bluetickhound

I didn't get into this to save money.... I just love catching fish on lures I made myself... As far as beer drinking goes... Now THAT I am saving a ton of money on.... I just don't drink the stuff!!

I think I'd stick with ACC for all three if I could only have one....

Exactly correct Brent, other than (and pardon me for splitting hairs here but if you go to HL and ask for the stuff by name the person working there will probably look at you like you are speaking Swahili..better to ask for casting resin....) it is amazing clear CAST, not coat...Hobby Lobby has it ( in the modeling clay aisle) and if you use the 40% off coupon it is around $13... I love it. I still use other topcoats from time to time but ACC is my go to topcoat nowadays...

Baitjunky's. / thread.

I don't have the tube mold but I have the three color fluke mold and it is awesome. Superior quality, fantastic flukes one after another. I couldn't be happier with my High Rock and as they expand their lineup I'll be getting more. I see that for $500 they'll cut your own design for you. That is also on my radar screen for sure!! I know it sounds like I'm an employee of HR but I'm not, I'm just a very happy customer... I got mine from Baitjunky's speaking of folks I've been very happy to do business with.... Just for the record, I have a few Basstackle molds that have been terrific also and Inolan to buy a few more from there but the High Rock is definitely my favorite.

I'm totally new to injection so by all means don't take my word as Gospel but in my limited experience I have found that 5 cavities is about all my hand injector can fill reliably from a single sprue.... I find that single or double cavity molds work really well with hand injectirs but if I were stepping up to production capable molds I would want to get an injection press like Jacobs sells... Which, unless something heretofore unforseen happens (like an unlocked Brinks truck turning over in front of my house with no witnesses to see me scoop up all the $$$) that won't be happening any time soon....

I did see that video after I posted this last night. Looks like a fun thing to do one-off's like you said but it wouldn't work for even very mild production unless you were willing to spend a ton of $$$ for molds and a huge oven to cook 'em in... I think it would be a really fun way to get your kid(s) involved in luremaking though.... You could really come up with some wild color combos (that would likely never come close to catching a fish....) and have a ball doing it! Or, if you are the really artistic sort, i bet you could come up with some baits that are extremely lifelike.... I'm thinking frogs in particular....

I tried a search on "Gel a Lure" and "cold pouring" that didn't turn up anything... Maybe I'm not doing it right!!

Anybody try it? I saw it on spikeit's site and was curious as to how it worked...

Resiliency is the main reason I stick with the ACC... If it gets dinged it seems to have a self healing quality about it. Not that it's bulletproof or that it will sustain gouges but I have smacked a few of my ACC coated lures against riprap rocks (hard enough to dent the lure) and still maintained surface integrity...

Here's a link to one. You can access the rest from there.Curses!!! Let me try this again.....

Well, you were definitely telling the truth Dave!! I have smacked myself upside the head over the simplicity of this.... Doubly so since I actually have done exactly what you outlined.... Made the bill too long and trimmed back to get the action right. My problem was that I was trimming too much back at a time. The fine line between not enough, just right and too much cannot be overstated... Not only in luremaking but in life!! Thanks for posting this.

What I like about baitjunky's is the increased capacity (4.5 oz versus 3.0 oz) and that it's thinner walled than my current injector, so it would heat up faster....

Just thinking out loud here but have you tried increasing the pressure slightly as the pot empties?

Are you using salt in your baits? I ask this because I shot (thank goodness I just spell checked that.... I'd never live that typo down!!) some senko style sticks last week that "sweated" on me... Granted, I make my baits in a garage in Atlanta Georgia (or Hot-lanta, as we call it here....) in pretty high humidity so that contributes I'm sure but as the baits cured up overnight I noticed the next day beads of sweat that were all over all the worms... Against my better judgement I tasted a bit of it and it was pure salt water... The lid of my Presto pot was also coated with condensation....

Yeah... I tried the three cycle method a few times and got exactly what Frank (by the way Frank, I love your youtube vids... Keep up the good work!!) said... Now I just get my plastic up to temp, draw slowly (not glacially slow but slow enough that the plastic warms up my injector fairly well on the first draw) and shoot. I won't say i don't get ANY microbubbles but it's not nearly as bad as when I tried the three cycle purge method... Bottom line is, try everything out and see which method works for you. The one that gives YOU the best results is the best method.

Very nice!! My first baits were the usual worms.... I just got a fluke mold from baitjunky's and it is amazing. If you plan on shooting flukes check it out!

Look at it this way.... Now you HAVE your plastics only microwave!! Now you just need to buy a new one for the chow.... In the meantime, just cook food in the oven or on the stove like us old folks used to do before them thar newfangled contraptions got invented!!

True enough, but if a fan at the window is all you got, I'd rather use that than nothing at all.... Personally, I don't use a microwave at all... Hot plates and Presto pots are my heating methods of choice. Same fumes i know, but microwaving ANYTHING (be it food, plastic or otherwise...) is a dicey proposition in mind....

If you don't have an outside area to work space do you have a spare room away from the kitchen? You really should make every effort to keep your plastic bait making area away from the kitchen.... A fan in the window to vent the fumes outside is a must. I would advise wearing some sort of mask (preferably a ventilator mask), eye protection and gloves while doing all this also... 350 degree plastisol can do nasty things to you (inside and out) if you let it....

Don't do it. Spend $50 and go to WalMart. Get a microwave that will be dedicated to plastisol and plastisol only. The fumes are harmful and this all needs to be done in the garage (if you have one) or outside in an unconfined area.

Have a look at baitjunky's.com. They are really nice. The next ones I buy will be from there.

If anyone DOES this is wrong, please keep it to yourself!!! I have tried everything I can think of with no consistent success.... I can make a bait that will hunt but I can't do it with any sort of consistency. I'm honestly not looking to sell crankbaits ( but I AM looking to sell sof plastics in the future... Totally different deal though...) and I imagine thise who do sell already have a pretty firm grasp on the hunting deal. I'd just love to be able to purposely build one when needed and not have it be a "happy accident"...

Bumpmaster Blue strikes again.... I need a frog mold that has the zoom horny toad style legs with a beefier body than the BT 302 frog... I saw Del's mold but I'm aware that he can be somewhat difficult to deal with at times... I also know I can go through LC to get a Del's mold but I was wondering if anyone knew of a top pour or injection mold for the kind of frog I need. It seems that everyone has paddle foot type kickin' frogs but the guy wanting me to make frogs for him and his friends are fixed on the "u-vibe" style of feet....