic - with the hottest area being about 1" above the bottom in the center of the cup.... you might find a 20-30 degree difference here compared to other areas in the batch depending on how much your heating.... so you need to check this area to insure you're not "burning" it (ie. at 360 or higher).... and make sure to stir to try and make sure you heat the whole cup to 350 evenly.... as it's easy to hit 350 in that one area - under cook the rest and still have problems because you "think" you cooked the batch to 350.... AND if you just cook like hell figuring you'll make the cool areas 350 - you'll torch the center and it will burn.... which really sucks - trust me! LOL!! Also regarding mixing the plastisol... because i wasn't pouring alot - few cups of plastic every couple weeks - the first brand of plastisol I used hardpacked (some hardpack more than others). I made sure to stir/shake/whaterver until there was NOTHING left sticking to the bottom of the jug. If you have alot stuck to the bottom - you can just assume the formula will be "different" than is should be which can cause issues.... I would shake/scrap it like crazy the day before I was going to pour... to insure there was no settling.... then when I needed to pour - usually a few twists of the jug was all I needed to make things right. Hope this helps.... J.

You might want to give the guys at SmoothOn a call.... they sell all sorts of pour able rubber, silicone's, etc, etc.... I'm sure they could steer you in the right direction for something that floats and will setup in a mold. Some rubbers/silicones won't set up in a mold because they need to gas off into the air - and with little to no open contact with air inside a mold - they just don't kick over and will always be uncured. You'll need something that catalysis on it's own. Smooth on has a whole range of things - some kickover in just minutes - and most can be tinted a color as well. J.

Gotta say this is just a really cool way of doing it... would have never thought of trying something like this... super simple yet totally effective... nice job! J.

Look for a injection tube mold and look for the "Spline" that comes with it.... there is altleast 1 vendor that sells it.... The spline is basically a rod with groves machined into the end - goes between the mold halves so you can mold the legs and have an empty cavity using injection..... The spline looks just like the end of an axle. To make your own mold - you could form the upper portion custom to you - and just "graft" the design to use the correct diameter at the leg/body intersection to use the spline to form the "legs". Hope this makes sense... once you see the mold/part you'll get it. J.

I make a 12" lizard (might be longer with tail unwound).... use 7/0 Owner Oversized Hook... rigged texas in weeds or on 1oz ball head if deep and weed free.... You'll be suprised what take its... I've caught 1.5lbers with it where the bait was bigger than the fish!!! I'd thin that tail as much as possible... that's where you'll get 90% of the baits action on the drop. Might also wanna think about thinning the body in some areas.... I had to rib mine enough to avoid dents... and even then -I pour into the mold - let it set up - then shoot it. J.

I'm a hobby guy and cut my own molds..... this stuff ain't cheap.... just look at the cost of a piece of aluminum and some decent cutters... your at $30-40 there alone and that's without doing any work. Then add in the cost of a machine (you have to amortize the cost of the CNC - which can be the cost of a new car)... a computer, CAD software, controller software, etc etc.... and oh yeah.... how much an hour do you think someone with good technical skills should make? Add it all up - and you see why CUSTOM even if it's "small and simple" costs real money. I thought about trying to start a business like some of the guys on this site doing custom stuff - and realized I'd be bankrupt... it's a tough gig... I think the hundreds that they charge is actually really cheap. J.

I made my setup to use with an injector - so my stirrer isn't the full diameter of the pot as I want to be able to lower the injector into it... so in my case I drilled a hole in the alum plate my stirring motor sits on and push the thermocouple thru it and down into the pot - close to the bottom - the sensing tip is probably .125" (max) off the bottom... my theory was at that level I'm sensing the hottest plastic - and therefore (hopefully) not over cooking it which is my biggest concern. I noticed it does a pretty good job keeping temp even if your not really blowing thru plastic too fast. I did notice the more I used it the "better" it seemed to work. J.

I'm a beginner on these devices as well.... my boss is a tech/circuit board junkie and uses a PID controller for a small DIY furnace (he make knife blades). He can control his furnace within a 2-3 degrees fairly reliably - but that's because the heat source is fairly uniform and the furnace is a fixed size. He explained to me I have a couple things "going wrong" with my setup - biggest issue being the plastsol level is constantly changing. The pot can heat 2 cups faster than 1 gallon.... so the auto-tune will never really be able to compensate for this difference - all it can do it shut off as the temp rises and kick on when low. If I tune it with 1 gallon - it will learn to turn on/off at a specific point to keep it steady - but this point will be different with 2 cups of plastic (catch the idea) If my plastic level stayed the same - then things would be easier to control. Due to lack of competence in this area and him speaking way over my head - I've resulted to tuning the unit with about 4 cups of plastic (I usually make small batches) - this puts me in the "zone" for when I use more or have less.... and I live with the fluctuation to some degree - i see about 5-10 degrees +/- typically once I start pulling plastic from the pot. which not ideal - isn't the end of the world for me considering it's still 10x easier than trying to control a batch in a microwave at different levels or a pot with no controller. Using my analytic side... I'd think covering the pot as much as possible could help (keep temp more uniform?) I also used a long 7" thermocouple and have it sensing as close to the bottom as possible to insure I don't over cook - figuring I pull plastic from the bottom and if need be I can up the temp at the start of a batch if it isn't hot enough. J.

I don't use salt - but based on many peoples feedback of using it - salt will make the bait appear more opaque.... sort of the negative of using it for things that you'd like transparent. One recommendation I'd make as a fellow hobbist.... try to be methodical in how you cook, add color, salt, etc.... I like to think I can remember every step and how much of this or that I added... I can't unless it's black! LOL! Even if you follow someone recipe - you'll have to make it a few times to get it as you will like it.... Also if transparency is key to you in a weighted bait - you might want to investigate the blast media instead of salt for weight... but that has negatives as well - most notably wearing out O-Rings, etc. but some of the samples I've seen with blast media are fantastic. J.

I tried a very small syringe - which is petty damn accurate and easy to replicate - BUT... it's the 1 drop of this / 3 drops of that on small batches that it doesn't work very well..... if you're making bigger batches or using 15-20 drops of a color - it can be helpful. J.

+1.... just assume remelts will be brown/black/green pumpkin and you'll be ok.... Baits with salt will also mess with you if you reuse.... one way to get around this is heat salted baits up to pouring temps - and then DON'T stir... but let it sit.... the salt will settle (which is what most people want to avoid when pouring - but not now!!!).... then just pour off the top or even better let it cool fully and cut off the salty bottom part and the upper portion will be "relatively" salt free. J.

I use the 3M filter mask.... but if you wanted another more robust option - you'd have a pump pushing air to a "pressurized mask" pumping in fresh.... I used to wear one at my old job in the paint booth.... it's a little akward to get used to - but pumping in fresh air so you can't breath the fumes eliminates the need for filters.... the pump was expensive (couple hundred) - but if you think about the cost of filters over years - may not be a bad option for those that really pour alot. Heres an example... (no affiliation - I just googled pressurized air paint booth and this came up...) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Constant-Flow-Supplied-Air-Mask-Airline-Respirator-System-Full-Face-Gas-Mask-/262618122851 j.

You can shoot Dick Nites as well - you need to thin it down to do so. I use super cheap venturi style airbrush from HF that I opened the venturi on top of the jars slightly to get it to work... didn't want to use a good airbrush and have it cure in the brush. Make sure to use a respirator - and I'd recommend doing it outside as well if you can. J.

Thanks for sharing..... I just do hobby stuff - so not having to go buy a bunch of "soft bait" paints on top of my drawer of Cretex is great... I will say - I'll agree with ALL that chimed in... I'm sure the Cretex doesn't bond as well - or technically at all - compared to solvent based paints.... but in looking at the pics - seems like if you keep the coats THIN/LIGHT it will work. Just like overspray that gets on all sorts of things - if it's light - there's just enough adhesion to stick.... yeah it's probably not bonded like the solvent stuff... but maybe that's all that's needed in some instances. J.

You can get by without a stirring system - but you'll have to keep stirring ALOT, keep your temps a little low, and you'll probably be forced to stick with opaque baits as trying to keep anything translucent or with sensitive flake at temp - and not scorch it - is near impossible without a stirring system (I speak from experience!!!). At first I used my Presto just for black and Green Pumpkin baits without a stirring system - it worked fine - I stirred alot and found I was just constantly "moving" between demolding, stirring, shooting, stirring...etc, etc.... was kind of crazy at times... but then I made a stirring system... makes the process 100x easier. I'd also recommend making/buying a PID controller to manage the heat... the PID and stirring system make the presto pot really easy to use - even way easier than using a microwave. There are a bunch of threads on PID controllers- IIRC I found most of the info I used to wire one up off google... J.

It won't hold forever - but you could even deform the edge of the hole in the mold - put a punch/chisel/etc on the edge - hit it real hard with a hammer - then press the pin in.... sort of like deforming threads on a bolt you want to have locked in place. It works - but if the mold gets real hot and starts expanding - them may loosen up.... this is what happened with me on a lead mold I did this with.... J.

I don't know how they do it - but if I was gonna try it (hobbist level)... i'd either sprinkle some fine glitter or highlight (blue) into the top half of the mold then just shoot the green... If you're worried about the blue "moving" when it's shot.... sprinkle the blue glitter/ higlight in and pour a little green over it - then shoot the rest.... that should keep it in place. Other option is to mix some clear with glitter/highlight - pour it in the mold - then shoot green behind it... That's how I'd try it - I'm sure the guys here have other/better ways... but that's where I'd start if other opinions aren't offered. j.

Really good way to look at things... and the biggest question/variable in there is "what is your time worth"..... Have a bunch of friends that keep telling me to make baits and sell them.... I'd either be poor or out of business if I put the time I do into a mold then tried to sell baits!!!! Maybe after I hit lotto!! LOL! J.

Which GBM media are you guys using... read a couple threads about Harbor Freight media... but in one thread it seemed there were more than one media type there and a person had some challenges with it. Also - are there any "special" need when using GBM? Can you reheat it / melt baits with it over and over or it there a point it breaks down or causes issues? Thanks.... and those sticks look sick.... doesn't look like you can beat the GBM color wise. J.

+1... agree that texture on that Senko isn't helping.... textured baits have a more matte/dark feel. J.

+1 - I'd say if you just plan on doing dark baits (ex. black / green pumkin) you can probably live with hand stirring a presto if you had too.... I did for awhile - but was using a micro for light colors and the presot for a big batch of darker colors. If you have any intention of doing lighter colors, transparents or clears with the presto.... you have to have the heat dialed and consistent.... as it only takes a 30 seconds for a presto to heat a portion of your clear too far and then have it turn it yellow. You can make a stirring system pretty easily... I did - but it's still not cheap - a decent 120V 50RPM gearmotor is $35-50 on EBAY used.... then add cost for materials to make a paddle, plate to hold it above the presto, the enclosure, etc.... sometimes things are just easier to buy and save the headaches.... I usually realize that after the fact. J.