MuskyGary Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I'm trying to make some AlumiFoam lures and wondering if anyone else here has tried it and what your results were? I don't like working with balsa wood and that is one reason I'm trying this. I'm copying a shad rap (I don't sell lures, just making for personal use) Made my mold and tried to make the lures, but having a little trouble getting theamount to pour in the mold correct. Screw eyes seem to hold great in the foam. Getting the lure to run correctly takes some testing. I love airbrushing lures, but buying shad raps at around eight bucks to repaint gets costly, so I hope this foam works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimP Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 From my personal experience: The idea of making a mold and then making perfect copy after perfect copy sounds great, but that was not my experience. Maybe more effort on my part was required. Here are the problems I bumped into. The various resins are expensive, start off in a small way to see if it works for you. To make an RTV mold compound is expensive and an error prone experience. (you will probably make several to get one that works, and they will not last as long as you have been told) The foam is expensive and you will find inconsistent in density, light areas and dense areas. In spite of what their tech support people tell you, there will be fish eye problems when it comes time to finish the lure. Both paint and top coat layers. To place wires and weights inside a mold and then pour the resin has many problems. I wish you luck, if you get past the problems mentioned above let me know. I'll try it again. Jim P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimP Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Check out the post by Dman75 (Selling Molds), he is offering molds made with a CNC machine that look nice, might solve part of your puzzle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dman75 Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 (edited) I can second what Jim P was saying about finishing the lures. I've had off gassing issues with the foams. I make my own molds on my cnc machine so what I do is make two molds for a crankbait if I want to use foam. The foam is poured into a smaller core version of the full lure. I install the wire harness in this also. Then when completed I put the foam "core" into the main mold and pour alumilte with microballoons. It is a longer process to make 1 bait but the return is more buoyancy and allows for better positioning of ballast. I use both alumifoam and the 16lb foam from alumilite. Edited September 12, 2014 by Dman75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuskyGary Posted September 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Thanks for the information, I'll give it a try and then decide what I'll do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
