Anglinarcher

Both Alumilite and SmothOn should be able to point you in the right direction. You will need to keep a hollow body with that style if you want the body to collapse so the hooks will work. Also, most products will be heavier then water so the hollow body allows them to float. I have had good results in the past using this product. https://www.alumilite.com/store/p/943-Flex-30.aspx I hand rotomolded the product to get the hollow body when I did it, after pouring the legs first and letting them firm up. It was not the easiest thing I have done, but it was also several years ago when I was learning the methods. Make sure you mix the two sides in their containers well before mixing side a and side b.

While most of us are on all the sites, some of the jig and wire bait experts are more often in the wire bait section. I suggest you re-post it there. But, I hope you find the mold.

I will be the fly in the ointment on this one. I totally agree with BLT on fig head styles, and weights. But, I will go against the crowd on this one and suggest Squirrel or synthetic for the hair. I prefer the Squirrel. I am stuck with Landlocked Strippers, but even the small ones in Lake Powel and the ones in Toledo Bend tear up the Buck tail/deer tail pretty fast.

You northern boys always get the bigger salmon. LOL If you are going to do 2mm balls, I would suggest a custom mold, injection, and lots of skill to dial it in. Not one I would tackle myself. LOL

Sorry I did not see this before. A long time ago, in the late 70's, I was a molding machine mechanic for Tupperware. They of course are big time plastic injection molding people. Flashing was a common problem to fix, and there was no one cause or one fix. The most common cause was a lack of sufficient mold pressure so the plastic would squeeze out and make flashing. If we could not dial it in, operators would trim it off with razor knifes. Preferred fix, clamp mold a little or a little tighter. Fall back fix, got to trim. Another cause was worn molds causing tiny gaps, or miss-manufactured molds doing the same. If the molds have always done this, it might help to make another mold. I believe your molds are new, so I doubt that this is it. Most of the other causes were due to plastic temperature so that will not help you. For those of use that mold our lures, using a piece of wood on the two sides of the mold and putting a small clamping pressure will normally do it, stop excessive expansion and stop/reduce flashing. For foams, increasing mold stiffness (material or by design) and then clamping normally fixes the problem.

http://rings.worthco.com/products/choose-right-ring You might check them out.

I know Alumilite well, and have used both the volume and weight. Both work great, 10:1 ratio. When I am doing small amounts, like for mold alterations or repairs, I use a syringe to measure each side. When I do a full mold I use my digital scale. Harbor Freight makes some inexpensive ones, large and small. PS, exact rations are not required, just get it close and mix well.

Ditto. I often use petroleum jelly when I make molds. I prefer UMR, but jelly works well enough if you do as Houghesy said, keep it thin as possible, but cover completely.

Son just lost a fish of a lifetime last week because of a split ring opening up. As said, replace, or you will groan and moan like he has been all week! But, yes, they can be fixed, even the tempered ones. You bend them back, heat them in an oven to 1200 degrees, take them out and dunk them in oil to harden them again. Now, is THAT worth it? LOL

Ya, caught the cudas before. Seemed all I needed was a section of red or orange tubing on a wire leader. BUT, those things were about the meanest things I have ever wanted to remove a hook from.

No Salmon in Utah. LOL Well, Kokanee or landlocked Sockeye. But, lived in Washington, caught my share of Steelhead and Kings, and bought my share of commercial salmon eggs for fishing, and 1/8" is pretty much the normal size, or maybe on the small size. And, Joelhains wants even smaller?

But you fish for those toothless bass. ROFLOL

Any smaller and you will need to make it yourself. .125 is 1/8" and that is about the size of "real salmon eggs".

Well yes, and no. https://www.mckenziesp.com/WCM7071-P12923.aspx https://www.mckenziesp.com/Iridescent-Colors-C2627.aspx http://www.airbrush.com/AA-Aluminum-Base-Coat-Fine-4oz/productinfo/162645/ http://www.airbrush.com/4100-Series-Aluminum-Bases/departments/1200/ I have used the above options, and the Aluminum Bases actually give a pretty good silver color that does not grey as bad with clear coats. You must use medium or large needles on your airbrush, but I use the Talon so I can change my needles at will. It works ok, a little learning curve, but I have no issues as long as I keep the needle size in mind.

I have used the glitter polishes before. I agree, it works quite well on jigs, etc. I had some "chrome" colored fingernail polish that I tried. It looked great, but when I put any of my clears on it, it greyed. I tried it without a clear coat, and fish loved it, but it came off quick. I will try the Hard As Nails if I can find it, but I don't see it as a "production" option. Funny thing is that I was experimenting with fingernail polishes, especially the UV ones. BUT, my granddaughter saw them in my "man cave" where I was working and complained to my wife that "grandpa is weird, he has fingernail polish". My wife tossed them all away that very day. ROFLOL

I just use Krylon as my primer. Krylon is the brand.

Yes, the Platt 55 is harder then the HS1, and a little harder then the Quickset. I find that in order from softest to hardest in the Alumilite system it is as follows: HS3 HS2 Amazing Mold Putty Mold Putty HS1 Trans 40 Quickset Mold Putty 15 Plat 55 I find the Mold Putty options harder to get fine detail with but the rest I use often. For day to day foam use, I use HS2 and just clamp with some plywood on both sides. But, for hard core Alumifoam use, Plat 55 is my suggestion. Day in, day out, the HS2 is the easiest to use, easiest to flex and get lures with undercuts out of, etc., but I find that the more I learn the more I use other options. I plan on trying to perfect using VACMASTER 50 for hard baits soon, like those from Alumifoam, but it will take some mold release and testing. Not ready to give details yet.

OR maybe because I DON"T know what I am doing. LOL

One I have not tried.

LOL, primer? I will admit that I have played with a lot of different things. I do usually spray my molds with Krylon white paint and primer in one. It works well. But........ I use lead shot for ballast sometimes where the shot sinks to the surface of the mold the primer does not cover well. Not sure why but the spots of the shot stand out like a sore thumb and the paint does not want to stick on it. Soooooooo When I use tungsten it works much better. My latest thing is to mist the lure with a metallic paint. It covers everything on the first coat, then I coat with the same white paint/primer. It actually covers better with the white over the silver then just using white. Weird, I know. Plan on trying it on the inside of the mold later.

Agree, no hard colorants, all liquid. I do mine a little different then Mark, but fluorescents must be added after it turns or they never work for me.

I would first make a mold using Alumilite HS2. You can find tutorials on YouTube or on http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx Next I would use the Archimedes Dunk Test as found on this link. Remove the hooks, line tie, and hanger if possible for the this step. Now you have the information you need to start. Assuming it is balsa, the dunk test will you to calculate the volume of the lure, so you can calculate the approximate ballast weight by subtracting the weight that the volume of balsa should be from the total weight. I would mix a small amount of Alumilite white with some microballons (makes it stick to the sides of the mold better) and rotomold (by hand) to get a shell. I would then add my ballast amount while the Alumilite White is still not cured so the ballast would sink and stick low in the mold. Then fill the remainder with Alumilite 610 foam. It will hold hooks better then Balsa. You can actually pour the mold with just Alumilite 610 foam, drill out the ballast location, add the ballast. It will hold hooks as well as Balsa. Of course, as long as you account for the weight of internal wiring, often used on Balsa, you can add that as well. I think the bigger Bagley's had internal hook hangers. Hope this helps. It sounds hard, but it is easy.

Looks good Woodie. I think my foam ones do pretty well as well. I think lots of the complaints about the foams is due to a lack of experience in it.

There are lots of really great silver and gold paints, but............ Most of the best looking gold and silvers are rattle can paints, solvent based, and most of them say in fine print on the back of the can "not for outdoor use", and "clear coat not recommended". Take their suggestions very seriously. They will not hold up to water if not cleared and once clear coated they instantly grey the silvers and make the golds a dull brass color. But, they will coat acrylic paints just fine. LOL Of the straight acrylic paints, I think I have used most of them. I am on my wife's computer and my pictures are on mine, at home, a thousand miles away, so I cannot give you my documentation. If you take your time, sand with very fine sandpaper between coats, polish well, you can get excellent silvers and golds. But, "not for outdoor use", and "clear coat not recommended". Take my suggestions very seriously. Once cleared, "they instantly grey the silvers and make the golds a dull brass color." I have done some gold and silver leafing on some lures. Cost about a dollar a lure, but the silver and gold is awesome. So soft you must clear coat, and they do not dull nearly as much, but they still dull some. Monte likes Createx pearls, and they are not truly silver or gold, but they look more silver and gold once clear coated then the "true" silver and golds, so that might be your best option. I have tried several of the "liquid or spray on chrome" options and they do the same thing every time. The problem is not the paints, but the clear coats. The best clear coats are indeed clear, but there is a physical property of light that is called refraction. I will let you do a google search on that but in short, light travels differently in air then it does in water then it does in clear coats. We need a clear coat that allows light to travel the same way air does so we see it as chrome. Once that lure hits the water, it will then do what other metallic silver or chrome lures do. Getting a clear coat to have the same refractive property as air is pretty tough. That is why so many of the old chrome lures actually had metal chrome electroplated on them. The metallic chrome is tough enough to stand up to many fish, and the same is true of the silver. The other option is to use a clear coat that is super thin. Then the problem is getting super thin clear coats that are tough enough. I saw another company that makes Chrome films and washes and spray recently and they are now claiming they have a "kit" for chrome that is tough enough to touch up your chrome wheels. It consist of a black primer, a can of their "chrome" spray, and if needed a can of "THEIR" clear. The cost of their kit was something like $750. I could not afford to "test" that kit to see if the clear was hard enough, the chrome true, the ............. But technology advances, times change. After all, not too long ago, you could actually chrome your lure with chrome, but that is not environmentally safe so it has been strongly restricted and even banned in some countries. Good luck on your search, Steve

Alumifoam . It is good stuff, but it has a learning curve. It is the density of cedar wood, harder then any wood I have used, can be cut, drilled, sanded, etc., but ...... all of that leaves the open cavities typical of foams. When you pour Alumifoam, I quickly rotate the mold so a light coat gets on all surfaces. Once it quickly fires off and expands. If your mold is not firm enough, it expands so aggressively that it will bulge your mold. Because of that, I suggest PLAT 65, or at least Quickset as your molds, and place them between thin plywood and clamp them lightly. I am working on methods for VacMaster materials but that is a few projects down the road. (as of October 2017 in case the thread ever gets brought up again. LOL) This will leave a clean flawless skin that picks up every detail in your original. Still, you have your gates to remove and clean up. I trim off my gates and file/sand them smooth to the bait. I then take some Dap Plastic Wood putty and apply to fill the voids now exposed. I sand smooth and I am ready to prime. This same procedure works on any foam and works if you need to sand or work on other spots on the lure before painting. No sealer is required, and the Krylon white primer you spray in the mold will work with this as well. I hope this helps some. I will be on and off line for a couple of days, so please tolerate a slow reply. Steve