SCAngler

Just wondering if anyone knows where to buy mold alignment pins? Ive been able to find some expensive options in the usual places (Grainger, McMaster, etc.) but they dont look to be the same as what I see on an Angling Ai mold or Epic Bait mold. Anyone know what they're using? This image shows the hardware I'm talking about...these look tapered and seem like simple press fit pins, but I cant seem to locate any on the interweb.... https://anglingai.com/4-1-action-worm-5-cav/

+1 for mold max 60. I buy direct from smooth on and it has worked great for prototyping until I’m ready to send files off for an aluminum mold.

Thanks for all of the ideas guys. I ran across this spray paint the other day, and though it sprays a bit heavy, it’s not a bad chrome finish. Not perfect, but pretty good. https://www.michaels.com/testors-gloss-enamel-spray/10109550.html?cm_mmc=PLASearch-_-google-_-MICH_Shopping_US_N_Craft+%26+Hobbies_N_Smart_BOPIS_N-_-&Kenshoo_ida=&kpid=go_cmp-9972406265_adg-99939223639_ad-433378147590_pla-981059439317_dev-m_ext-_prd-10109550&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqrb7BRDlARIsACwGad6jmABWySuK-rnY5YrEHpdShEQa6cbvn7I2_laSM0Jv5q8M70_V6jkaAolREALw_wcB 50-50 chrome powder/clear powder will be my next trial.

I haven’t but I do plan to give it a try. Id love to see some examples of some jigs other folks have tried using this on.

Thanks for the responses guys. I just looked at the kits for chrome plating on a small scale, doesn’t look like it’s worth the effort. I’ll try the powder paint or liquid paint options.

Just wondering if anyone knows what type of finish is used on war eagle spinnerbaits to get that shiny, almost chrome, finish. It’s thinner than anything I’ve seen powder dipped. Just wondering if anyone has figured this out.

This might be a dumb question, and forgive my lack of research on the subject, but what do companies like Rapala and Strike King use to clear their baits? Doesn't seem all that tough because of the hook rash most of us experience, but they are doing this on a large scale so the method has to be pretty quick and dirty for lack of a better term. Just been pondering this after reading similar threads and it doesn't seem to be mentioned.

Well I tried to drown out the high pitched squeal of the router from the video. David Crosby has a similar effect on some people so that's a bit ironic, but I like him. Notice the two steel pins in the work piece. This is a very simple way to key your parts for flipping when cutting both sides of a part. I cut the locations for my ballast weights first, and then flipped the workpiece to cut what your seeing in the video. At the end you'll find a pan over on a few precut and finished lures. This happens to be a topwater design of mine, and the wood is cedar if anyone's wondering. Makes the spare bedroom smell like a hamster cage haha

Wow SLT, that's a great place to start if your thinking of undergoing a diy build. Too bad I'm just now finding it!

Dave- I'll work on posting a video. Been busy cutting crafts. The things I do for having a CNC in the spare bedroom......

Well, I thought I might dig this one out in case anyone still has interest in hobby cnc. In the past 6 months I have designed, built, and started cutting lures with my CNC router. I have ~600.00 in my machine, not including software although there are some quite capable free software options out there. Just wanted to show that if you really want to turn your CAD creations into a wooden lure, nylon mold, polycarbonate bill, etc. you can do it for less than what a lot of folks will tell you. Here's the proof. If you want to get a more detailed list of where I bought my components and what those components are just PM me. Happy building!

One solution for generating the complex curves on hooks without true arcs, is to take an image of the hook, insert the image in a sketch in your CAD program, and sketch over the image. When your finished scale the sketch to the correct height(or scale the image first, this has been difficult for me in the past). Measure the Top of the hook to the tangency of the bend. This has worked great for me, and as Bob has mentioned, these hooks have a wide tolerance so you'll need to keep ~0.005" clearance in CAD depending on how your fabricating the mold. The key is to use splines, and only use two or three control points. This will allow for better control over the complex curve without inducing inflection points. Or, import the image into the free program Inkscape and use it to covert the image into a vectorized file. This will import into your CAD program as a DXF or DWG. Then you can use these lines to generate the appropriate arcs. Both methods work, but I like the parametric value of properly dimensioned splines, so I use that. Off topic: It's hard to believe, but I have been very successful in molding shakey heads using Ren shape board. It's a type of polyurethane board which does not have a melting point that can withstand the temperature of melted lead, BUT the heat transfer between the lead and Ren shape doesn't ocurr fast enough to scorch the urethane. One note, I use this material for making less than 500 jig heads. Over 500, buy aluminum. Ren shape just allows me to quickly machine the mold and prototype a pot load of jig heads before I go down the aluminum road. Sorry for diverging there, just thought it might spur some thought.

Really cool concept! But I agree with vodkaman, the flow will be slow at the lures current placement in the sketch. One thing I do remember from fluid dynamics, haha, is that cross sectional area will affect the velocity of the fluids. Smaller area will increase the velocity. I just recently tried to design one of these and my biggest hurdle was finding a reasonably priced pump to get the flow rate I needed for a cross sectional area of 12". To produce velocities of up to 4 ft/s(~2.75 mph), I needed a ~190 CFM pump! (F****** huge pump) so maybe start with 4 or 5 square inch area... Goodluck! Let us know how it turns out!!

^^ my company has a store on shapeways. Great site easy to use, yet alittle pricey. But you pay for ease of use. Also, I agree with the CAD level of difficulty. Not an easy thing to do, I do this for a living as well as for fun at home. Let me know if anyone needs help with creating this data. I actually like doing CAD and i wouldn't mind answering questions pertaining to it. I'm alittle too busy to do extra CAD work but never hurts to ask. Also, if you have an idea/sketch/image/prototype you can go to a design firm and have them quote how much it would cost to create the CAD for you. Not cheap, I do this for a living, but a simple CAD model will cost ~$1000-$3000....minimum On shapeways you can hire designers for a reasonable price and they can create the CAD model as well. But their abilities might be limited as it's not easy to model a fish when you've only been modeling consumer products. Just my two cents....

I can help anyone out with printing as well...Pm me if you want more details. As far as companies go google rapid prototyping for the closest company near you, if your on the east coast check out laser reproductions. Just down the road from me and I use them at work daily, awesome at what they do.