Cub48

Bears has a good one its called Kodiak they have it in several different sizes i have the 4 1/2" they really look good.I do the belly in one color and inject the other color they turn out great. It's not ribbed like the Dbomb it's more like the Rodent. Cub48

Go with a digital thermometer not infra red i was using a infra red and was discoloring my plastic switched to a digital and fixed my problem. The infra red was close up to 200F after that it would jump high and low and different each time u pull the switch.

I have not have any problems bleeding except with some craft stuff i tried it melted. I agree with alsworms sounds like over heating just been thru this i was using a infra red thermometer it was reading correct until it got to 200F after that it would jump up and down i bought a digital candy thermometer that goes up to 450F it takes a little longer to read but i tried it last night and it worked good no turning like i had with the other one. With the infra red my baits looked good with the first shot but the longer it set the yellower it got with no reheating.Last night i shot 10 molds and they stayed clear thru all 10 molds.the others i was having problems with u could see the difference with each shot and i not talking about each reheat. Cub48

The only time i get big bubbles like this is when i am running out of plastic and sucking air into the injector. I have read that sometimes the oring on your tip will let it suck air as you are filling i have had this happen with my home made injector as i don't have an oring on it. It has to have a tight fitting tip i made one that i could remove easier it would not work sucked too much air. If u are trying to suck out the last of the plastic try tilting cup or pot and pull the plastic in slower. I also heat injector on a hot plate pull the plunger back set about half on the injector on hot plate and set the temp low just want to warm it so the plastic don't set as fast. I don't heat my molds as it takes too long before u can take the baits out. If i am shooting big baits i set them in front of a fan so they will cool quicker. Some of the big guys even water cool their molds. Not pulling enough plastic in to fill the molds can cause this also. Cub48

I have tried that type of clamps and had the same problems u are having i might have one that was good but the next one would have flashing around it. i even went to the larger ones and had the same results. Know another guy he uses them all the time no problem.Cub48

I agree with T-Billy if it ain't broke don't fix it. But i also keep an open mind as you can teach an old dog new tricks that work better. Let's say Joe always fishes with a purple worm no salt and Pete is fishing with a watermelon worm with salt and is catching twice the fish. are you not going to make you some watermelon worm with salt for the next time out. LOL Let me say this about the griddle and i don't use pyrex or Microwave would the griddle keep the plastic at temp after it has been heated in the microwave by just sitting the cup in it or at least help? Just a question!!! I will be keeping an eye out for some cast iron sauce pans. My problem is i make small batches. Find small cast iron is rare. I thought of making me some out of 6" 1/4" thick pipe and weld a thick bottom in i did this with some 2" pipe for hand pouring worms made them out of muffler tube and welded a 1/4" bottom in it and a screwdriver in for a handle it helps keep the heat in while pouring. My thing is if i can make it and it works and is cheaper do it. Everyone told we to buy an injector. I looked around for a few weeks trying to find something that would work.I found what i was looking for i spent 50 cents making it my tip was the only cost i had and i bought a stick of alum rod that will make 20 My tip don't blow off it will come apart for cleaning and is all metal except the oring and the end of the rod for the plunger. Cub48

IPT i sent you a pm on the hot plates. T-Billy does the plastic come out of the cast iron pots good or what about discolor from the iron. I use a coated sauce pan stainless has a thick bottom My other pan is thinner have to be careful i heat slow and when it reaches 350f i turn it down a little as it will keep getting hotter and can scorch. I will stir and shoot the temp between injections if it is climbing i turn it down more or sit it off a few seconds. May need to keep an eye out for a hot plate like you were talking about. I have thought about putting a aluminum plate on top of my burner to spread the heat out. I am just doing this for a hobbie not for profit so trying to keep budget down . Cub48

I use a $10.00 hot plate from the dollar store. I bought 2 one for my injector and the other for plastic. For small batches i use a egg poacher pan from Wally World the other pan is a little larger it will shoot about 250 baby shad the egg pan about 120. Bought the larger pan at thrift store 2.00. I turn the thermostat less than half to get my plastic to 350 F then i back it off a little to maintain the heat.Cub48

I use a hot plate you can get one at the dollar stores for around $10.00. Pull the plunger back and lay it on the hot plate. My tip is about 3/16" keeping the injector warm will help you out.Squirt out what you have left after you inject, wipe the tip off pull the injector back and forth and blow out any waste mine will blow out a 1/2" wad. Pull the plunger back and lay on hot plate. Pull the plunger back will keep the oring from getting too hot. Don't turn hot plate up to high, injector just needs to be warm. A couple drops of worm oil in injector helps lube it. Cub48

I have been using the spike it pens for about 2 months. I paint the top of my baby shads which are white i take the blue pen put a blue stripe down it. May put a little red or orange on the belly. The only thing you don't want to do too many as it will fade a little and may bleed. One other thing is i was dipping my baby shad last year in the bottles if you got the spike it where the hook went through it would react and it would break off at the hook. Have not used to dye the whole thing would work ok i think. Cub48.

I have not read this anywhere. Has anyone used garlic power in unscented worm oil. I was wonder if this would work for scents to store my worms in. Or garlic salt will either of these work or will they go bad. Any comments will be helpful. Cub48

Black , Blue, Green Pumpkin, Chartruese, White, Silver, Motor oil, Yellow, Grape, Red, I;ll add Silver holographic, Red Flake, Black Flake, White Pearl. It will depend on the kind of baits you are making my colors are for Crappie and Bass If I were only Bass Baits I would not use the white, silver, or yellow. And with Crappie no motor oil, green pumpkin. or grape. I know fish will bite all colors. I have my Bass colors and my Crappie colors! Cub48

Worm oil on the hinge should work. If you want to buff them up a little they make what the body shops call a scuff pad auto parts stores that sell auto paint will have them. They will have red and grey the red is like 400 grit paper the grey is like 600 grit they are about 8X5" 1/2 " thick made of some kind of fiber 3M makes them and some other companies do. They are used to sand door jams and other hard to scuff areas to paint. I think they would do good on the molds.Cub48

I am a newbie at hand pouring also. I did my second batch yesterday. Here is the way i did it. I melt my plastic in a small pan on a hot plate. I made a pour cup out of some some stainless measure cups they did not have spouts so i made one with a blunt body hammer you can use a screwdriver. I set the pour cup on the HP and warmed it then when plastic is hot enought i use a big spoon to fill the cup about 1/2 full and pour watch the edges to see how full you are getting it. I also made a couple of pour cup out of 2 " muffler tube i welded a 1/6 bottom in and welded a screwdriver for a handle bent a spout in both sides they worked good the thick bottom holds the heat. I bought a point and shoot temp unit from Home Depot around 40 bucks it works great checking temp of the plastic. I am like you i am just making for me and a few friends. My hand pour is an aluminum one works great. Cub48

I use a hot plate i get my plastic hot in a egg poacher pan i bought a wally world. I can shoot about 9 shots form this pan. I wipe the tip off after injecting pull the plunger back set the end on the hot plate while i open my mold. I might have to clean my injector once during my 9 shots. If the plastic starts getting too hot i will set it off a min or so. Bought the hot plate at Freds for around $11.00 I wished i had of gotten the two burner. You could have one eye at a cooler temp and switch your pan back and forth also two colors at the same time. Cub48

I am a newbie and shot my first two color yesterday. Look at my other post it has pic's. Here is how i did mine i have not seen anyone use this process on here or any other forum. My mold is warm I had my second color on a hot plate i used a craft paint brush dip in the blue and made one stroke thru the top. My shad mold has a top and bottom got them mixed on one set and painted the bottom. The brush will wipe off with a rag after you finish the whole mold. If you goof clean that one out and recoat.I think the brush gets better when it gets a little plastic set in it. My blue was dark and with the brush method it lighten as the white is injected in. i tried pouring if you look at the pic's you will see why i changed.Cub48

Just started injecting plastic about a month ago. So yesterday i decided to try 2 colors. Well the first try was not so good as you can see the ones with the dark blue spots. Next i tried another way it worked out pretty good for a newbie. At least i think they might catch a fish. As i go thru the learn process on what works and what don't. One good thing is if it is a mess you can throw it back in and remelt.LOL Cub48

The toaster ovens work great. You might find one at a thrift store cheap. When you start buying hooks, buy the smallest amount first. As you will like some hooks better than others, different companys the numbers will be different. one may be longer and the other hook gap may be bigger. So it be bad to have a 100 hooks you don't like. As for lead melting the lee pot is great. You can start out with a ladle heat it up on a hot plate or coleman stove. it take a steady hand to pour with a ladle. As smalljaw said jig making is not a money saver unless you are going in it big time. But it is a lot fun if you like to doing it as a hobby. I give more away to my friends to see if they like a new hook or a new paint color. Shop around (ebay, thrift stores,gun shops, Harbor Freight , Flee markets) I bought power paint for 3.00 at a flee market. it was 7.00 at pro shops. Harbor freight has a big bottle for around 5.00 not too many colors white, black, red, yellow maybe a couple more. Tire stores for lead. Depending on the kind of tools you have at home, I made my first ladle from a piece of square tube and a long screw driver. Welded a 1/4 thick bottom in and welded the screw driver to it. It holds about a lb of lead. Gun shop for used lead pots. Ebay for molds ect.

I use a wagner heat gun take a pair of pliers heat the jig about 5 seconds dip in the power and tap on the side of the jar of power hang on a rack put in the oven for 20 mins. if the power melts when you put it in the power it is too hot . I use a paint pen to put the eye on for looks. Cub48

Make sure your molds are hot. I polished the gates on my mold. They had a rough finish. The best you can do you will have a few duds. Also you can pour the bottom full and let set a few min before you start to pour, some pour a batch without hooks I don't as if you get 4 out of 8 thats four you would not have. The more you pour the better you will get. Cub48

Sounds like you may be getting your jigs to hot and too much paint is sticking. Here is the way I do it. I use a heat gun its a cheap one from lowes to preheat my jigs hold the jig with a pair of pliers it just takes seconds then swish the head in the powder then tap the pliers on the side of the container. The powder is dull on the jig i hang it on a rack I do about 60 at a time slide the rack in a old toaster oven for 15 min they come out just right. Use a paint pen to paint the eye on (not hook eye). The eye I clean with an old hook just watch and don't stick your self. I may try heating the hook next time. You can also melt the powder on the jig with the heat gun but you have to watch or you can bubble the paint. I am new at this too but this way is working good for me. The only thing is I can do half a rack in the oven as with it the rack is too low and jigs hit if the rack was higher i could do over a 100, Cub48

Read the side of the can it will give you the wait times and if you wait too long you are to scuff sand before refinish in most cases. Follow these directions as spraying to quick or waiting too long both causes problems. On hard surfaces like a lurer I would scuff with a red scuff pad spray the base and clear. Sometimes putting too much paint on is worse than less as you will come more to chip. The bumpers are flexable and the type of plastic they are have to use a promotor so it will stick. The hard plastic on a lurer the paint should bite with out it. Cub48

Hi BBK I poured some jigs last night and they did very good. I took a lite guage wire and wraped it around the top of the pin to hold it in place on the lever rod its not tight but still holds the pin on the lever. It will leak a little but you can turn it and it will stop I think this is normal as i have read other threads. I powder painted about 60 night before last. I have a heat gun heated the jig swished it thru the powder tapped excess off on side of jar put on toaster oven rack cooked for 10 min on 400 turned out good painted eye on jig with a black paint pen. Thanks for your help Cub48

I didn't take the valve out other than the pin I cleaned the pin then heated the pot up and took a small wire rod and rubbed the trash from the hole the pin fits in. It is not the 20 lb I think it is a older verison of the 10 lb pot. The valve will stop if you turn it with a screwdriver. I think the alignment is part of the problem may take a small wire and put around the pin and pull it to the lever. Right now the lever will move the pin up and down but it is not seated on the lever wire good. Cub48

I went out to the shop this afternoon and poured some lead. The pot I am using is not a IV I looked it over someone put 1/2" spacer under the bottom so the mold will go under it . But it still needs more clearance if the lead puddles up on top of the mold it is hard to get it out to go to the next gate. Next I cleaned the valve as good as i could before adding the lead. I think it leaks more than before. I have been looking at the pin valve, it is not in the lever good. What holds it in place? Does the pin ride on the housing in the back or is the pin designed to snap on the lever. It is not mine so fixing it the way i would might not be an option. But i would like to know how it is suposed to be, the lever may be bent and not putting pressure on the rod like it should or the aligment is off. I tried several different ways pouring but it is not working like i want it to or the way it is supposed to work. I can pour with a laddle and have 8 good jigs but so far 6 out of 8 is the best i can do. Now I tried the paint out, here is the best way i found to work I have a heat gun heat jig a few seconds swish it in the power tap off excess then heat until paint turns shiny then hang it on the side of a metal bowl to cool. Painted eye with paint pen. (not hook eye) After trying several ways this seem to work best. not over heating the jig first is best if you over heat too much powder sticks and they don't look good. Thanks Cub48