Stick'em Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) I found some 4 1/4" flipping tubes a year ago on clearence at a local bait and tackle shop. I bought the last few bags they had in a junebug pattern and a dark smoke red/black fleck color. Yes, the colors are killer, but the characteristics of the tubes sold me also. Nice thick solid head. Body tapered to thinnish tail splits. No longer availability killed my attempt at getting more The tubes look like their dipped because they have no seam lines about them, so I've chosen to dip them. I've got a two rod dipping jig set up to start off. There's three of the jigs, so six rods total. After heated, colored and flaked the plastic will go into a cylinder glass big enough for two rods spaced approx. one inch apart and holding a little under one cup plastic. From reading through several posts, I see I may need to dip the tubes horizontely also. I see a harder plastisol is recommended. I understand this will be a trial and error thing initially also, but I do have a question or two about the process. Does the head thickness build through several dips or is it dropped in during creation? Any pointers that may ease my worries would help. ~Stick'em Edited January 7, 2012 by Stick'em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) You do not have to horizontal dip them. Horizontal is just another method but is used for two or more colors if you wish to do that. The harder plastic is more for durability of the bait. I make them using soft plastic but that's my preference for flipping tubes so that the bait collapses easier and I get better hook penetration. Hard is better if youre putting a jighead inside the tube and fishing it exposed. Most manufacturers use hard or medium so Its entirely up to you. I use the same method for dipping you are referring (vertical) to, but i have found dipping 1 at a time is a lot easier to deal with the run of the plastic when you flip it over. When you are dealing with multiples. plastic may run down one side on one tube and down another side on the other and then you have a hard time controlling the run. You may be successful with two or more but I have always had issues because of what I just explained. The head thickness is based on the number of dips which makes the tubes thicker. The only way to have a thin tube with a thick head to my knowledge is to buy an injection tube mold. Hope this helps. Tubes are a lot of fun. I just hate cutting the tails. Also go to Joann Fabric and buy yourself some crochet needles for a few bucks a piece. You can dip any size tube you want and they are a lot cheaper than what it costs to get aluminum machined. Edited January 7, 2012 by squigster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick'em Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Thanks, Sqiugster. I had thought of the possibility the mysterious tubes may have been poured/injected first, then dipped (no seam lines because of two part mold). It's just one color though, so I'm doubting they were injected first. I cut one down to the solid head and found a very small hole or prick in the center of the head inside the tube. Whether this was because of the shape of the dip tube or rod for the mold I can't make out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 I used to dip tubes vertically. I agree that one rod at a time is best for good control of the plastisol flow. You will need some type of cutter for the tails. I got tired of doing it and bought molds and injectors from Bear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick'em Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 So when you vertical dip you have to kinda twirl the rod to manipulate the plastic to thicken the body. Should I build the head thickness by letting the tube stay vertical for a portion of time during a couple of dips. I'm assuming the plastic will run to the end and build it up. It sounds like I will be dipping the tube at least three times. Will the plastic adhere good to itself? Should I dip as soon as the plastic sets up from the previous dip? Or should I do several rods with initial dip, then go back and second dip? I know these questions are rookie-like to some of you experienced pros, but hey, if I don't ask I could end up wasting plastic and time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 So when you vertical dip you have to kinda twirl the rod to manipulate the plastic to thicken the body. Should I build the head thickness by letting the tube stay vertical for a portion of time during a couple of dips. I'm assuming the plastic will run to the end and build it up. It sounds like I will be dipping the tube at least three times. Will the plastic adhere good to itself? Should I dip as soon as the plastic sets up from the previous dip? Or should I do several rods with initial dip, then go back and second dip? I know these questions are rookie-like to some of you experienced pros, but hey, if I don't ask I could end up wasting plastic and time. The thickness of the plastic will really depend on the temperature of your plastic. If your plastic is not really hot it will go on much thicker per dip. If your plastic is real hot and you dip it will get thinner coats especially if you do it while the dipped tube is still hot.on the dipping rod. Some people double dip tubes and if the plastics cold enough that will work all depending on what thickness you are trying to achieve. I usually do three dips. Two at full length and one for the body. I have 50 dipping rods so I dip one, hang it up , dip the next and so on, and then repeat two more times. The head thickness will depend on how the run is and the temperature of the plastic. if its real hot it will run off, if it is colder it will sag at the end. You just have to experiment yourself and see what works for you and find the look and feel you like. Hope this helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick'em Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Yes, Squigster. The info you provided has helped clear up alot of confusion about the process. I now am almost positive the mystery tubes in question were dipped. There were a couple of them with fatter heads where the plastic built up just a little too much. Getting the plastic close to mimic what the original tube clones are is also a priority for me. It has a tough shell that holds the hook point even after several fish. It doesn't tear bad at all. If there's just a sliver of plastic left after several hooksets the hook point will still bite and stay. I'm seeing that it looks like there's salt in the mix also. Does this toughen the skin of the tube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyGrub Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 I did my first tubes last year. Here are some pics of single and multiple rods I made: http://www.joefishin.com/TubeMaking.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick'em Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Nice set ups, FuzzyGrub. Nice tubes too! I had seen the pics a couple days ago when I did a search. Thanks for taking the time to send them my way. Alot of my worries have evaporated from the help received. I can't thank you guys enough! Now I need to get to dippin' some tubes when the plastic arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Nice set ups, FuzzyGrub. Nice tubes too! I had seen the pics a couple days ago when I did a search. Thanks for taking the time to send them my way. Alot of my worries have evaporated from the help received. I can't thank you guys enough! Now I need to get to dippin' some tubes when the plastic arrives. It's a lot of fun to make them. You can make a ton pretty fast too if you have a lot of rods. Its just a little difficult keeping plastic hot if you work in a cold area. I had my brother machine a cup out of aluminum with 1/4" wall and I had him put grooves all the way around it and tied wire in the grooves and let the ends where i tied it stick out about 1/4" in about 30 places and cast plaster all around it as an insulator. it works really well on a hot plate if you cover it in between dips if its cold in the garage. If I can find some old pics of the cup before I casted it in plaster ill post them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
