Best Mold Material

[GDille]

Hey Folks,

Ive been over on soft plastics quite a bit latley, but am back with a few updates/questions. I have someone approaching me to supply their hunting store with fishing lures, He is absolutley in love with my spinnerbait that I made, but my plaster mold is not quite up to the task of production. I would be interested in an aluminum mold, but I don't want to get over extended on something that could fall through. I've poked around the enginering department here at Kansas State, but really I need something fairly quick. I've heard about using bondo, or or water putty, but i have no idea where to begin to look for those products. Any help is appreciated, here is a picture.

Tight Lines,

George

[GDille]

Bob,

I would love to have aluminum, but I really need to make a small mold for now to make some money off of the bait. I like to have my mold practically paid off before I buy it. I would only really need to last for around 100 casts, but even longer would be great. A few hundred bucks on a mold that I still unsure about is not a risk I can afford to take at the moment. Thanks for the input though Bob!

I am interested in learning more about the bondo or water putty mold making techniques I anyone has done any work with those!

Tight Lines,

George

[Vodkaman]

George, bondo is a possibility, also you can mix it with polyester resin, to thin it to a pourable state. I have only poured a few ballast weights, but it was OK. The mold does soften and distort after a few pours, but if you make the mold right, you can eliminate this. Read this post by Sagacious, post No11 http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/15612-what-should-i-make-a-mold-out-of/

You might just about get 100 castings from it, I don't know, but the material is cheap enough to make a few molds.

Dave

[sdsaw]

George, bondo is a possibility, also you can mix it with polyester resin, to thin it to a pourable state. I have only poured a few ballast weights, but it was OK. The mold does soften and distort after a few pours, but if you make the mold right, you can eliminate this. Read this post by Sagacious, post No11 http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/15612-what-should-i-make-a-mold-out-of/

You might just about get 100 castings from it, I don't know, but the material is cheap enough to make a few molds.

Dave

Vodkaman, Thanks for that link! ...It's giving me ideas for a new project

High temperature silicone would be another alternative. I'm pretty sure that this is the material that the major lure producers are using in conjunction with a spin caster

I've heard a lot of good things about Bondo. I've never used the stuff but I will be experimenting with it soon though.

Here's a post how to build a spinnerbait mold with water putty:

http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/bassboard/fishing_tactics/message.html?message_id=131571

Let us know how it goes

Scott

[Basseducer]

George,

Hilts makes what they call the Perfect Replica Mold. It is a Vulcanized rubber mold that you cure in an oven. It should give you an exact copy that will last for many casts. Here is a link.

http://www.hiltsmolds.com/PerfectReplicaMold.htm

Hope this helps.

[sdsaw]

George,

Hilts makes what they call the Perfect Replica Mold. It is a Vulcanized rubber mold that you cure in an oven. It should give you an exact copy that will last for many casts. Here is a link.

http://www.hiltsmolds.com/PerfectReplicaMold.htm

Hope this helps.

That looks like the ticket for low cost replicating (for personal use of course )

Has anybody used this for lead pouring?

I really like the replacement inserts that fit the aluminum mold frame to hold the cost down

[Peterjay]

I use RTV silicone to make molds for all kinds of metal lures. Oomoo 30 is easy to use if you don't have any experience with RTV. It's also relatively cheap. There's lots of stuff that's tougher and better, but it's more expensive if you screw up. (guaranteed to happen) You can make a lot of small molds with a two-pound kit. All you need are some Legos to make a mold frame, some non-hardening sulfur-free clay, and a jar of Vaseline. The Hilts Perfect Replica mold is a good idea, but the inserts go for (I think) about $15 apiece, and the frame goes for $60. A two-pound kit of Oomoo 30 goes for under $25. I use it all the time for casting plastic masters as well as tin.

[GDille]

Thanks of all the ideas guys, this is what TU is all about! I will post my results once I get them going.

George