Tree_Fish Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 My first post, just wanted to say you guys are awesome I love this website! Almost an overload of info lol. Well on to my question, I have been looking at the 2 piece RTV mold construction for cranks. I understand the mold making process, and am just short of ordering all the stuff to get started. The question I have is what to do about the lip. I took a crankbait apart to be used in the mold but the lip was cast as part of the lure. I looked at the other cranks I have and they are the same way. I have been all over the forums for a couple of days and the best info I can find is to cut the lip out with a bandsaw or something of the like. If using alumilite or something of the sort I'm assuming I dont want the lip made of casting resin, right? So what would be the process to remove the lip and how would I keep the lip slot open during the making of the mold? Block the rest of the cavity with clay? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and please take it easy on this noob lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 My first post, just wanted to say you guys are awesome I love this website! Almost an overload of info lol. Well on to my question, I have been looking at the 2 piece RTV mold construction for cranks. I understand the mold making process, and am just short of ordering all the stuff to get started. The question I have is what to do about the lip. I took a crankbait apart to be used in the mold but the lip was cast as part of the lure. I looked at the other cranks I have and they are the same way. I have been all over the forums for a couple of days and the best info I can find is to cut the lip out with a bandsaw or something of the like. If using alumilite or something of the sort I'm assuming I dont want the lip made of casting resin, right? So what would be the process to remove the lip and how would I keep the lip slot open during the making of the mold? Block the rest of the cavity with clay? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and please take it easy on this noob lol I would suggest that you could use a metal plate as part of the mold, the thickness of the desired lip. Treat the plate with Universal mold release, insert the plate, then mold the bait. When you are done, clean the slot left by removing the plate, probably with alcohol, then epoxy the lip in. If you want, you can just make your mold so the lip inserts into the mold, then mold the lip into the lure as you mold the bait. This would be the easiest way, and Alumilite will adhear very well to the lexan or circuit board lips. I don't advise using Alumilite resin for the lip, but then again, most lure companies seem to make pretty weak lips anyway. Perhaps if your standards are not higher then the mass production lures, then it won't matter, go ahead and mold with the Alumilite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree_Fish Posted July 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 I would suggest that you could use a metal plate as part of the mold, the thickness of the desired lip. Treat the plate with Universal mold release, insert the plate, then mold the bait. When you are done, clean the slot left by removing the plate, probably with alcohol, then epoxy the lip in. If you want, you can just make your mold so the lip inserts into the mold, then mold the lip into the lure as you mold the bait. This would be the easiest way, and Alumilite will adhear very well to the lexan or circuit board lips. I don't advise using Alumilite resin for the lip, but then again, most lure companies seem to make pretty weak lips anyway. Perhaps if your standards are not higher then the mass production lures, then it won't matter, go ahead and mold with the Alumilite. OK, I like the idea of putting the lip in the mold and using epoxy to put the new lip in, but that still begs the question of how to get the lip out of the crank I'm trying to reproduce. The entire bait is 2 pieces with the joint down the center line of the bait and that includes the lip. Should I have cut the lip out with a bandsaw? Or should I find a crank with a detachable lip?I thought about making a wooden master but what about the cavitys inside the crank? The post I am attempting to follow was by hillbilly1, the molds he makes are awesome and I would love to make a few, but am struggling with ideas on how to get the lip done right. I appreciate the suggestions, I really dont want the lips made out of alumilite seeing as how I'll be banging them off all kinds of trees and rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly1 Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 (edited) Last year I made a mold with a modular lip slot (3 different slots). All I did was cut 3 peaces of lexan with concave ends to fit around the throat of the bait at different angles. Set bait and plates half way in clay pour RTV let cure then do other half while trying to keep every thing square. Let cure. Then just turn the plates around and insert (1 of 3 use other 2 as plugs) square end to required depth in the mold. I covered the plates with patrolium jelly to keep them sealed and with some release spray just for giggles. Then pour with resin. As for the lips I cut and bent 3 different type lips with the same exact measurements for the insert part for the slot from lexan made a mold and used clear polyester resin to cast them As for removing the lip if the lip is part of the baits cut with a hack saw along the profile of the bait if its slotted in saw along top and bottom of lip and wiggle it out as best as you can. Good luck I all ways over power the bait and rip it out ruining the slot. Edited July 15, 2011 by hillbilly1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly1 Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 I thought about making a wooden master but what about the cavitys inside the crank? That is how I did the master in the vid I have a friend who has a compucarver he did the cavity for me out of white wood and I did the profile and sealed the wood ,but I imagine you could get the same effect from a rotary tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 For production, if I ever decided to do that, I might design the lure on computer, using a 3-D CADD program. Then take it to a CNC company for a blank. I would then make molds with RTV and ................ Sorry, I am small time, just enough to keep myself in lures. HEHE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuskyGary Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 Now if you can find a lexan lip like the one in the lure; you can cast the lure with lip in the mold. When it comes time to make the new lure just put the lexan lip in the mold and pour your lumalite. You can make copies of your existing lip on top of a lexan sheet and cut them out. Sabd them down so they fit the slot in your mold. They have to fit tight so the alumalite does not cover the exposed lip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
