First Run With Shooting Star

[Painter1]

My first experience with Bears Shooting Star System.

I got all the parts from Bear and put the system together last week. I mounted the whole system to a 2"x10" board that I can clamp to my workbench. I can remove the whole setup, put it on a shelf and have my workbench free again. I mounted the system off center - to the right, so I had room for the molds to the center-left side.

I struggled to get the Presto Pots heating properly, but finally realized the extension cords just could not handle the wattage. Switched to heavier gauge cords and everything heated up nicely. I do need to practice and learn these temp controllers better, as others have suggested. They are not the same temps - under the same settings.

Plastic was heated to 318-320 in one pot and about 330 in the other according to the "Ray Gun". Block heat was set at 165 Celsius. The system worked well, and as advertised. The bottleneck was the number of molds. I only have Three (3) of the type I was shooting so they got hot fast and I had to wait to open them. I could have done a lot more without that bottleneck. As it was, I guesstimate that I made 10 to 12 shots on the Three (3) molds per hour. (I shot for an hour-1/2 to 2 hours and made over 700 baits - 30 at a time)

Things of note:

I had some trouble preventing air from getting into the injector. I could hear it being sucked in when the seal broke so I just pushed in the plunger and then refilled the injector. That worked most of the time. I did still get some air into the injector. When air gets in the injector the plastic gets pushed out of the nozzles while moving between molds. Most of my shots were without air after some practice. It also helped that a member on this forum gave me some tips on this.

The injector is REALLY hot. I ended up using a pot holder mitt on my left hand to grasp it.

My ventilation system is grossly inadequate for cooking this much plastic. I have a large range hood directly over the workbench. I finally opened the windows and the garage door and was still hacking. Respirator will be obtained and worn next time.

I really don't need something that makes this type of volume, so I wont use it a lot - but this is a well engineered system

I have not cleaned or purged it yet. It remains to be seen how hard this will be.

Mike

[smallmouthaholic]

You're on a suicide mission w/ your lungs breathing plastisol fumes.The two,open presto pots can give off plenty of fumes and some smoke.I have a 25"x25"x25" enclosed booth w/ a 320cfm exhaust fan w/a 10" duct and I still wear a mask when using the shooting star system. The fumes/faint smoke can build up to the edge of the booth in a circular pattern.

Get a pair of hot mill gloves from Bear w/ using this system. I shoot 24 molds @ a time ,then set another 24 in the booth and repeat.That dual injector really gets hot- even when using the hot mill gloves. You need enough molds to appreciate the short time in which this unit can produce two-color baits.

I even wipe the multiple cavity molds down w/ a damp sponge since they can get extremely hot when doing repetative prodution.

Once the presto pots get down to 16oz in each,you'll start sucking air into the injector. Turn your heating unit to 160 providing your baits are shooting full and you can lower your P.P. temps a sthe amount in the pots decrease.

My wife will come in and help me demold and hang the baits when i'm shooting large amounts. She even remarked how fast the Shooting Star System is compaired to the micro wave/ blending blocks and the old ,non-heated two color injector system.

[pirkfan]

Bear is having a Thanksgiving sale which is 10% off his products with a few exceptions. This system is included in the sale and according to his site, you can save $100 while the sale is on.