Lureworks Plastisol

[carolinamike]

I've kind of noticed a trend, it seems the more expirienced people are not having much of an issue with the bubbles. Afterall, they are air bubbles which rise to the top after a couple of minutes and are easily scooped off and its only microwave users that talk about a bubble issue with LureWorks plastisol. I use a microwave to heat my plastisol when testing for moisture, in my tests I realy dont have an issue with the micro bubbles, if there is moisture contamination the bubles are always very large, no where near small enough to consider micro. A good plastisol at a good price stays clear, no bad smell or fumes, no sticky feeling, and this company has more formulas than anyone on the market.

[Frank]

Smallmouth, when you used the Spikeit plastic you got bubbles? Or do you use different plastics for different operations? I have stuck with the Spikeit plastic but at times I need a clear dipping plastic. When they came out with the clearasol it was different and did not have bubbles. I have been working on a solution for the bubbles and pretty much have them gone. There are two,ways I have found to do it and neither is hard at all. More on that later next week. But with the savings on the plastic it is well worth it. And yes it is free of ALL bubbles.

[Travis]

I have used various plastics over the years and overall rarely have had any issues with bubbles.  I keep it simple, Pyrex, metal spoon, microwave, mix early and slow in the initial minute, and then bring it up to temp.  Usually ready to pour with no bubbles at that point or give it few shakes swirls and deposit the pea sized bubble clump on the opposite wall of the pyrex and pour. The few times I had plastic that foamed bad did similar method but would let it skin and then use the spoon to twirl off the top skin and quick short reheat on the rest of the product and pour. I have thought confirming some of the issues guys report but never was worth it to me to get samples of the plastic to evaluate.  As Caronlinamike eluded to often I think it is more about the user than the product.  

[smallmouthaholic]

Smallmouth, when you used the Spikeit plastic you got bubbles? Or do you use different plastics for different operations? I have stuck with the Spikeit plastic but at times I need a clear dipping plastic. When they came out with the clearasol it was different and did not have bubbles. I have been working on a solution for the bubbles and pretty much have them gone. There are two,ways I have found to do it and neither is hard at all. More on that later next week. But with the savings on the plastic it is well worth it. And yes it is free of ALL bubbles.

Frank- yes it was Spike-it ,medium pourasol. They sent me a new gallon recently to try,claiming the bubbling problem was solved.Inspite of meticulous,control heating and stirring,the bubbling/foaming 

problem persisted. i've used plently of their plastisol along w/ other Spike-it products . Bruce Macelroy

provides excellent customer support and will immediately replace any product that has problems.Bruce returns all phones calls the same day.

 

That said, I have one production run that requires clear dipping and cannot have any bubbles/foam asociated w/ microwave heating. Yes,I've scoop off the top foam and waited for the bubbles to rise- then re-heated to have product w/ no bubbles. That's fine if you have time to play and wait.Their plastisols are fine for use w/ the Presto Pot system. There is NEVER any bubbles if you heat from scratch w/ the system/ w stirror and use the Shooting star System.

 

I recently recieved some de-aired samples from Bait Junky's that performed well after heating in  the micro wave w/ no foam/bubbles.

 

MF plastisol is the most consistent product I've used that produces no bubbles/foam and maintains it's clear color the longest w/ repeatedly heated via a microwave for dipping finished product.Their product mixes easily,without any seperation and never even hints of hard packing. That said MF plastisol is not the cheapest product on the block.

 

Chemionics(purchased in bulk) is one of the worst plastisols I've ever used that bubbles and foams.

 

I'm interested to hear the methods you've sucessfully used to produce micowave plastic w/o bubbles in specific brands of plastisol

[Travis]

Yeah I never have had issues with presto pot and overhead stirrer as it bakes the volatile component off do to the increased surface area, agitation.sheer forces, and longer cook times. 

 

I haven't tried "de-aired" plastic and would have some questions regarding their method of degassing.  

[Frank]

Frank- yes it was Spike-it ,medium pourasol. They sent me a new gallon recently to try,claiming the bubbling problem was solved.Inspite of meticulous,control heating and stirring,the bubbling/foaming 

problem persisted. i've used plently of their plastisol along w/ other Spike-it products . Bruce Macelroy

provides excellent customer support and will immediately replace any product that has problems.Bruce returns all phones calls the same day.

 

That said, I have one production run that requires clear dipping and cannot have any bubbles/foam asociated w/ microwave heating. Yes,I've scoop off the top foam and waited for the bubbles to rise- then re-heated to have product w/ no bubbles. That's fine if you have time to play and wait.Their plastisols are fine for use w/ the Presto Pot system. There is NEVER any bubbles if you heat from scratch w/ the system/ w stirror and use the Shooting star System.

 

I recently recieved some de-aired samples from Bait Junky's that performed well after heating in  the micro wave w/ no foam/bubbles.

 

MF plastisol is the most consistent product I've used that produces no bubbles/foam and maintains it's clear color the longest w/ repeatedly heated via a microwave for dipping finished product.Their product mixes easily,without any seperation and never even hints of hard packing. That said MF plastisol is not the cheapest product on the block.

 

Chemionics(purchased in bulk) is one of the worst plastisols I've ever used that bubbles and foams.

 

I'm interested to hear the methods you've sucessfully used to produce micowave plastic w/o bubbles in specific brands of plastisol

Well I am using the lowest price one (injectasol) other than the bubble issues that I have resolved it would heat as clear as MF super soft. Seems to me that the harder plastics are much harder to heat without yellowing a bit. I use to heat three gallons of MF regular in a rite heat Pot and when heated it was yellow but it was at least twelve inches deep. I did not have to mix the Mf as much as the Spikeit but with a 450 dollar difference in price per drum I can stir it up a bit. And that makes the bottom line much better. Bruce is a great guy and enjoy his knowledge. But I deal with Don mostly after meeting him at a few functions. It is possible to introduce Bubbles into plastic too so if it is stirred vigorously you will put them in your plastic. Been there done that. One thing to think about is a lot of people say heating in a microwave heats it fast but and injection machine will heat its plastic every cycle which is about every minute or two, that's fast too. More later but probably in a new thread.

[carolinamike]

I agree with you Frank, for 450 bucks difference I think I could lose a little bit of time dealing with a few bubbles. And you are absolutley right, most of my molds turnover about every two minutes and as far as introducing air goes, my plastisol is stirred continuously with a re-cirrculating pump dumping it back into the drum continuously and also my plastisol is not de-airred. Most of the time bubbles are introduced when the plastisol is half way cooked or when it is vigorously stirred when ready to pour.

 

Travis, I'm not sure what you mean when you say "volatile components are cooked off". I don't think plastisol works that way. I dont think one component leaves while another stays.

 

As far as dipping goes, LW makes a formula that is specifically designed for dipping that stays clear after 8 hours of continual heating. For production work this seems to be the ideal time and money saver. It really dosn't make a lot of sense to heat plastic over and over in microwave for dipping purposes and Frank is also correct when he mentioned the harder the formula, the faster it yellows.

[BigLewers]

Mike,  the clearasol is awesome.   I love that stuff.  I got some and man it stays as clear as water and it retains heat very well.  Goes on clear and no bubbles what so ever.   LW has done a fantastic job with that clear coat. 

[rixon529]

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Edited December 24, 2013 by rixon529