Landry

For some reason my fluid beds I made are not working properly. The air seems to be going up the inside walls of the cup. I used photocopy paper as my filter/bottom of paint area - is there another type of more porous paper I could try? Thanks

I found the chamber and moving to a hard high heat silicon necessary to allow me to get dimple free pours without preheating on my huge muskie soft baits. I personally, did not feel it was necessary for my plastisol but that is my opinion. if he wants to spend 500+ to have absolutely mint bubble free baits then that is just fine by me. We all have different goals, expectations and needs. I was just sharing my opinion/experience. The degasser allowed pour great molds faster and easier but it made pouring baits slower and “I” didn’t feel it was worth it for “me”. I sincerely hope he feels the chamber and pump purchase was worth it once he starts using it. cheers.

I have an aluminum lead mold thy I want to modify. It is a Shad style head saltwater mold that I am using for a muskie jig 3-6oz sizes. I want to add a number two or three size sinker eye to the bottom so I can add a treble and wire extension on belly so I need the loop for the sinker eye cut out on mold. Can I get this done by a laser engraver or do I need a machine shop? I think I could do it myself but if it is done correctly it will allow the eye to pressure fit in place and keep the eye in place before I close the mold.

Thanks Mark. I appreciate the feedback

I see no reason for a chamber if u r a hobbyist. It is great for making silicon molds but i simply heat up plastisol and let it sit so air rises out and then reheat for 30 seconds. There are no discernible bubbles left after that.

Okay guys. I have a question here. I make 9-12” musky sized paddletails and I am looking to add a shallow/slow rolling 10” soft swimbait to my collection. my question is - do u people think a wedge style tail can be fished slower than a well designed paddletail (while still retaining a good kick)???? thanks

Well my results are now definitive. High temp mold Max 60 properly degassed gives me clean pours immediately- it may work with 30 shore too but I have not tried it yet. I have made two new molds are both are incredible.

I think it is the 340° heat that causes it. When I pour hard resin in to make a clone of my master carving it comes out smooth. pretty sure I have the solution now with degassed high temp silicon

I did all of those tricks and my masters are glossy and smooth. One of two things was happening to make the dimples: 1. Micro bubbles in the silicon even though I laid a thin coat first 2. The soft silicon was off gassing possibly? the high temp mold Max 60 May be what fixed the problem OR it may have been that I laid down multiple thin layers so had no bubbles anywhere near the bait surface. nevertheless, I bought a degassing setup and am now making high temp firm silicon molds the right way. Molds that can handle 6-12oz of hot plastisol without giving me those dang dents right away. No more pouring recycled junk plastic through my molds for an hour before I get the quality I want.

Well here are the results- degassed harder (shore 60) silicone molds will give you clean smooth pours every time and first pour. lota of people have helped me so this is my gift back

Yes - heating in oven does not work as well as with junk plastisol pours to warm them my question is - will a firmer and degassed silicone enable me to pour clean molds right away or in less time??? my guess is that I will have to buy a degassing setup and test it myself. Lol.

I make large 6-11oz (9-12”) muskie soft baits and have been using silicon molds (mold star 30) in mold boxes for 4 years now. I am pondering going to aluminum molds but this is a big pricey move for me as I need at least 6 molds made. My reason to move to aluminum is that with my silicone molds I need to pour three junk plastic baits through each mold in order to get the baits to come out smooth without tiny dimples on the surface. The dimples go away after that so that had me thinking they were not air bubbles in silicon causing the problem but instead some type of gas or cooling issue (mini denting). Before I jump into aluminum, I was pondering buying a pressure chamber and pump to degas the silicone and get rid of one possible variable. In the meantime I am currently pouring a new mold with mold Max 60 (60 shore) in thin layers to hopefully eliminate micro bubbles as a test run - perhaps the harder silicone will help too???? Was wondering if anyone here has seen degassing or moving to a harder silicone get rid of this micro dimple issue? Thanks so much guys.

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am in Ontario and make giant soft muskie swimbaits (rover Baits). For fun I have started making my own hard baits. I am a rookie but you could likely benefit from my testing strategy. Here is what I did. I stuck to one lure style at a time and a Jake is a great starter. I used cedar. I stuck to flat sided lures and used wood that was 19-20mm thick. make a template so u can duplicate it. cut bait and router edges cut lip slot so it is a tight fit for your lexan or aluminum. use screw eyes and put on hooks for testing too. seal bait with crazy glue for testing. make a variety of lips that are the same and vary from proven lips. Get/make some 7-10 gram weights and grab some masking tape. Test in water and jam in different lips and tape on weights to belly systematically until you think you have it. Mark where belly weights go. once the baits are epoxied they will likely run well but may change. Test again. But the true test is running them on the boat trolling at various speeds as casting retrieve speed is much slower. And of course the reel test is do they get chewed??

Can anyone give me a recipe for making the most buoyant resin/micro balloon possible??? I want the most buoyancy I can get - and what would it’s density be like then -maple mahogany???... thanks.