BuckeyeFishing

I use a microwave to melt and then place on an electric skillet set at 325 to keep fluid. I usually have to throw it back in the microwave for a few seconds but it makes life easier than constantly reheating for 30 secs-1 min. Could be a number of things You don't need to insulate your injector but I do heat mine up before I use it, either in a toaster oven or on electric skillet. Your are gonna get bubbles when you reheat, its just gonna happen. I heat my molds and injector in either my toaster oven I use to cure powder painted jigheads, or on my electric skillet. Just depends what I am doing that day and what I have on. Manufacturers make a difference and everyone will have an opinion on which they like best. Best advice here, try a few different brands and go with what works best for you. I started with Do-It like you, now using Bait Plastics, will probably give Dead-On a try next.

I have been doing the same thing recently, using pretty much the same grinder you linked. I bought mine years ago from a big box store. I was cutting it into small pieces with scissors before, but this is so much easier. There is very little clean up other than to remove the front and get anything out that is pressed against the face.

This is the tube mold I am considering, just wish they made it in a 2.75". There smallest size is 3.25" but I could make due with that. http://ultramolds.com/product/tube-complete/

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I like to put what I pour out on social media. I am a member of a few local facebook pages and on twitter and instagram. I have been contacted by a number of people about buying baits off of me. 1st, I don't have the production capacity, most of my molds are single shot. 2nd, I have a full time job teaching and although I have a fair amount of time off throughout the year, I don't want to be held to a deadline. Teaching is not physically demanding but it is very mentally draining and the last thing I want is to be distracted while pouring hot plastic and an emergency room visit is in my future. 3rd, I find this an enjoyable hobby and it's rewarding to catch fish on what you make. I don't want to turn an enjoyable hobby into a second job that I hate. All that being said, if I was younger and still in high school or college, I would have given lure making a shot as a way to make income. I would have had more energy, time, and ambition to throw behind a project like that. Social media is a great way to get the word out about your baits. I would just be careful not to over extend yourself, because social media is a double edged sword. If you fail to deliver on time or it's not the quality of product the customer expects, you can be torn down very quickly.

Canga has a good list I just started about 6 months ago. I bought most of my utensils and such at walmart. Anchor measuring cups, cheap 3 pack of cookie sheets, gloves, cheap butter knives, couple cheap pot holders, and some clamps. I bought my microwave from a used appliance store for $10 (do not use the one in your kitchen!) I started out with a handful of colors and glitter from lurecraft and also bought a couple of their open pour molds. Personally, I found out I do not like hand pouring but they didn't cost much ($8 or so a piece) so I wasn't out that much. I have since bought an injector and a few injection molds (2 artificial stone molds and 2 aluminum basstackle molds). The stone molds aren't bad but I like the basstackle molds a lot better. Basstackle.com has some very affordable molds and they are good quality, depending on what baits he uses most. I also just bought some more plastic, I started out with a quart, should have bought a gallon. My last order I bought a couple gallons plus some more color, glitter, and hi-lites. The absolute basics to get started are plasisol, some colors, some glitter, heat stabilizer/softener, worm oil and some molds (an injector if you buy injection molds). Utensils and safety equipment can be bought at a big box store, and he can add extra colors, glitters, and hi-lites/pearls over time. If he gets into it, he will want more molds and more plastic, he can just order additional colors and such then.

Sorry, missed the part where you had LPO only had 150 on your original post.

Tackledirect.com has them but the quantity is by the 1000. Lurepartsonline.com also has them but they are sold in packs of 10

Will adding heat stabilizer to a plastic remelt do anything or am I just wasting it? I have some plastic that I poured before I got heat stabilizer and I want to remelt it to pour some more of that color. I don't want to waste supplies but if it will keep the plastic from discoloring, I will add it during the remelt.

I don't know if you have looked into this but you might want to check out www.sba.gov . I am not sure where you live but they have local offices that provide free small business counseling and may be able to help you get on track with stuff like federal and state tax id, putting a business plan together, and making sure everything is legal. The Feds always want to say that small business is the backbone of the American economy but they make it so there are so many hoops to jump through to be compliant. I understand you're young and startup money may be tight. You may even be able to get guidance from your local chamber of commerce or if your local small businesses are part of a small business organization. It never hurts to ask and many small business owners want to see other small businesses succeed and are willing to help or at least point you in the right direction. Jake

There are awesome looking! What size are the smaller ones?

I have been doing some open pour swimbaits and the finished color is dull so i thought about dipping them. Do you just dip the body and not the tail or do half, let it dry, and then the other half?

You would not be able to run anything in that other than solid colors. Anything that can settle out of the plastic while it sits would all end up in the tails, so definitely no salt or glitter. This is just a simple centrifuge essentially, so anything heavier than the media will end up at the tails. Also, any inconsistency in your plastic could cause you problems too.

Whats up? My name is Jake and I am about as new to bait making as you can get. I have molds being delivered Monday and plastic, colors, and glitter being delivered Tuesday. I have read a number of topics on here and feel I am somewhat prepared to pour my first soft plastic baits. I have poured sinkers and jigheads for years, but this will be my first time making my own baits. I decided to start with some open pour molds, a couple swimbaits and a fluke mold. Will probably look into some hand injection molds a few months down the road if all goes well. Lots of good info on here and I look forward to continuing to learn and post some content.