Greetings - Help For A Newbie?

[gone2long]

Thanks for the great info, didn't know about exploding measuring cups.....does melting used plastic work the same, just do it in short time frames, mix it in between. I have about 2lbs of used plastic I want t o practice with first.

Thanks

G

It will work but keep it in small batches, when you cook virgin plastisol you cook out some of the heat stabilizer so repeated cooking cooks even more off but you should be alright. Some guys like to add just a little virgin plastic in with the remelts. Oh yeah and cut your remelts up in small pieces it help the process along.

[jesse1378]

It will work but keep it in small batches, when you cook virgin plastisol you cook out some of the heat stabilizer so repeated cooking cooks even more off but you should be alright. Some guys like to add just a little virgin plastic in with the remelts. Oh yeah and cut your remelts up in small pieces it help the process along.

also make sure all the moisture is out of the old plastic if there is moisture in there it will bubble and pop and if it pops it could sling plastic at you.

[Griver]

Thanks everyone for the great tips

[Kozak]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the help. Got my shipment in today from LC and started pouring after work. Made about 60-75 baits total in 3 colors. I'M ADDICTED and I only did it for about 2-3 hours. I used the scraps I had from switching colors at the end and mixed them in with a bit of plastisol and some cut up sluggo chunks and made a "trash" color, which turned out to be awesome. Pumpkin Green + Minnow Silver + Blue glitter + red glitter + black/gold sluggo + black/silver sluggo + chartreuse glitter = something similar to watermelon candy haha, crazy yet awesome.

Also, the silicone/plastic molds pour a lot better than I expected them to. My only complaint is one of the finesse molds has 4 1/2" worms and they are WAAAAY too skinny. Not just because I'm lacking skills but like, I double I could thread one on a hook without ripping it in half. Oh well, I'm already searching for more silicone molds right now!

Thanks again people

Oh and I'm using 502 which is plenty soft. Bought a gal of 502 and a quart of 536 so I can make softer baits when needed. Also bought a pt of softner. 502 seems pretty standard by itself though, similar to what ZOOM uses on their baits I believe. Add a cap full of softner to 4oz and it gives the lure a little "bounce".

[mainbutter]

Welcome to TU!

I'm about $500 or so in.. but then again I have a number of aluminum molds which can get pricey.

If you're doing this just like I am, making your own baits for personal use, you CAN do it and save money.

There are two factors that will play into whether or not you save money 1) fishing a LOT 2) pouring only a few styles

You have to go through a lot of baits before you break even compared to buying store bought ones, but you WILL eventually break even if you use enough plastics. I'm certainly no where close to breaking even except on my through line swimbaits.. the commercial ones sell for $5-10 a piece. I use them for pike fishing, so the only way I can afford to use them is to pour my own It still costs me $1.50-2.00 to make one though (at least inserts are reusable), so it's still an expensive lure to use and lose often.

The good thing $ wise is that used molds, especially aluminum ones, retain quite a bit of value if you decide you want to sell to someone else.

If you're serious (always hard to judge whether you are or not until you start doing it for real), I'd highly recommend buying plastic in 5 gallon portions. $ per gallon is so much cheaper, and if you fish once a week and regularly use plastics, you WILL eventually put a big dent into a 5 gallon bucket.

If you fish senko style worms a ton and decide that's what you want to pour, you can probably make your $ back fast comparing your operating costs and buying $7 packs of yamamoto senkos.

[Kozak]

thanks for the advice

yeah, I can deffinately see myself saving money on this while having fun doing it. I fish tournaments pretty consistently and if I'm not out pre-fishing, I'm out fun-fishing, always going through plastics. One of the aluminum molds I picked up replicates a Gary Yamamoto bait that I'm obsessed with and some of my buddies know how good they are. I poured A LOT of them today and they look exactly like them. I plan on selling some to my buddies for cheap and making a little cash back that way as well. Also, like you said, I'm trying to keep it simple, the only two piece mold I will EVER think about getting is a 5 1/4" senko. I've got about 4 finesse baits, 2 average worms, and 2 trailers.I'm fine with buying creature baits. As far as swimbaits go, I try and stay away from them because of their cost. I will buy hollow bellies but only when I know the bite is ON.