Help with pouring flukes

[Kelly Denham]

I've got an aluminum fluke mold. 4 cavities, and they have the split tail design of a Zoom type fluke.

What do you guys do to pour the thin tails at the back of the mold without it overflowing? I've tried setting the mold on a slight incline and pouring so that the plastic flows into the tail. That allows me to pour into the thicker part of the mold but it doesn't always fill the tail completely.

I know there has to be a way to do it, what am I missing?

Kelly

[nova]

Funny you should ask. I just started a 1000 pc. order

I start pouring in the body working my way to the tail without filling the body. As I get to the tail I thin the stream of plastic, do the tail, then return to the body to finish.

I pour with a microwave. The guys who use pouring pots may do it another way.

The thing is; take your time and explore all ways that seem logical to you. You will eventually settle on a way that works for you.

Good luck and happy pouring.

[capecodsmallie]

I like to pour the body first. When I get to the begining of the tail section I like to have a steady flow of plastic going(I use pots), but not full blast. I kepp the lever handle up just enough to keep a steady flow. When I get near the tail I let go of the handle. It's usually enough to finish off the tail without overflowing. It take a little bit of practice. I don't get it right 100 percent of the time, but this method has increased my chances of doing a good job on the tail section. Just keep at it and it will become second nature for you(even if it doesn't seem like it right now). I just did a few hundred myself.

[Kelly Denham]

If it's just a matter of practice, I'm sure I'll get it. I just wondered if there were any tricks. Wal-Mart sells metal measuring cups and you can put a slight bend in them for a pour spout. A set is only a couple of bucks. A friend and I are using these smaller cups by pouring from the large pan into these, and then pouring into the mold. So...we're using small amounts of plastic and should be able to get a fine flow of plastic after we practice some more.

By the way, we've also found that a light coating of cooking oil makes cleanup a snap! Just coat the pans before putting in the plastic, and once it dries, the plastic will pull out in one piece.

I've been reading tons here, but hardly ever post. Thanks for all the help you guys have provided.

Kelly

[Fish_N_Fool]

Kelly thoughs pans at wally world are a waste of time and money. The best way to pour thin tails is with a lee pot in my opinion. It's a lot easier to control the flow then pouring out of any kind of hand held pot. But if you do use one get one from lurecraft they work far better then some homemade thing. But I'd spend the $55 some dollars that LC wants for the small lee pot and use it.

[Kelly Denham]

If anyone is curious about the small cups I'm talking about pouring from, here's a link. I'm not sure if Target is nationwide, but this will give you an idea. They work great if you don't like pouring from a large pan, or want to pour multiple colors.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-5/qid=1080602828/ref=sr_1_5/601-6391585-0816143?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B000063SXJ

Kelly

[nova]

If you are heating those pans on a hotplate you have to be careful that the aluminum is not too thin as this will cause the plastic to heat too much and scorch. Generally the more you pay fo an aluminum pan the better the quality and thickness you will get.

You can go too far with the thickness to the point that it takes forever to heat the plastic.

[Fish_N_Fool]

Kelly I speak from some experance. I bought the very pans you were talking about and tried to pour with them, they didn't pour well at all. You need a real deep pan and a little plastic to get a good pour out of a pan along with a steady hand. I have poured with a friends pot and it works much better. But we were using unsalted plastic to pour jig trailers and crawdads. Both have some really small spots to pour, and the 12oz. lee pot that he has worked great for that. Hope that clears things up.