Mold Question?

[leviathon]

Anyone out there mold there own jigging rapalas ? I've looked into mold materials but not sure which one to go with,I have experience with rtv silicone for soft plastic but not lead.The lures will be no more than 5/16oz.

[Wolfwrestle]

Anyone out there mold there own jigging rapalas ? I've looked into mold materials but not sure which one to go with,I have experience with rtv silicone for soft plastic but not lead.The lures will be no more than 5/16oz.[/quote

There is a company called aero marine that has a high temp rtv silicone that you can cast lead in. I've done it. You need a good digital scale to measure the stuff in a100/3 ratio of silicone to catalyst. The castings come out pretty good as long as the lead isn't too hot. Otherwise you get pitting and crystallization on the surface which may or may not be a big deal depending on how you finish them. Powder coat covers a lot of imperfections.

C. Wolf (junior high art teacher)

[Nessmuk]

Anyone out there mold there own jigging rapalas ? I've looked into mold materials but not sure which one to go with,I have experience with rtv silicone for soft plastic but not lead.The lures will be no more than 5/16oz.

 

I've done a lot (10 yrs) of metal casting in RTV silicone and vulcanized silicone.   Probably the best RTV for the purpose is Dow Corning 3120  with "S" catalyst.  I prefer to used vulcanized spin-casting molds but often use 3120 RTV when working from a fragile master.  3120 has the advantage of being easy to mix in small quantities and has a high durometer (it's harder) which helps maintain mold shape.  Alternately and easier to purchase is one of the  Micro Mark RTV products.   

 

You can look at other RTV silicones for the purpose.  Look for a "tin cure" silicone and high durometer with red color.   Stay away from "platinum cure" which can be sensitive to pattern materials and have cure problems.