Aiden James Lures Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 (edited) It seems fairly simple to pour a two part silicone mold and then use casting epoxy to make lure bodies. Has anybody ever tried it? I am curious about the performance and durability of epoxy vs. wood bodies. John Aiden James Lures Also, thanks to everyone who chimed in on the Zara Spook G-Finish thread! I think I've almost got it! Edited March 22, 2011 by redg8r URL removed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.dsaavedra. Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 seems to me like it would not be buoyant enough and it would have little to no action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden James Lures Posted March 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 seems to me like it would not be buoyant enough and it would have little to no action. I was going to cast two halves and then assemble them to make a hollow lure body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 seems to me like it would not be buoyant enough and it would have little to no action. Dsaavedra is right. Epoxy has a specific gravity of around 1.2 making it heavier than water. Epoxy is not that different to the resins used for molding, except for the viscosity. Epoxy would be too viscous to carry the required amount of micro balloons to reduce the density to a usable number. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden James Lures Posted March 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Dsaavedra is right. Epoxy has a specific gravity of around 1.2 making it heavier than water. Epoxy is not that different to the resins used for molding, except for the viscosity. Epoxy would be too viscous to carry the required amount of micro balloons to reduce the density to a usable number. Dave What about ABS? Have you ever seen the makerbot? It is basically a 3-axis ABS printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 What about ABS? Have you ever seen the makerbot? It is basically a 3-axis ABS printer. I have been following the progress of this company. I don't think the finish is there yet, also the cost per lure is not going to be cheap at $48 per kilogram of raw material. Time per unit will not be quick, but they seem to have the automation side of things sorted out. I would like one for making masters directly from my CAD data. A coat of epoxy and they would be ready for my duplicator. It is on my list, but out of range at the moment. I can make a wooden master for the duplicator in an hour, so it is difficult to justify the machine. Exciting technology. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden James Lures Posted March 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I have been following the progress of this company. I don't think the finish is there yet, also the cost per lure is not going to be cheap at $48 per kilogram of raw material. Time per unit will not be quick, but they seem to have the automation side of things sorted out. I would like one for making masters directly from my CAD data. A coat of epoxy and they would be ready for my duplicator. It is on my list, but out of range at the moment. I can make a wooden master for the duplicator in an hour, so it is difficult to justify the machine. Exciting technology. Dave What kind of duplicator do you use? Is it a CNC router? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 It seems fairly simple to pour a two part silicone mold and then use casting epoxy to make lure bodies. Has anybody ever tried it? I am curious about the performance and durability of epoxy vs. wood bodies. John Aiden James Lures Also, thanks to everyone who chimed in on the Zara Spook G-Finish thread! I think I've almost got it! John, I don't think epoxy is suited to casting hollow body lures. Many years ago I tried to pour a chisel handle out of D2T, and found out quickly that it is brittle if it's thicker than a glue joint. Now the formula may have changed in the 30+ years since I first tried to use it that way, but it is still a glue, first and foremost. It is hard and strong, but it is brittle if it's unsupported. That's why I stopped using it for a top coat on my jointed wood lures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 What kind of duplicator do you use? Is it a CNC router? It is one that I designed and built. There is a thread about it, 'Vman rocking beam duplicator' in homebrew tools, but the pics have been lost. Here is a fresh pic: It is crude, but it works well. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 It is one that I designed and built. There is a thread about it, 'Vman rocking beam duplicator' in homebrew tools, but the pics have been lost. Here is a fresh pic: It is crude, but it works well. Dave Dave, Every time I see your duplicater I am reminded of your genius. Do you have a vacuum fitting at the bottom of the machine? That saw must generate a ton of sawdust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Dave, Every time I see your duplicater I am reminded of your genius. Do you have a vacuum fitting at the bottom of the machine? That saw must generate a ton of sawdust. I have tried a vacuum, but it only gets half if the dust. I will pay more attention to this problem when I build the next dup. Should be comming soon, as I am doing a lot of work with swimbaits and the current dup was only designed for small stuff. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden James Lures Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 It is one that I designed and built. There is a thread about it, 'Vman rocking beam duplicator' in homebrew tools, but the pics have been lost. Here is a fresh pic: It is crude, but it works well. Dave Humbled and Inspired! I will send you a video of mine when it is complete. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Humbled and Inspired! I will send you a video of mine when it is complete. Looking forward to that one. Love seeing other peoples solutions. Mine looks like a crashed bicycle at the moment. I am in the process of finally motorizing it. Struggling with the control box at the moment. I am fitting micro switches to automatically stop when it reaches the end of its preset travel, so I don't have to stand over it to make sure it doesn't tear itself apart. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
