bassbug Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Making tubes is one part of this addiction I have not been very successful at. I fact I have not made one decent tube yet. I am thinking about buying a Fry Daddy to heat plastic and dip tubes. Do any of you use a Fry Daddy to dip tubes? If not, any thoughts in regard to it working or not. I am also interested in any other recommendation for heating plastic to dip tubes. Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Maybe you should post your methods in detail, with a few pics of your equipment and the problem. The solution may well be very simple. Has to be worth a try before spending money. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojon Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Describe in detail your problems,and I will make every effort to solve them.Making tubes is easy and enjoyable,and shouldn't cause you problems.I have,in the past,solved some pretty wierd problems.Most were simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I've been wondering this also. I nuke plastic in a 1 or 2 cup pyrex measuring cup, and it seems to me that I must need a narrower, taller container to make this work. Anybody got pics of their dipping setup? C'mon...you know you do....POST 'em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I've been wondering this also. I nuke plastic in a 1 or 2 cup pyrex measuring cup, and it seems to me that I must need a narrower, taller container to make this work. Anybody got pics of their dipping setup? C'mon...you know you do....POST 'em! Get One of Bojons CDs .... I think it will answer most all of your questions on dipping tubes. JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbug Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I've been wondering this also. I nuke plastic in a 1 or 2 cup pyrex measuring cup, and it seems to me that I must need a narrower, taller container to make this work. Anybody got pics of their dipping setup? C'mon...you know you do....POST 'em! Thats where I am Headshot. I have a Presto Pot, but it takes to much plastic. I have a stainless steel measuring cup, but it is not deep enough. I have not bought a microwave for the garage and I dare not use the one on the house. The fry daddy seemed like it might work for tubes and swim baits. I am just interested in what others are using to dip tubes and or swim baits. With a name like Headshot, I assume you are a squirrel hunter and a fisherman. Thanks for any and all help, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) The solution is horizontal dipping. Do a search on 'horizontal dipping' and you will find 21 results. You should find a solution amongst them. Dave Edited May 5, 2009 by Vodkaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Get One of Bojons CDs .... I think it will answer most all of your questions on dipping tubes. JSC Huh? I thought this website was about sharing information. An Open Source alternative to proprietary tacklemaking techniques. Am I wrong about the purpose of this website? "TackleUnderground.com is a fishing lure & fishing tackle maker's community. We discuss the tools, tips & techniques to make your own handmade baits and superior quality fishing tackle. By becoming a registered TU member, you enjoy the opportunity to share & learn from a vast array of talented luremakers from around the world." If someone asks a question on the forum that I know the answer to, should I be charging them for it? Equipment is one thing, but the knowledge should be free, no? It honestly disturbs me when I hear about baitmakers (and other industries) patenting ideas and freaking out about IP law. They want to lay claim on a concept, to own an idea, and all that really does is delay progress for the community/industry as a whole. Knowledge is and should be farking free, whether you paid your PA $10,000 or not for your "stake" in it. JSC - I appreciate you were trying to help, this isn't really directed at you per se. I've just seen some remarks lately by people that seem like they want to use this website as a platform to sell knowledge, which is, from my understanding, contrary to the true community-building, idea-generating, purpose of this website. Also, I'm dealing with a lot of B.S. IP issues in my industry which are stifling innovation at this crux moment for my business, so I'm a bit sensitive about it. /sorry for the rant. Hope I don't ruffle any feathers, I really like this website. Please correct me if I am misinterpreting the mission statement of this website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 The solution is horizontal dipping.Do a search on 'horizontal dipping' and you will find 21 results. You should find a solution amongst them. Dave Thanks Dave, that's very short and helpful answer. Bassbug: Here's a good thread that's pretty descriptive. I think I might try Bojon's technique here. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/soft-plastics/16020-horozontal-dipping.html JSC, you're in that thread too. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbug Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Thanks for all the helpful information. I too will take a look at horizontal tube dipping. Sounds like fun anyway. Now, has anyone tried using a Fry Daddy for tube or swim bait dipping. Or, what would you recommend for same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojon Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Check out the above thread on horizontal dipping.This is how I do it,and have done so more than 20 years.I offer help to any and all who ask providing they tell me in detail the problems they are having.I have problems posting photos but will gladly send a picture of my set up.I will need your full email address in order for me to send the photos.I have no trade secrets and I'm willing to help.All you need to do is ask. You can adapt to vertical dipping once you get the procedure down pat.I think a lot of the tube dippers tend to over complicate the procedure.It is simple,and should be fun. One tip.Remember a cooler rod will accept more plastic per dip.This makes a slightly thicker tube.Remember to cool the tube on the dipping rod then dip the second coat.I have even tried to cool the rods in a refrigerator prior to the dipping.I guess it is ok but I worry about codensation,so I hesitate to recommend this. My tube dipping station,is in the kitchen of my apartment,and fits on a card table.I cut the tails on the kitchen table using a self healing mat. I have had several people try to help me post photos on this site,and I just can't do it. Sorry. I don't pour lures,and only make tubes by horizontal dipping.I make my own crank baits,and wire lures.Keeps me busy.I have never sold a lure,so you can see I'm not in this to make money.I only want to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 HEADSHOT, I think you just shot yourself in the foot. Yes TU is about sharing info, techniques etc. Bojon is one of the biggest and most generous contributors to this site. The useful information that you find in the links that I put you onto, ALL come directly or second hand from Bojon! B spent many hundreds of hours putting together the ultimate source of tube dipping information. This information is not available anywhere else as far as I know. Do you begrudge him raking a few dollars back for all the hard work he put into it? He did not make the disc for financial reasons, it will never make the best sellers list, the market for the disk is perhaps a few hundred. He spent years working out the dipping process, then published it for people to learn in a few days, what took him years. I will also add, that before compiling the disc, he asked the TU membership what they thought of the idea, "YES PLEASE!" was the unanimous responce. "Worth every cent" is the opinion of everyone who owns one. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 HEADSHOT, I think you just shot yourself in the foot. Yes TU is about sharing info, techniques etc. Bojon is one of the biggest and most generous contributors to this site. The useful information that you find in the links that I put you onto, ALL come directly or second hand from Bojon!B spent many hundreds of hours putting together the ultimate source of tube dipping information. This information is not available anywhere else as far as I know. Do you begrudge him raking a few dollars back for all the hard work he put into it? He did not make the disc for financial reasons, it will never make the best sellers list, the market for the disk is perhaps a few hundred. He spent years working out the dipping process, then published it for people to learn in a few days, what took him years. I will also add, that before compiling the disc, he asked the TU membership what they thought of the idea, "YES PLEASE!" was the unanimous responce. "Worth every cent" is the opinion of everyone who owns one. Dave I'm relatively new here, and you have to understand that newer users may not be totally aware of all the contributions by every member to date, or who's an expert on what, or what toes to watch out for. This has nothing to do with Bojon and his accomplishments. I have no disagreement with the fact that he my be a prolific author and expert teacher of technique. And I certainly don't begrudge him a few bucks for his efforts. I take issue with a glib response of "I won't answer your question, but here, buy this guy's CD!" to a legitimate question posed by a member like myself. I'm here to learn and share (for free) what I know if helpful, and I think others are too. I thought THIS was the place where the information gets disseminated, not someone else's CD or hard drive. This isn't rocket science, someone could easily post the CD into a free blog or myspace page or any other of the number of free services out there specifically for this purpose. Or hey, how about here? on this forum? I am considered by many to be an "expert" at website design and application development. Now let's say that I take my 10,000+ hours of application development experience, go to an Open Source forum, and instead of answering questions that get posed, I shill my or my buddies training CD in response to questions. They ban users for that on any of the dev forums I'm on. Why? Because it represents a conflict of interest between that user, and the forum's mission. I have a lot of respect for Bojon and certainly am not meaning to pick on him at all, and I think it's unfortunate that he's been dragged into this thread. I'm perfectly willing to help him post images or other material on the site, as that is one of the areas of my expertise. I'm not averse to putting in a little bit of work for the community as a whole. I just want you to understand why the comment raised a red flag with me. /Great, now I've totally threadjacked. REALLY sorry all. This just ain't my day I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbug Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 After a google search and some TU searches it appears that the Presto Fry Daddy does not have a thermostat. So much for that idea. Any recommendations for a device to cook and keep plastic hot for dipping tubes and swim baits. I have a presto pot but you have to cook a lot of plastic to get any depth. I don't think you get enough depth with the Lee Pots either. For tubes, I think you need a depth of at least 6" and for swim baits probably about 8" or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 After a google search and some TU searches it appears that the Presto Fry Daddy does not have a thermostat. So much for that idea. Any recommendations for a device to cook and keep plastic hot for dipping tubes and swim baits. I have a presto pot but you have to cook a lot of plastic to get any depth. I don't think you get enough depth with the Lee Pots either. For tubes, I think you need a depth of at least 6" and for swim baits probably about 8" or more. LOL, I got so caught up with my threadjack that I forgot to mention that I originally tried our old frydaddy, and it just got too hot and smoked the plastic if I didn't manually plug/unplug every few minutes, which can really throw off a pour. I found an old microwave we had sitting around, and it's a million times better (although I'd like to get a hotplate or something to keep it hotter longer, i pour in a cold garage) I'm sure you could find a cheap/free/throwaway microwave to use. Call a buy/sell shop maybe? I sure would like to try Bear's Baits stirring presto pot someday. That thing looks sweet. Speaking of smoking plastic, I finally broke down and got a ventilator at the local HW store. Makes a big difference. Even though I was careful before, I still got headaches after long sessions. But no more. I really recommend it if you don't have perfect ventilation. Regarding tubes: Are you gonna try the horizontal dip technique first, or find a tall vessel for it? I probably can't try until the weekend, but it'd be nice to compare results from doing it differently. Bojon's way looks pretty tempting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbug Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I am going to get his CD and check out his method. I still need some way to dip swim baits. PS: Where did you get the name HEADSHOT. We have a guy here in the office we refer to as headshot, he was a sniper in the Marines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I am going to get his CD and check out his method. I still need some way to dip swim baits.PS: Where did you get the name HEADSHOT. We have a guy here in the office we refer to as headshot, he was a sniper in the Marines. You sure it's not me? Kidding....I used to be a sniper in an online game called Halo, my clanmates gave me the name, as I was rather reliable in dispatching the enemy from a distance. I do a fair bit of hunting as well, both air and cartridge here in the great WI northwoods, although I'm nowhere near as good in real life. Your office guy would probably mop the floor with me in any range trial over 100m. And now, back to your regularly scheduled baitmaking thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I don't recall all of the details, but there were some previous discussions about this. There was mention of using an Arizona Ice Tea can for dipping. There were also some threads on making a POP insulators for the cans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbug Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I don't recall all of the details, but there were some previous discussions about this. There was mention of using an Arizona Ice Tea can for dipping. There were also some threads on making a POP insulators for the cans. I will do some more searching and see what I can find. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 In response to headshots comments on free information, most people here do contribute to the forum but not all. I think the bottom line here is that you have to do some of your own experimentation and research and some people here are tired of people lurking on this site and just stealing the information and contributing nothing to the forum and most will not even pay to be a member. Some here make a living at it so it is not beneficial for them to give the info away to a possible competitor. Most here will give you the information you want but I think they are leary when it comes to giving out information when the person did not bother to even search the forum for previous posts. I am not speaking for everyone but my feeling is that if I post everything I learn and get nothing in return then it has no value to me to give it out. This is not directed at you it is just a general statement on what typically goes on here. The information you are probably looking for is already here if you search the previous posts and if you post a question after you researched previous posts you may get a better response. You have to understand that the questions most new people have ask have already been answered a million times here before. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 A small RedBull can wouldn't waste a whole lot of plastic, as it's pretty narrow. Wrap it in pipe insulation maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojon Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I really don't know how to find it,but I had a short video of the dipping process as well as the tail cutting video.Jerry was kind enough to post it.My guess it was close to three years ago.Can any one find those two videos?I think it might help to solve some of the current problems. When horizontal dipping you use a small loaf pan with a wooden handle attatched that is set on a buffet plate to maintain the heat,after beiging brought to tempeture in a Pyrex cup in a micro wave.You can use as little as two ounces of plastic,but I usually use four.The dipping rods are usually made of aluminum rod that are usually 1/4 inch dia,and are attached to a wire coat hanger wire using JB WELD.The wire is bent at a 90 deg,so the dipping rod looks like a L shape.After dipping into the plastic for less than a second the rod is turned nose down and set aside to cool.SIMPLE Remember to lub the rod before dipping with PAM. The dvd/cd shows more than this short description,in fact the dvd shows the process from start to tail cutting.The cd covers different dips like two or even up to four colors.I also show how to make the tools needed,the different sizes of dipping rods,and two types of tail cutters.So this is more than a short video. I'm lucky to sell a item a week,and the postage is eating me up.This is no way to make a bunch of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headshot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 In response to headshots comments on free information, most people here do contribute to the forum but not all. I think the bottom line here is that you have to do some of your own experimentation and research and some people here are tired of people lurking on this site and just stealing the information and contributing nothing to the forum and most will not even pay to be a member. Information is free, there's nothing being stolen. Why would an experienced baitmaker who owns a bait company want to be on this site anyway if they didn't have something to learn? I'm sure they don't do it out of the goodness of their hearts, do they? And if they are indeed learning something, well aren't they getting something out of it too, and not just contributing? I certainly wouldn't want to be a member of a forum where I knew everything already, and then just answered everyone else's questions repeatedly...what's to be gained by that? It would be like getting your master's degree, and then going back to grade school. Most here will give you the information you want but I think they are leary when it comes to giving out information when the person did not bother to even search the forum for previous posts. I hear you, believe me. But how can you tell that someone hasn't searched the posts already? Sometimes the proper terms can be elusive when you're new to a hobby. That's when you just ignore the post if you don't want to deal with it, or help the newb with the proper term to search under. Just some thoughts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimcline Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Bassbug, I do use my presto pot for tube dipping. The beauty of the pot is that you CAN use as little as 4 oz o plastic as long as u watch the heat and don't mind frequent cleanup. Also, it can be used for both horizontal dipping and vertical dipping if you want to do really large runs of tubes. If you don't want to use a small amount like that just dip the tubes you want and then pour the rest into molds for regular baits. The problem with vertical dipping is that you need a lot of plastic to keep it going, especially for longer tubes. When I do bigger runs, I actually will use 2 prestos with the same color and keep the paddle running in the extra one so that when the plastic level drops below where I need it, all I have to do is turn off the motor and dip out what I need and keep moving. I use a system of plexiglas dipping disks fitted with at least 20 rods per disk. The disks are cut to 8 inches in diameter as this lets them fit inside the pot. I screwed a screen door handle to the opposite side to dip with. Then when I finish with the dip I place the loaded disks over old pots that are deep enough to accomodate the length of the rods. With enough disks you can really turn out a bunch of tubes. Now with all this said, the best way for dipping for yourself is without question Bojon's horizontal method. I basically learned everything I know from him and just adapted from there. His tail cutter is the absolute bomb! He is without question one of the most generous posters we have here with his experience and info.If he tells you something, TAKE IT TO HEART! His knowledge is nothing short of amazing. I have his discs too and can't imagine where I'd be without them. He is not only a great asset to this board, he is truly a TREASURE to the whole hand pour community, and I just want to take this oppurtunity to thank him for all he's done and meant to us. Hope this helps, JIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimcline Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 One other thing, this is for Bojon too. Ron, I spoke to you not long ago about trying to coat some dipping rods with teflon paint to make removal of the tubes easier. I haven't forgotten it, I just have been too busy with work to get to it. As soon as I know anything I will post it here for all to see. I'm actually thinking of trying the paint on wooden dowels to see how they work. If anyone has any info on this, I would appreciate it if you pass it on. Thanks again, JIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
