JJK Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Was wondering if any body had any suggestions on making masters for Hand or open pour molds I had some mew ideas on baits I. Have use clay , pastic, and wood in the past Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJK Posted November 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Maybe I should reword this and say for the people who create There own molds what do u prefer to make your masters out of and why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I use Sculpy Clay for some, and soft plastic that I weld together into different shapes for others. The clay lets me make anything I can think of, almost, as long as I can get the clay to keep the shape until it's fired hard. Using soft plastic masters lets me us Solarez UV resin to make the mold itself, and I can capture any fine detail with it. I found a neat way to make hook slots in clay masters. Use a plano divider. I made some flat sided shad soft baits that I fish with a belly weighted hook. Make the clay master in two halves, join them together, with the divider in the middle where you want the hook slot. When you bake the clay, the divider looks like it's melting, but the part inside the clay holds it's shape, and it's easy to remove once it's cooled down. I use 1/8" spacers on each side of my molding table, and a dowel rolled across them to flatten the clay to 1/8" evenly. Then I cut out the shape of the bait in one piece, lay it over the rest of the 1/8" clay and trace out the shape again. That way, when I cut the second half out, it's really close to the first. Take the two halves, make a plano divider sandwich, finger the clay to make the joint smoother, prop it up vertical with two rocks on your cookie sheet, divider up, and put it in the oven to bake. Makes a neat bait that no one else has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Im not very good with clay, so I carve a wood dowel down with a Dremel for the bodies.. Mold the body in RTV.. Copy it in plastic.. Then add appendages using anything from crafting foam to coffee straws.. Put it all together and mold in plaster....... Getting prety good with the plaster, but want to move up to fiberglass some day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kajan Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I use mostly wood , mainly cypress, then coat with epoxy to make a hard smooth finish. Thin first coat, then full strength, but takes a few coats to get it near perfect. Bou'cou' light sanding, steel wooling, and polishing down. I use Devcon 2 ton. Don't ever use the 5 minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhorn Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I've had good luck with the lost wax method that jewelry makers use. Carve the master out of wax, make a POP mold and put in the oven to melt the wax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I've had good luck with the lost wax method that jewelry makers use. Carve the master out of wax, make a POP mold and put in the oven to melt the wax. Those baits are beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 Those baits are beautiful! I concur! Those bluegill baits would kill 'em here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slammingjack Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 Wax hmmm I need to try that myself. Thank you for sharing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishon-son Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 wow that's nice longhorn...really nice ...where do you get the wax and what type of wax..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhorn Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Thanks for the nice words guys. The wax was plain old canning wax you can get in any grocery store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pancho Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Wax is something I have never used. Most of my carving are made out of bake clay. At first using the clay it was very frustrating due to the clay gettng to hot and very hard to work with from the heat of my hands. I now got a good understanding on how the clay works. Here is an idea start two projects at one time. Whenever the clay is gettin to warm and hard to work with place it in the refrigerator for ten minutes. When waiting for the first project to cool down start on the second one and alternate the projects in and out of the refrigerator. Just my two cents. I hope this helps. Pancho 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pancho Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Mr. Longhorn your baits look fantastic. Thanks for the tip on the wax. Now you just put my mind on a new project. Pancho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Thanks for the nice words guys. The wax was plain old canning wax you can get in any grocery store. Is that the same as the bars of parafin wax I have in my garage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo Al Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Yeah canning wax is paraffin wax. It also makes a cool fireball shoot out of a lead pot. I really like the tackle divider idea too. Longhorn- those baits are amazing and thanks for sharing the wax casting method. I'll have to try it over the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Thanks. A friend brought me case of it that he found after it had fallen out a delivery truck. I gave away a lot, but still have a lot left, just gathering sawdust. I'll melt it into sizes I can carve for masters. I think I may pour it into one of the soft silicone swimbait molds I have, and then carve additional detailing into to it, and make a new mold. Hmmm..... Edited December 12, 2014 by mark poulson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJK Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 No matter what you do to get there, find a way to make some good masters from your mold when you get it right so you can make more molds in the future if you want to. It surely sucks to find the bite the day before a tournament and then miss blast off because you were up all night pouring more of them one at a time. No matter what you do to get there, find a way to make some good masters from your mold when you get it right so you can make more molds in the future if you want to. It surely sucks to find the bite the day before a tournament and then miss blast off because you were up all night pouring more of them one at a time. Amen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
