creekbeater

In short it's fun and a challenge. Plus what else am I going to do during winter when I'm not fishing? Tsic, what did you use to create your homemade press? I've looked at bearing presses and other similar presses but haven't found one similar to the press on lurecraft. I'm sticking with my razor blades in a block of wood, set in by jb weld and spaced out with washers. I use a rubber mallot to pound the back of the block with the tube lying on another wood block. Lubricating the tube with a little worm oil helps a lot. It works well for me, but I'm always looking for ways to improve the process (short of buying $100 single cavity molds with injected tails)

I have both the 631 and the 643 single cavity molds. They are very similar in size to the 3.8 and 2.8 kaitechs. They do not have the hook slots on top and bottom and the paddle tail is slightly smaller. They produce very good action and I've caught a lot of smallmouth on them. It's Much better than paying $0.75 to $1 per bait and I can make them to last a lot longer. The only downside is that I like the laminates but I'm unwilling to spend the $180 for a twin injector. I can pour, remove cut and reinfect to get something close, but it takes a lot of time. Hope that helps and good luck.

I've had the mold for about two years. It works very well and produces a nice slender profile tube consistent with cabin creek tubes, which was exactly what I was looking for. I'm curious if you purchased the tailer cutter press from lurecraft or made your own.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. After spending a few days and countless hours online looking at literally thousands of fans, talking to several hvac places etc, i just ordered a 6 in in line centrifugal duct fan the pulls 440 cfm under a load. It is a fan used for hydroponics and was $80 while other fans may be better suted for the task, all of them were nearly double or more in price. I should get it in a few days and will post picks of the completed job and let you know how it works.

Bass 100. Thanks for the info. I'll have to call around to see if I can find a fan on the cheap. Your set up sounds impressive. What kind of vent pipe do you run post fan? Do you vent out a wall or run it to the roof?

Thanks again Al. so this is what it's like on the "dark side" of pouring plastics. I have a few decsions to make, including considering cutting my losses now before I get in too deep! LOL. Mike

Thanks Al. I appreciate the feedback and the recommendation on the fan. I definetly hear you on closing the sides of the hood to get the most out of the unit and ensure that no toxic vapors escape. the 10" pipe to the roof is not going to be an option for me and I'm going to have to find something else to work. The rise from the top of the hood is 3' and the horizontal distance to wall and side of house through the rafters is about 6 feet. Is there any reason that I can't vent out through the wall/rafter vs. go to the roof? Would the side vent option requier a different type of fan. One other thing I read is that you will need to return air to the area for the air that is vented out. Is this something you do. Look forward to seeing you a Calvery again this year. Mike

Thanks Kajan. Any reco on the pipe diameter or fan? I wanted to keep the end of the pipe to 6 inch to limit the size of the hole I cut into the rafter as the pipe exits the house. Also the availbe outside vents only went to six inch.

I finally decided to set up a workshop in my basement to pour soft plastics. I read a number of posts on this site and others about the requirements to vent the fumes when pouring soft plastics. I started with a kitchen fume hood as I've seen many people use after a neighbor was doing a kitchen remodel. After reading a number of conflicting posts, searching the web, calculating serveral different measures for CFM, including considerations on duct lenght/width, static pressure etc, I learned about the limitations of the kitchen hood set up and decided to build my own custom hood based on designs I've seen. Below is a picture of the current state of my project, a 36" x24" x 6" fume hood,. The bottom of the hood is 24" off the surface of the bench with 8" duct pipe converting to 6" after an 8" in-line duct fan (500 cfm) I found at Lowes for $32. The 500 cfm turned out to be a bust as it was designed to move air in a vent at 0 static pressure and doesn't pull the air up any better than the kitchen hood I started with. I'm looking for a fan that pulls around 500 cfm but I'm not sure what kind of fan is needed fo finish the project. I believe a squirrel cage type fan may be the right way to go. The hood space is 36" x 24" x 24" and I would like to consider using without sides, just the sheet metal in the back if posisble. any recommendations on what type of fan to get and where? I'd like to get one for around $100 if possible. Here is another photo showing the underside of the hood.