The Twinjector

[CTBASS56]

this discussion is for making laminate baits....

*does anybody have any experience with the twinjector from basstackle?

*do the laminates come out as well with this piece of equipment compared to hand pouring laminates?

last question....without thinking about, you can only choose one:

hand pour or injection?????

[TBaits]

I have bought 3 of his molds and the work he does and the service is awesome. BUT, if I buy another injector, it will be Bears medium with the 2 color injector tip. I have a med injector already. I have made some real nice laminates, by pouring one side, closing the mold then injecting.

Inject and don't look back to answer your last question.

[smallmouthaholic]

this discussion is for making laminate baits....

*does anybody have any experience with the twinjector from basstackle?

*do the laminates come out as well with this piece of equipment compared to hand pouring laminates?

last question....without thinking about, you can only choose one:

hand pour or injection?????

Injection hands down over hand-pour. I hand poured for 5 years and now that I'm into injecting for 3 months,I don't want to hand pour any product unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY and the price will JUSTIFY the time

My 2 color injection experience is from Bears Baits not Bass Tackle. 2 color injection is tricky @ best. I've just started last week and have had results from excellent to poor. It's a big learning curve and it takes time for sure but practice makes perfect. David Alexander is always willing to spend time w/you over the phone and has a video on his forum that will show you basic 2color injecting. It is definitely not a production process. Hopefully when his new injection machine gets on line, the time will decrease greatly and consistency will improve 90%

this discussion is for making laminate baits....

*does anybody have any experience with the twinjector from basstackle?

*do the laminates come out as well with this piece of equipment compared to hand pouring laminates?

last question....without thinking about, you can only choose one:

hand pour or injection?????

Injection hands down over hand-pour. I hand poured for 5 years and now that I'm into injecting for 3 months,I don't want to hand pour any product unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY and the price will JUSTIFY the time

My 2 color injection experience is from Bears Baits not Bass Tackle. 2 color injection is tricky @ best. I've just started last week and have had results from excellent to poor. It's a big learning curve and it takes time for sure but practice makes perfect. David Alexander is always willing to spend time w/you over the phone and has a video on his forum that will show you basic 2color injecting. It is definitely not a production process. Hopefully when his new injection machine gets on line, the time will decrease greatly and consistency will improve 90%

[powerworm]

injection over hand pour all the way!!! i have used both and bears wins hands down!! the basstackle block is awful big for the little job it needs to do others may find it suits them but for me and i make up to 1200 laminate baits a week bears beats it hands down!!

[Richard Prager]

this discussion is for making laminate baits....

*does anybody have any experience with the twinjector from basstackle?

*do the laminates come out as well with this piece of equipment compared to hand pouring laminates?

last question....without thinking about, you can only choose one:

hand pour or injection?????

Would this be for your own use or for production? If it is for personal use, I myself would hand pour.

Edited April 28, 2010 by 152nd Street Baits

[CTBASS56]

Thanks for your responses. For now it would be personal use (not too mention i have not even started yet/have never done this before). My ultimate goal however is to get going making my own baits, gain some knowledge and experience, then turn it into a side job. I am a firefighter and I work 24 hr shifts, with 72 hrs off in between. I am young (24), and would absolutely be the luckiest person in the world if I could do 2 things that I love for a living, Fishing and Firefighting. I worked for a fishing company making spinnerbaits/chatterbaits, jigs, etc and I've always wanted to get into soft plastics.

Anyway, I ask about injection/hand pours because my ultimate goal is to start my own little business.

next questions:

*without going overboard (knowing my position now and my ultimate goal), what injection equipment would be a good place to start?

*all things considered, what do you believe my initial expenses would be?

I am going to be looking for some serious help in the near future so I appreciate your time and input!

Thanks guys

[Frank]

I do have a Bass tackle Twinjector and find that it will give you a very nice bait without a large learning curve. I have had it for as long as it has been out. Yes it looks bulky and seems like a hand full but it does the job it was designed to. I will not coment on Bears because I do not own one.

Let me give you a few tips that I learned myself. The temp of the plastic needs to be within 10 deg of each other. Mine shoots best at around 330 deg. The design lets you fill both of the injectors at once, with the cups next to each other. I put mine on a griddle set at 400 deg just to keep it warm for a longer time. Dont try to pump the plastic back and forth as you will introduce plastic chunks that hamper the laminate consistancy. Draw the plastic up shoot and evacuate the molten back in the cups and stop. Set it aside and clear the adapter(it comes with three wing nuts I just use the middle one) tthen clear the injectors and by then you should be able to demold. Then start again. After a while it becomes as easy as breathing you will do it without thinking. Another nice feature it has is the pins that hold the tips on. A slight twist and off it goes. I twist both and push the plunger and both pop out in my hand. I know that it is not important to some but for me when evacuating the plastic back in the cups they had a tandancy to pop off in the cups, you see they are together and you dont have three hands. This was a modification that I did and when I showed Kevin he adopted the idea to his line up. This is another good thing about dealing with Bass Tackle is that he is all ears when it come to your needs. And things will continue to evolve into something better and better if you enter this with an open mind. Do not let it get clouded from those who believe that this is as good as it gets. Your ideas might be the next big deal,you just need someone to listen. From what I have learned this injecting thing is not that old and this is just the beginning. I have a video here in a post that shows the twinjectors use. One thing for sure is that there will be more to come so if you dont get one now there will be a newer better one out soon. It is just a matter of time. Hope this will help you make the right decision for you. Frank

And injection all the way.

[GB GONE]

I would suggest you try both and go with what makes sense for you and your situation. Laminates can be hand poured easily without opening the mold. Maybe 2 out of 100 are not perfect. Hand injection makes a perfect bait 99% of the time with one color and near that with laminates.

I will say that there are colors that cannot be made with an injector that will need to be hand poured however these are 3,4 or 5 colored baits or baits with a different colored head portion. You may never have the need to do these colors though.

Jim

PS Correct me if I am wrong on this guys but I believe you may be limited to 1 cavity molds for doing RELIABLE laminates as well. I think once you get to 2 or more cavities, the plastic would mix more the further you get from the port. I am thinking I was told that but have not experienced that myself. I mention that because costs of 1 cavity are high compared to multiple cavity molds.

Edited April 28, 2010 by ghostbaits

[Frank]

Not saying you are wrong on the miltiple cavitys but it does work for me. I have quite a few two cavitys and they are actually better and more consistant from bait to bait. One eample of that is a two cavity brush hog mold, the tails are actually two colors. I am sure that there are limitations but not with mine. I have a two cavity worm mold that is so consistant it is scary. When you hold the bait in the light it is dead nuts half and half. Frank

[GB GONE]

Thanks Frank. The mold I have does not make a reliable one after 2 or 3 cavities. Mine has some thinner appendages and it seems you get one color or the other.

Glad to hear that you are having success on the 2 cavities! I probably need more practice!!!!!

Jim

[nova]

Not knocking injection because I haven't tried it yet but from what I see you can do much more with handpour(which is where the artform is in my opinion), than you can with injection.

If you don't believe me just check the sofbait gallery. Injection is good for one or two color baits when you are in a production mode.

In the past I have handpoured one and two color baits in the amount of 700 to 800 per day. When you get into three and four color baits you can cut that number in half.

Again; I'm not knocking anyone's choices; to each his own.

www.novalures.com

[FISHGOD]

Thanks Frank. The mold I have does not make a reliable one after 2 or 3 cavities. Mine has some thinner appendages and it seems you get one color or the other.

Glad to hear that you are having success on the 2 cavities! I probably need more practice!!!!!

Jim

I have multi cavity molds that will do lams and some that wont. If the cavities are in line like a senko mold, I have bad results. More than two cavities from the same sprue seem to mix. But if they are on opposing sides of the sprue, they seem to turn out better. Large cavities like frogs and swimbaits seem to mix and not not do as well.

My 2 cents.

[GB GONE]

Thanks FISHGOD. That is what I am seeing. The port placement dictates the result for me. Even the molds with 4 cavities, 2 on each side of the port, will give 50% good laminates and 50% swirls or odd results.

Trial and error for me....

Jim

[pickeralpete]

Thanks FISHGOD. That is what I am seeing. The port placement dictates the result for me. Even the molds with 4 cavities, 2 on each side of the port, will give 50% good laminates and 50% swirls or odd results.

Trial and error for me....

Jim

im seeing 90% or better come out perfect using Bear's Baits 5" Stick and 6" Finesse worm molds (both 5 cavity) with his 2 colour injector at the moment. Temp and speed seem to determine the consistency for me, the closer to 320 or so i can inject the better the results.

Edited April 29, 2010 by pickeralpete

[GB GONE]

Nice!!!!!! I know I would need to practice more to get mine to work better!! The straight worms are easier for sure. Just get dicey when you have many thin appendages down a bait....

Thanks for all the good info on the twin injectors!!

Jim

[pickeralpete]

Nice!!!!!! I know I would need to practice more to get mine to work better!! The straight worms are easier for sure. Just get dicey when you have many thin appendages down a bait....

Thanks for all the good info on the twin injectors!!

Jim

Yeah, all of my baits that have smaller appendages are singles.

BTW, on some baits i have compaired (like Bears 4.25" Kodiak and Dels 4 cav mudbug) the singles can actually be cheaper by a few dollars. take my example, the 4 cavity is $200, 4 of the singles are $178.00. they are very similar types of baits, but the singles are in this case cheaper.

[Frank]

Not knocking injection because I haven't tried it yet but from what I see you can do much more with handpour(which is where the artform is in my opinion), than you can with injection.

If you don't believe me just check the sofbait gallery. Injection is good for one or two color baits when you are in a production mode.

In the past I have handpoured one and two color baits in the amount of 700 to 800 per day. When you get into three and four color baits you can cut that number in half.

Again; I'm not knocking anyone's choices; to each his own.

www.novalures.com

I know what you are talking about colors and it really is all in the eyes of the beholder. I posted a pic in the gallery with a blue gill and a top pour swim bait. Same colors but I really like the blending that comes out of the two color injectors. The more I use it the more I think of differant ideas to do with it. It also has not ever been about production for me. I want a bait that in my mind is the best I can do. And I know it takes more skill to hand pour cause I am not happy with my results. Frank