Jon up north Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Hello all. I've been looking at one of those $3000 pots Lurecraft sells but am looking for opinions first. Anybody own one? Since it is pressurized can you use it with a larger production mold? Thanks in advance everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Question-Why would you invest 3K in a pressurized,hand pour pot when 3k will buy Bear's shooting star system complete, many CNC,precision injection molds plus associated equipment ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon up north Posted April 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Thanks alot. I like the capacity of the Lurecraft pot and thought maybe I could inject with it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Don't believe it does what you are thinking it does. Since it was made while hand pouring was the norm I think that is what it is made for. You see there seems to be a big gap in between the small injection molds and large production ones. While Bears system seems to be an option it too won't fill a production mold. I am working on an in between unit that should fill the gap a bit. Just been to busy to finish it. Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon up north Posted April 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Any idea on who makes a good machine that would work with production molds? Or how hard would it be to make one from scratch? If that Lurecraft pot is for poouring only, then why pressurize it? Thanks, alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 What do you consider production molds cavity wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinamike Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Jon up north, stay away from the from the LureCraft pot, LureCraft dosen't make these, they just sell them. They're not very safe, and besides, you can build your own for a thousand bucks or less. What are the measurements of your production mold? The very best production machine on the market (small one) is running around 40,000 bucks, the large machines are around 60,000. Rather than buy a production machine it would be more economical for you to ship the mold to someone who has a machine and knows what they're doing. I'm not sure where you are located in Canada but I have a friend in Ottawa who does this type of work but not all injection machines are made the same so more info would be needed about the mold, such as the bolting pattern, this info is crucial to know if a mold will bolt up to the machine and obviously you would also have to tell where the injection holes are located. You can buy used equipment or purchase cheaper equipment (which I suggest you stay away from) but learning to run the equipment can become very expensive if you dont know what you're doing. On hand pours a 5 dollar mistake isn't that bad but with production equipment a 500-1000 dollar mistake can kill a profit margin very quickly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon up north Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Mike and everyone. Thanks alot. I currently do not have any production molds but possibly want to move up to that level in the next 12-24 months. Pretty sure I want to do this in house. Mike-What is unsafe about the LC pot???Kind of suprised I cannot find anything on the LC pot in the search....Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinamike Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 First off its way to expensive for what you are getting, the air regulator which is not heat resistant is conencted directly to the pot. The motor for the stirer is very cheap and inadequete, the shaft for the stirer which goes through the lid of the pot has no seal therefore you have a continual air leak. You are very limited on the pressure that you can put on the pot also the brass valves have a very short handle and are not heated the valves continualy freeze off it does come with a pair of needle nose locking pliers. For 3 thousand dollars these pots are very poorly made and considering that lure craft dosen't make the pots i'm sure they're not going to take any of the liability for a severe accident when it happens. I purchased one of these pots and it came with no instructions I contacted the gentleman who made the pot by phone and asked if he would at least send instructions for the heat controls, that was 10 years ago and I still haven't recieved the instructions also there is no pressure guage conected directly to the pot the air that is heated is at a higher pressure then what the plastic guage says on the plastic regulator. In my opinion this is a bad accident waiting to happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon up north Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Thanks Mike. Great read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecold13 Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 great great information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XFactorTackle Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 You would be better off with a presto pot with a mixer and 2 hand injectors (I say 2 so that you have less down time, one works for most people) then you would be with that Lure Craft pot. I agree with Mike, that pot isn't what you think it is or should be. It has a funky valve on it that is suitable only for hand pour molds, so right off the bat your going to have to have a machine shop make you a fitting that works with your molds. What kind of volume are you doing or trying to do? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
