just_plugging_away Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Hello, I do not make plastic lures, but I have a bunch of plastic worms to get rid of. I was wondering if you guys ever remelt them to make new ones? I have roughly 75 one gallon bags of them.Each bag has about 4 1/2 to 5 pounds of worms in it. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskat Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 I do recycle some worms. The one thing you have to remember is to seperate the colors. If you store them in one big pile the colors tend to bleed. It's very hard to completely change colors. I've never had much luck with it except black. I don't sell the ones I recycle. These baits I use myself. Also recycled plastic don't pour quiet as easy as new plastic. As far as catching fish, I can't tell a difference. I'll catch as many on recycled as new plastics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senkosam Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Recycled plastic tends to scorch easier if you're not careful, resulting in a brown tint to clear plastic and small black chunks of overheated salt and flake clumps. Glitter may not hold up on reheating and either get smaller or even disappear. Color may not be as vibrant and a firmer plastic may be a problem for some. I haven't tried adding heat stabilizer, but I cut off any solids, throw then out, add more plastisol and any glitter and salt as needed. Basskat is correct - recycled plastic catches just as many fish. The above problems occured using LC plastic. Calhoun may be totally different. But in either case, knowing the point of no return when using a microwave, is essential! It's much faster than a Lee pot and easy to overheat. One tip is to stir and pause between zaps. Let the melted plastic work on melting the solid plastic still left. Sometimes only 20-30 seconds is all you need toward the end. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskat Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 I use a combination of microwave/stove. I'll melt my plastics down in the microwave then pour it into a pouring pan that I keep on a stove eye. I can control my heat and keep the plastic stirred well. Most of the time on recycles I don't melt it completely down before transferring to the pan. This method works well on small pours, say a two cavity mold. Of course I have the advantage of having all this in my shop so I don't smoke and smell the house up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
