Dipping ?s

[tightline007]

I am just starting out at this and have been reading your guys post for a couple of weeks. Seems to be several very knowledgable people on here. I was wanting to start off with making some tube baits by dipping, and then work my way into molds and injecting. Looks like bojon has some videos that could really help me out. Actually any advise from anybody would be appreciated. Im really excited to get into this and be able to catch fish on my own plastics. Thanks for any help!

[fishlicker]

I learned from bojon and will never have to buy a tube again.

He is full of knowledge and willing to help just contact him.

[bojon]

I am just starting out at this and have been reading your guys post for a couple of weeks. Seems to be several very knowledgable people on here. I was wanting to start off with making some tube baits by dipping, and then work my way into molds and injecting. Looks like bojon has some videos that could really help me out. Actually any advise from anybody would be appreciated. Im really excited to get into this and be able to catch fish on my own plastics. Thanks for any help!

Contact me at kocron@comcast.net I will help you get a start.

[bigyen]

I could give you a few tips. I learned how to dip tube from this form and made some modifications to bojons process and tooling. Curently I'm in Monterrey Mexico working for a couple of months so I can't post any pictures but I'll do my best to explain what I did.

I use 1/4 and 3/8 aluminum rods bent at a 90 deg angle. I mount 3 rods on a small block of wood about 4x1x1/2, this acts as a handel and as a way to hang the rods after dipping. Make sure to polish the rods well this helps the tubes slide off the rods. I use a presto pot to keep my plastic hot and its big enough to dip the 3 rods mounted on the handel. I have 2 long pieces of wood mounted on the back of my bench the same space appart as the rod handel. I use that to hang the rods after dipping. I have room for around 10 handels on my bench so I can basically dip around 30 tubes in a few minutes. You need to make sure the rods are all the same length and bent the same distance from the end. I did that by mounting 30 rods on a long piece of wood. I used a sheet metal break to bend the rods then cut the wood with 3 rods per handel. I use the presto pot for my 1st and 2nd dip and a pyrex measureing cup for the last dip (head) You can transfer the cooked plastic from the presto pot to the pyrex cup and back to the presto pot to cut down on the amount of waisted plastic at the end of your run. Be sure to lube your rods before dipping, I use Pam cooking spray.

As for cutting the tails I tried the roller cutter method but found the results to be poor. I use a 3/4 ton arbour press to cut my tails. I mount about 30 box cutter bades on an aluminum fixture and mount that on the arbour press. I have a small platform with a cutting mat glued to to act as a cutting surface. The lines and measurments on the cutting mat are a big help. For the best results on your tails you need to make sure that you cut your tube square to the blades, the lines help with that. I used a small spray of WD40 or Pam on the blades to help the tube slide off the blades. After cutting I dip the tails in some of the fine salt I use for sticks to help separte them.

The cost for all of this isn't too bad. The arbur press is around $30.00 at Bussy Bee. I got the rods from a metal place for around $10.00. The blades were around $15.00 and the cutting mat from Walmart for around $6.00. It helps to have access to a machine shop and or metal shop but if you ask around and do some leg work you'd be supprised how easy it is to get access them.

Sorry I don't have pictures but if you want more info I could always ask the wife to take some and email them to me and I can post them.

Glenn