squigster Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Has anyone had any luck finding a way to hold the Netcraft molds tight enough together so you dont get flashing? The C clips they give you are a joke. I used regular C clamps and actually broke one by over tightening it. Has anyone used quick grips for this? I have a 4" grub mold. It does make a nice grub when it does work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Sorry to say this; but leave them alone before you burn yourself badly. Move on to safer molds. www.novalures.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mradamh Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Agreed. I got burned by those molds. There's something about 340 degree plastic under pressure near my hands that scares me. Spend the dough, and stay safe. It'll be worth it in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawghunterbaits Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Ok Do I need to talk about netcraft molds and injectors again! Nova is right stay away from them they r very dangerous to use!!!!!!!!! Don't get me wrong ALL the guys down there at netcraft r awesome guys to deal with and talk to, just soft plastic molds and injectors r not there nitch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 A knife is dangerous if you dont take precautions in using it just like everything in everyday life. While I dont reccomend the plastic injectors, due to there melting point is around 350-375 degrees. I do know they work and you wont get hurt if you wear protective full length gloves and a face mask. Just like your wouldnt gas/arc weld without gloves and eye protection. I burned my hand extreamly bad back in 2002 or 2001 cause one melted. it wasnt the injectors fault is was mine and Bobby's. I was stupid enough to hold the mold together while bobby was using the injector and squirting plastic in. one way to use them is too pour your plastic in then use teh injector to shoot air in, then finsh pouring. bottom line is you still have to have common sence when using anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted July 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 I bought some quick grips today and clamped them to the Netcraft molds and it held together well. Out of 12 baits 5 turned out without voids.WHooo Hooo only wasted half my time today. I now understand $5.99 for a mold and why it is a bad idea. The injector looks in the catalog like it would hold a fair amount of plastic but it is only the size of a pill bottle and cools off pretty quick (Clogged injector 40% of the time that you have to clean out as the rest of the plastic sets up inside the tube.) It isnt worth the $10 in my opinion. I tried different pressures and flows but it didnt seem to matter. I will not buy any more and have learned my lesson. Its a shame because the grubs turn out almost like a Kalins 4" grub. I tried pouring the molds with superhot plastic and just using the injector to push air through it as someone had suggested. This will not work with their injector due to it lets air bleed out of the plunger. I then tried gluing an O ring around the plunger. What a mess that was. I then found a big injector my kid used to use for his medicine and even with an o ring glued to the base where it seals against the mold you could not get enough pressure to push the plastic all the way though to fill the tail. I then got the bright idea to try the injector on a few aluminum molds and it left voids all over the baits most of the time even though I preheated the molds and pushed slowly. I hate to pour baits with a pan and if it is intricate I might as well forget it. Chalk it up to another lesson learned. Thanks for all of your opinions and suggestions. Back to buying grubs I guess ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman843 Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 from all the advice from this board I have never tried the injection molds I started with pots and 1 and 2 part molds but would it be posssible to pour them like a 2 part mold like you would get from dels.just a thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike-A-Pike Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 I just have to think that adding a vent in the furthest parts of a mold and applying just enough vacuum to draw the plastic to that void has to be safer than forcing a liquid under pressure with air needing to be forced out to make room for the plastic. Sort of like a hydraulic ram that still has air that needs to be bled out so the air pressure won't force the ram to extend once fluid pressure is removed. Oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 squig, I am not following this coversation really well are you trying to inject plastic into a alum grub mold so you dont have to pour the tail seperate? if you are you need to drill a 1/32 hole at teh very type of the tail 1/16 is best because most guys dont have a drill press and only have a hand drill. hand poured molds are not made for injecting as they dont have bleed holes, you DONT need to pre heat the mold either as it wont make any difference. if you put a bleed hole in the tail you could pour down the body then shoot air into it with the hand injector then finish pouring the body, just keep your plastic on the hot side. with out a bleed hole you just cant do it. Vaccum wont work on a alum mold with a long tail like that due to the plastic cools off to fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted July 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 In reference to handpouring the baits I could do that but I am inconsistant in doing that and I end up overflowing the cavity most of the time so it is not a real option for me. I wanted to inject the baits but this is not obviously working out. Del, I am trying to inject the netcraft molds and your Horny Toad mold. I added 1/32" vents at the tips of the legs in the Horny Toad mold as you suggested, but when I inject it, the baits are mostly left with voids. I injected 22 baits and 5 came out okay, the rest were left with voids on the baits. As I stated in the my previous post the injectors plunger lets air escape out of the injector so it has no air pressure it only works when plastic is in the injector because it fills the void around the plunger. I also used a medicine injector that was sealed and it does not work because it does not have enough pressure to push the plastic to the tail. I tried to preheat the mold thinking it would help the plastic flow easier. I gave up on the vacuum idea because if it pulled too hard it would suck plastic into the line. I thoough about using an air compressor at a low psi but everyone thought it was too dangerous. squig, I am not following this coversation really wellare you trying to inject plastic into a alum grub mold so you dont have to pour the tail seperate? if you are you need to drill a 1/32 hole at teh very type of the tail 1/16 is best because most guys dont have a drill press and only have a hand drill. hand poured molds are not made for injecting as they dont have bleed holes, you DONT need to pre heat the mold either as it wont make any difference. if you put a bleed hole in the tail you could pour down the body then shoot air into it with the hand injector then finish pouring the body, just keep your plastic on the hot side. with out a bleed hole you just cant do it. Vaccum wont work on a alum mold with a long tail like that due to the plastic cools off to fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 were are th voids squigster? can you put up or send me a picture? I am thinking the voids are caused do to the plastic cooled while shooting it. the netcraft bait I couldnt help you on it cause I don't know what it looks like. be really careful with an air compressor, anything over 3-4lbs of pressure with Haunt you for life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I will try and send you a pic. I am not going to attempt to use an air compressor. It scares me enough with the injector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirkfan Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 I've used the Netcraft molds a lot over the years (these things used to be marketed by Hilts molds, I don't know who really makes them), and there seems to be a learning curve for each mold. Some of them just don't mate well, and you always get excessive flash....pitch those, along with the C-clips that come with all the molds. I have used various clamps, including bulldog paper clips (work pretty well for the easier molds to inject), and woodworking spring clamps in the smaller sizes (work better for difficult molds) Some, like their 4 inch shad minnow mold don't have an injector port in the tail where you'd expect, just tiny vent holes, you have to inject through the head end of the mold where you'd ordinarily see the plastic come out. Once injected, you have to flip everything upside down and add a little more plastic for shrinkage. In regards the injectors...they do have their foibles. You pour the hot plastic in, and the metal tip immediately solidifies the small amount that's in it. Soooo, you put the plunger in, turn the thing right side up and apply slight pressure to get this small solidified plug to slightly bulge out of the tip. With a gloved hand or hemostats, or tweezers, you grab this plug and pull whilst putting gentle pressure on the injector to force new plastic into the tip. Once the plug is gone and melted plastic has started to flow out the tip, get cracking and inject all the molds you have prepared. You'll always have about one third of the injector which will have started to solidify. You get what you get. Pull the solidified plastic out of the injector barrel with a pair of hemostats or tweezers, and save for remelting, don't pitch it back into the melted plastic in your cup or pot, or things really slow down. Don't put a mold on the injector and push down on the injector with the mold, instead, put the mold on the injector tip, and with a gloved hand, push down on the top of the injector and let the plastic flow into the mold under minimal pressure. This avoids release of hot plastic under pressure if the mold slips. Don't force partially solidified plastic into the molds, it's never going to make a complete bait, and you're going to be tempted to push too hard, and bad stuff is going to happen. Use a pizza cutter to cut off any flash. The 6 inch curltail grub with built in injector is SLOWWWW to use, screwing and unscrewing the wing nuts is a pain and my injector plungers have started to break down. But I've caught so many fish with that darn lure I've actually turned new plungers on a lathe just to keep using these molds. Since I'm not making lures professionally, I'm willing to invest some time with these molds and the price is right. If you're careful with them, and willing to experiment, you can get most of them to work, I've never experienced a serious plastic spill or burn with them, I've made a lot of baits, and never had a mold totally fail yet. The molds do develop some heat/age/stress cracks over time, but they stillwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerd1994 Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 what i do with my frog, shad, and split tail grub from netcraft is just sit them upright and pour into them. the frog turns out the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
