Tree_Fish

Very informative post Vodakman! I was wondering if the percentages can be applied to water putty as well?

Hey Ranger I really like that cup! Looks a lot easier to make than the pyrex version, plus dont have to worry about it shattering. So just to clarify you take the cup, split it in half, lay it on its side and use the outline as a template for the middle piece, cut the middle piece and weld it all together?

Thanks Mike I'll give that a go and see how it turns out

During the heating or before heating?

The plastic was lureworks, only plastic I have used so far. They firm up a bit after running them under some cold water.

It seemed as though it went through all 3, the third stage is when it becomes clear right? When I pull it out to pour it it pours in a very thin line. I hit it with the IR thermometer to and its sitting @ 350 degrees

In my opinion for you guys starting out trying to make your own molds I would highly recommend using water putty to start with. I went through a couple 25 pound bags of POP trying to get my molds to come out the way I wanted them to. After many molds that had bubbles in them no matter how thin I mixed it I just couldnt avoid bubbles in my cavities, even if it was only one I wasnt satisfied. Adding vinegar to the water putty increases your work time, which allowed me to tap the sides etc and bring the bubbles to the top, drastically reducing the amount of bubbles in the mold. After going through 50 pounds of pop and not being satisfied with the results and then trying water putty and having my first mold come out perfect I am sold on water putty for the duration! One issue I did have was I took a weekend fishing trip and left a few mold halves in the boxes I built to pour them in, when I got back there was mold on the molds! So don't leave them in the boxes or the moisture will have nowhere to go and they will grow mold!

I recently purchased some medium Pourasol and wanted to share my experience from the vantage point of someone who is totally new to pouring. After reading about so many people that had problems heating it in the microwave I was a bit hestitant to try it, but I figured for the price what could it hurt? So I ordered a gallon of the medium pourasol, upon recieving it there was very little hard pack in the bottom and after turning it over a few times it was gone. Now on to the heating. I poured a half a cup in my pyrex measuring cup and stuck it in the microwave. After reading about the slow heating time needed to properly heat the plastic (thanks TU, wouldve been up a creek without this info!) I turned the microwave down to a power setting of 2 and set the time for 4 minutes. After 2 minutes it was barely up to 90 degrees so I bumped it up to a power level of 4. This setting worked great, takes an average of 8 minutes to heat the plastic to the proper temp. Checked with the thermometer and it was just right, poured it into my handpour lizard mold and it came out beautifully!! There were no bubbles at all anywhere in the bait! Well there were a couple in the tail but that was due to not enough vents in the tail area. I didnt add enough color so it came out clear with sparkles lol but overall for my first pour I was very happy! I am very satisified with this plastic and will continue to use it! One question though, the baits I have been pouring have been coming out somewhat tacky, I read somewhere that that generally means the mold isnt sealed enough. I have put several (at least 5) coats of the elmers glue all and water 50\50 mix, and 2 coats on top of that with devcon/denatured alcohol, so I dont think sealing is my issue. Possibly I am demolding to early? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Oh and Im using water putty as my mold medium, not sure if that makes a difference for sealant or not

How used is the mold? Can get a brand new one from Bears for 42.50...

Hey Mark those molds are awesome! I hope to implement your mold boxes into my mold making process and I have a question for you. When you put the mold half into the oven to cure I'm assuming you are putting the mold box in with it since you have screws put in from the side to stabilize the PoP, my question is do you put anything under it or do you just set the box directly on the rack? Do you seal the wood used to make the box so it doesnt absorb the water from the Pop? Or does the oven dry them both out?

Hey thanks for the advice Jim, thats a pretty good pour for PoP! I'm just waiting for some plastic to get here then I'll be pouring like a madman lol. I have been lurking your posts and images in the gallery, you've got some awesome skills man! Hope I can pour like you someday!

Hey guys I'm pretty new to pouring but with all the info on this site I am well on my way to becoming an addict at making my own baits : o Ok so my question is I have seen a lot of guys saying they only use PoP molds to pour their plastics and I'm assuming that some of them have to be injecting. I bought a 4 oz marinade injector, cut the needle off and drilled the tip out a little to make the hole bigger. Now it is my understanding for injection you need a sturdy airtight fit in your mold for the injector to work properly. Can anyone give me some advice as to how to accomplish this with a pop mold? I have tried taking the tip off and making it a part of the mold, but when I insert the tip into the PoP I can feel a little wiggle and I get worried if I put to much pressure on it it's going to spit plastic at me. Will the plastic on the tip (from when I fill the injector) help insulate this connection? I havent actually tried injecting with it yet, wanted to get a little clarification and try to avoid mistakes ahead of time if at all possible.

OK, I like the idea of putting the lip in the mold and using epoxy to put the new lip in, but that still begs the question of how to get the lip out of the crank I'm trying to reproduce. The entire bait is 2 pieces with the joint down the center line of the bait and that includes the lip. Should I have cut the lip out with a bandsaw? Or should I find a crank with a detachable lip?I thought about making a wooden master but what about the cavitys inside the crank? The post I am attempting to follow was by hillbilly1, the molds he makes are awesome and I would love to make a few, but am struggling with ideas on how to get the lip done right. I appreciate the suggestions, I really dont want the lips made out of alumilite seeing as how I'll be banging them off all kinds of trees and rocks.

My first post, just wanted to say you guys are awesome I love this website! Almost an overload of info lol. Well on to my question, I have been looking at the 2 piece RTV mold construction for cranks. I understand the mold making process, and am just short of ordering all the stuff to get started. The question I have is what to do about the lip. I took a crankbait apart to be used in the mold but the lip was cast as part of the lure. I looked at the other cranks I have and they are the same way. I have been all over the forums for a couple of days and the best info I can find is to cut the lip out with a bandsaw or something of the like. If using alumilite or something of the sort I'm assuming I dont want the lip made of casting resin, right? So what would be the process to remove the lip and how would I keep the lip slot open during the making of the mold? Block the rest of the cavity with clay? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and please take it easy on this noob lol