A-Mac Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 In my current process, I am pouring resin into a lure cavity that has a piece of micarta in the mold to create a lip slot. When I was using aero marine resin, I would rub a layer of petroleum jelly on the lip so that the mold would not adhere to the micarta. I've recently switched to alumilite white to try, but even with a layer of petroleum jelly on the micarta the resin still has a fairly strong bond making demolding much more difficult. So to get to the point, do you guys think the bond from alumilite to micarta is strong enough (without using any release agent) to cast a lure with the lip secured permanently? I'm considering making new molds and just inserting a true lip and skip the process of gluing a lip in later. Thoughts? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluetickhound Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Maybe try a silicon based grease or something like white lithium grease.... I can't imagine anything sticking to that stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Just don't use anything that you can't clean out before you try and glue in the lip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Mac Posted May 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 My post may have been a bit convoluted. But I appreciate the input. Do you think the bond of alumilite to micarta is strong enough to pour the lure with the lip? No glue, no lip removal. Pour and the lip is set. Like pouring a lure with eyescrews in the mold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluetickhound Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 If you do it that way let us know how it holds up. As long as the lip is lined up right it should be fine. It sounds like you've eliminated a step in the process for your way of building! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Is there any way you could incorporate a couple of dowel pins into the lip before pouring the resin? Just thinking out loud as I'm not familiar with resin baits. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelpKritter Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 A couple of stainless pins set vertically in the rear of the lip should be more than secure enough to keep the lip in place. You could also incorporate a few small holes in the lip for the resin to set in. I have pins keys in my mold to set the slots where the screw eyes seat on my jointed swimbaits. Using the Aeromarine resin I could easily remove the pins. My first few baits molded with the Dascar RP-40 take a lot of effort to remove the pins even coated with petroleum jelly. Seems pretty strong without anything added so I would think there would be a pretty strong bond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickdraw Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 (edited) Yes it will be very solid and strong cast in place like that. One of Larry Dahlberg's new videos even shows him casting the lip into the poured resin. You could even rough-up the lip material that will be inside of the poured material if you wanted. Edited May 29, 2013 by quickdraw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Mac Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Cool, Thanks guys. This sparked some ideas. I'm thinking just a couple holes in the lip might be enough to allow resin to flow through. We shall see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Mac Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Ok. I did a test. I poured a lure without PJ on it and it did provide a strong bond. HOWEVER, my other molds (poured simultaneously) I had a thin layer of PJ on the lip. I was able to break the bond on the lure without PJ by torquing the lip to the side. However, I actually broke one of my other crankbaits (with the PJ on the lip) trying to get it out. I noticed on the lip of the one with PJ that the lip still had resin on it (I had to cut it away from the lip). The lip of the lure without PJ did not have nearly as much resin residue after removing from the lure. So in conclusion, the PJ is having a chemical reaction to the resin and actually creating a stronger bond to the micarta. Also to note, this was just a flat piece of micarta, no holes were drilled in any of them, and no pins inserted. I'm impressed with the bond and plan to make my next molds incorporate an "actual size" lip into the lure. I'm still wondering how to ensure that the lip is positioned correctly after I close the mold though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Mac Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 So I did a couple more trials with no PJ on the micarta, I broke 2 out of the 3 lures in trying to get the lip out. I'd say that is tough enough. Heck, that's just as good as super glue. I'm confident that drilling a small hole in the rear of the lip to allow resin to flow through will make it permanent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickdraw Posted May 30, 2013 Report Share Posted May 30, 2013 The holes will work great. I almost bet that just the consistency of the resin will go through the holes but the resin does even swell a bit as it cures so it will grab the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Mac Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 I made my newest molds with a lip slot. My first pours look great and the lips are secure. In comparison to the masters I used to make the molds, the lips in the poured lures came out with identical placement (which was a major worry to me). I think my molds may not last quite as long using this method, but time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
