Kasilofchrisn

So, I called bait plastics and a nice lady told me they actually do ship to Alaska. I just have to email her my order. they cannot do it through their current website. apparently though they will be updating their website soon which may fix that issue. Shipping was very reasonable by Alaska standards. Regardless this is very good news.

Yeah, it's just that I haven't decided where I'm ordering from yet. There's a bunch of choices. Soo I figured why not ask the experienced guys here first! Now that Apdriver has let me know I have more confidence that my plan will actually work! I'll still call them. But at least I'm fairly confident it won't be an issue!

Thanks! I may just need to get some ordered up then.

So I'm looking to get started In making a few soft plastic baits for my fishing here in Alaska. I'm having issues with companies that don't want to ship plastisol here or want to charge crazy high shipping charges. Like $85 in shipping for $125 in plastisol. There is a local freight forwarder who would give me a reasonable price on shipping from their headquarters in Fife, Washington. But if there's any hazardous stickers on it, hazmat, ormd, or anything of that nature, that would add $152 per order to my shipping price. So for those of you that have plastisol shipped to you Is it considered hazardous or does it have any hazard warning stickers on the box at all? I know I should call the manufacturer or retailer that's selling it, but it seems to me that you guys have tried all the different brands so I wouldn't have to call them each independently as I try to decide who to order from.

I would check out some of the videos that Smalljaw puts out on YouTube! That way you could look at several different molds in a finished bucktail jig and decide from there. https://youtu.be/aqogLBDN3Cc?si=juNJfFQJ49C4eh7E

Yeah, I may consider a dual injector thanks for the suggestion. Once my mold arrives and I know how much plastisol it takes Ill make a decision then.

Thinking about just going with an N2 from Barlow's. They have a wide range of sizes including the bigger sizes. And I've read a few positive reviews.

I know this is an older thread, but, I need to find a larger injector. Just ordered my first soft plastic mold for a 12" grubtail. I use them for Halibut fishing here in Alaska on 24oz bullet heads. If there's a good larger injector on the market these days I'd love to hear about it!

You can just buy silicone squid heads and cut the heads off. Or you can buy skirts like in your picture. I buy them locally here in Alaska all the time. Sometimes in bulk bins bought individually and sometimes I buy the wally whale or other brands packaged 2 skirts to a package. If I'm needing a bunch I'll order them from John Beath at https://www.squidlures.com/skirts.html What size earballs are you making? I'm making a version we call yhe GumBob in 10, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and 32 ounce sizes. I've thought about getting a bigger mold as well but, so far this range of sizes is working really well for us.

Yeah, that could work. It needs more weight though. Maybe a heavy bead? Being made of thin aluminum they don't weigh enough to cast very far. Trolling might be ok I think if a weight was added in front of the spinner.

What about a wire straightener like this one? It's made for the task. https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/american-fishing-wire-deluxe-wire-straightener-tool?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas|Shopping|PMax|Fishing|HighMargin|NAud|NVol|NMT&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtsy1BhD7ARIsAHOi4xYcyMWz40llJTuAKIN9nXMPTMEA2Npf4QOJtmdIUoRzOMK-5A8WyMEaAgY-EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I bought 40 of these recently on eBay. They are aluminum 5 inches long and we're listed as lake Erie walleye/salmon flutter spoons. They are definetly light. Probably too light. My original thoughts were to add water activated lights to these. But the hole is only 3/8 and the lights I have are much bigger in diameter. If I could find a light that fits I would try adding one. That being said does anybody recognize these and know what is supposed to be in that hole? It appears the tiny holes are for tiny machine screws to hold in whatever was in the larger hole. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

I would heat the spoon then use my powder paint airbrush with some protec super glow powder paint. Hang in your toaster oven to cure as you would with a lead jig. If you need a crisp line try masking tape. It holds up to a heat gun.

Super glue is just a variant of CA (cyanoacrylate) glue. It works OK. I prefer to buy the good WTP eyes most of the time. The sticky back holds well. Then I coat over the top with D2T or AlumiUV. The D2T is great just takes 24 hours to cure. The AlumiUV is good also but needs at least a couple of hours in my UV curing box to set it. Neither one has failed me yet!

It's to hold the ice blade and hook to make a soldered ice jig. It's by far the fastest and easiest method I have used to make them. Yes there are other methods. But this is the simplest and easiest way to accomplish this task.

I still have two of these. But, they are not for sale or to loan out. I'm suprised somebody hasn't started making and marketing something like this since Reinke bros closed and quit selling them.

Thank you! Glad to see you back on the forums man! If you get a chance could you please pm me your address. I've got some fur for you that we discussed awhile back.

Just thought I'd throw this out there for anyone wanting to try this. Apparently this website lists all the pressed penny machines people have found in the United states listed by state. So it should help you find pressed penny machines in your area. http://209.221.138.252/AreaList.aspx

Pressed pennies are made in a hand crank pressed penny machine. The pennies are a novelty/souvenir and the machines are often found at zoos, museums, tourist attractions, etc. The one I used is in my local dairy queen. So the four options at this machine were an ice cream cone with Soldotna, dairy queen written on it, a moose and bear that say Kenai peninsula Alaska, and fish that says Kenai river. You crank it until it lines up with the arrow for the design you want. Then you put in a penny and 2 quarters. Crank it around and it spits out your penny that has been pressed. There is a place ~ 1-1/2 hours from me called the sea life center. I've heard they have a pressed penny machine that has sea otters, walrus, etc. Pressed pennies are just cheap souvenirs.

The other day I finished a few Kenai Peninsula Alaska themed fishing lures made from pressed pennies. My dapping skills still need work. And I'm not sure the blades will spin. But the spoons should work. I have 3 different ones. A Kenai river jumping fish and a Kenai Peninsula moose and bear. Though the words are hard to read. I used the older 1982 and before all copper pennies. These were polished with #6 Rouge using a dremel. They ended up about the same size as a #3 French blade. Going to find some other pressed penny machines to try this out with later this summer

There are places that currently sell those wire forms. So I don't see it being a patent issue.

Nice! The Hagens is a good unit. I'm guessing you'll be very happy with it and produce professional looking spinners in no time! On top of that you're not limited in length like you would be on the Boggs.

Do not squirt your mold with water. Place a wet sponge next to your casting pot. Set your hot closed mold on the sponge for a few seconds to cool it off. Wet the sponge as needed. Here's a video showing this technique for bullet casting. But, the same technique can be applied to jig and sinker molds.

A quality wire former will make it so much more enjoyable and your spinners will be of a much better quality. I'm sure glad I bought mine! I have a Hagens, a twistech, and a twistech magnum. The Boggs didn't make my list of wire formers to consider as it was too limiting on size and required buying too many adapters to accomplish what I wanted. I think with all the adapters the Boggs cost more than my twistech. But making your own spinners is a lot of fun.

OK so that is what I initially thought. Your mold definetly filled out all the way. If your not already doing so Flux your lead well before casting and/or try some different fluxes. In all honesty I would file that area smooth and use those sinkers. You were going to cut the sprue off anyway so no harm was really done.