Lurarte

Likely also due to improper dispersion of the PVC and Plasticiser due to settling of the components. Plasticizer exudation occurs on the surface especially when exposed to solvents like you say! Water is not just a solvent but a great solvent! I recommend makers experiencing 'oily residue' on the surface of their baits mix more before pouring and or use a plastisol with a higher thixotropic additive. I hope this can assist. James

Troy Sparks plastisol is likely sourced in bulk from other retail providers and decanted into smaller containers or relabelled and directly on-sold in a similar fashion to all other retailers. Alternatively he may also have private manufacturing arrangements with an Australian chemical company, or is using a similar thermoplastic product not specifically designed for lures. Of course as stated above, if this is the case it would not be a use-specific product and its unlikely the components are wholly Australian. Retail providers such as Browndog's and U Make Em make no pretence regarding the source of their plastisol being sourced from US suppliers. This is an advantage, not a disadvantage for the Australian soft plastic lure makers as the US producers have more knowledge and experience in developing Lure specific plastisol blends and in many cases provide clear indications regarding the molecular weight resins that make up their plastisol's. As The Plastic Man stated there is no off the shelf, direct to retail producer of lure grade plastisol in Australia. There are chemical companies in Australia with the equipment and ability to manufacturer lure grade plastisol but the demand is very small and the manufacturers who do produce a plastisol do so for other industries, not for lures. One could contact an Australian chemical company to produce a custom batch of plastisol with the optimal properties although the cost for such a batch would likely be cost prohibitive for the home lure maker. Another option would be compromising with an off the shelf plastisol blend, but this would likely be inferior to the US blends. The final option would be directly sourcing the necessary individual chemical components and producing your own plastisol. Even with this route, to the best of my knowledge, there is no Australian-only production supply chain of the appropriate plasticizers, stabilisers, thixotropes, secondaries or PVC resins. Certainly Troy Sparks Lures is unlikely to be producing plastisol with supply chains from Australian-only chemical manufacturers and applying the appropriate production checks such as dispersion, de-aeration and filtering QC. Most chemicals used in the production of plastisol blends in Australia come from overseas. The argument stands that if you are buying plastisol for the purposes of lure making in Australia, for now at least the best option is from an Australian retail provider who sources their plastisol direct from a US manufacturer such as Polysol in bulk. You will not get the same price as our US brothers and sisters unfortunately due to shipping costs but you will get a good product. Browndog's seem to have the best prices and range from what I have seen although I have not personaly tested their plastisol yet but look forward to doing so It's exciting to hear other Australian retailers will be providing a plastisol as well. Unfortunately a lot of the animosity from Troy Sparks Lures around the provenance of his soft plastic lures is the result of a misguided patriotic ignorance with regards to the pre-retail supply chain of the materials he uses. The combative nature of his communications at best captures the hearts of other well meaning but uninformed Australian fisherman. At it's worst it is damaging to the industry he appears concerned to protect and in some cases is arguably defamatory to the other small Australian soft plastic lure makers. James

Hello sir, Unfortunately I cannot assist with any production ready molds but here are two 3D models which could be provided to a mill to run as a custom job if you are in a pinch. Both have paddle-style tails but could easily be modified to taper. https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/sand-worm-lures-mold-3d-file-step-files-for-cnc-machining-stl-files-for-3d-printing-yreyqn https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/hobby-diy/hand-tools/sand-worm-lures-mold-3d-file-step-and-stl-v2 Here is a producer who can do an 8 cavity 4" worm very similar to a sandworm, not quite the same but along those lines: https://palmolds.com/ocart/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=11&product_id=309&page=2

Thanks so much! Great idea, appreciate the lead! I will check it out.

Hello everyone, I find the history, design and development of soft plastic baits really interesting and I would love to be able to catalog all the soft plastics made in a website for history’s sake. I would love to have have photos and documentation of all the various designs. I have started with Berkley as they are my favourite mainstream bait maker. I have contracted them but haven’t heard anything back yet. I have 2015-current but nothing before. I was wondering if anyone could assist me in my search for locating old Berkley Catalogues, particularly pre 2000. I am also missing pre 2010 but I can find most products on old archives of the Berkley website. I would also be interested in any other brands of significance such as Ceme, Mann’s etc. Any old soft plastics brands. If you prefer to contact me directly you can do so via private message and I can provide a cloud drive if you need it to upload any files you have. I have found bass-archives.com which has a great collection of old catalogues but hopefully we can locate some more! Thank You! James