Hand Poured Ribbon Tail Worm Is It Possible

[rockslide]

i was wondering is it possible to make a dwp or pop ribbon tail mold capable of hand pouring! the only problem that i could think of is not getting the tail to fill out. what if i over vent the mold do you think that would help. im looking for any help or ideas you guys have

[Pitbull Baits]

Do you want a injection type mold or a hand pour mold?

[rockslide]

Do you want a injection type mold or a hand pour mold?

hand pour pitbull

[Vodkaman]

You have more of a chance than with an aluminium mold, as PoP is an insulator, allowing the plastic to flow longer and further. But incomplete pours are still going to be a problem. It is not a question of vents (although they are important), it is the plastic cooling. I remember that Jim (ghostbaits) successfully hand poured curly tails, that others thought was impossible.

Injection is no doubt the best route. There is no reason why you cannot build your PoP mold so that the injector will fit. There have been a few posts about this. Is there a reason that you do not want to inject?

Another method is vacuum pouring. I did some testing of this method four years ago, with a lot of success. I used RTV, but see no reason why the method would not work with PoP. It is a poor mans alternative to injection, were the plastic is ‘sucked’ through the mold, rather than forced through (injected). I have no doubt that it would work for a ribbon tail. Here is a pic of an early test. It is very rough (modeled from plasticine), but adequately demonstrates the vacuum capabilities for difficult pours.

I would post a link, but it is useless without the pictures, which are lost.

Dave

[jigmeister]

i was wondering is it possible to make a dwp or pop ribbon tail mold capable of hand pouring! the only problem that i could think of is not getting the tail to fill out. what if i over vent the mold do you think that would help. im looking for any help or ideas you guys have

Yes it is possible to make a hand pour ribbon tail worm though I don't think you can hand pour any worms tail as thin as an injected worms tail.

I made a "Culprit " style worm mold out of polyester casting resin a few years back and it worked out pretty good . I made up a little triangle shaped piece of plastic cut from another worms ribbon tail so the thickness would match . I glued this down along with the worm I was copying bridging the body of the worm to the end of the curled up ribbon tail.

Heating the plastic up good to thin it out gave the best results . Pour from the head of the worm towards the tail but with this mold you pour around the tail in a circle and and stop pouring where the tail connects to the body . (due to the triangle shaped connector you made the plastic will equalize between the tail and body of the worm resulting in a thinner tail ) Once cooled you just trim off the little triangle connector . You can also slightly raise up the tail end of the mold with a thin piece of wood , cardboard , etc. and this helps make the tail thinner as the hot plastic want to flow down hill towards the head end . OK hope this helps

[rockslide]

looks like there's no getting around it i held out as long as i can i got to get an injector! thanks all

vodkaman i was beiing cheap trying not to buy an injector

[Travis]

looks like there's no getting around it i held out as long as i can i got to get an injector! thanks all

vodkaman i was beiing cheap trying not to buy an injector

Yes it can be done. Some find a slew of single sided molds and something like a presto pot will be an efficient alternative and allow one to kick out numbers relatively easy. Injection would be great just be aware that while easy that due to the cooling properites and venting you may come across thicker than expected tails, legs, etc... depending on the mold maker. On thin appendages once the mold warms a little you get nice full injected baits.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Travis

[Jonah]

i was wondering is it possible to make a dwp or pop ribbon tail mold capable of hand pouring! the only problem that i could think of is not getting the tail to fill out. what if i over vent the mold do you think that would help. im looking for any help or ideas you guys have

Pouring a ribbon or curl tail by hand is not difficult at all. I hand pour tails on grubs from 2" all the way up to 8". Of course, you can't pour the tail as thin as an injected bait, but pouring these is not a problem

[Pitbull Baits]

I have custom made hand pour ribbon tail worm molds. The first ones I made were out of a pop mold. So they can be made in a pop mold.

[MuskyGary]

The trouble with a hand pour is the tail is usually thicker and that means less action; also you have to go slow and careful in your pouring. With a injector you just inject and demold and keep moving along, all the baits will be uniform and thin tailed.

[mark poulson]

I bought a 4" lizard RTV mold from Lurecraft, and had trouble pouring it, due to the small legs and thin tail.

I figured out that if I poured the plastic, and then pressed a smooth faced piece of melamine down onto the open mold while the plastic was still hot, I got thin arms and tails. I do have to trim the entire lizard, once it's cooled, which is a pain.

The plastic sticks to the melamine, so when I remove the mold, I use an exacto knife to trace around the entire lizard, which is still stuck to the melamine, to trim it. But I have to be careful, because it's really easy to amputate a leg.

I now use NorPor silicone cups, instead of Pyrex cups, to melt and pour my plastics, and it's much easier to pour thin stuff. I wear gloves, due to the heat, and pinch the top of the cup into a small opening, so I can get a finer line.

It works better for me.

[Pitbull Baits]

The trouble with a hand pour is the tail is usually thicker and that means less action; also you have to go slow and careful in your pouring. With a injector you just inject and demold and keep moving along, all the baits will be uniform and thin tailed.

That's happens when you copy them. When I had my molds made I had the tail made a little shallow. My tail is a touch thinner then a Berkley power worm. If you make a master to make a mold from pop. Just make the tail thinner then you want it.

if the tails are to thick use a heavier weight. That will get the action to come out of the tail then.

[Smallie]

I am committed to hand pouring baits using the traditional open face mold. I pour both large and small baits with ribbon style tails and get plenty of action. The only bait that has disappointed me is the Zoom type lizard style. The legs don't get the movement I want. I will have to try Mark's suggestion to use a silicone cup.

But take a Del's 10 inch curl tail and swim that back to the boat and you will see lots of action. And, the heavier weight of the tail displaces more water so there is more lateral line stimulation in the water. Don't get caught up in Kalin's advertising hype regarding their thin tail.