Casting Lures

[BIGCREW]

Has anyone ever tryed to cast lures with fiberglass resin? The stuff they use in auto body shops

[Vodkaman]

Yes, it casts well, but there is significant shrinkage of a noticeable magnitude. This may or may not be important to you, but at least the shrinkage will be repeatable. The biggest issue is the material density with the specific gravity being 1.2 were water is 1.0. This means that your bait will sink like a stone.

 

I tried adding silicon microballoons, but you have to add so much that the liquid becomes unpourable with the consistency of thick mustard. I did successfully use injection techniques, using a cake icing injector, but still, the density of the final pour left little room for ballast.

 

Be aware that the material is brittle. I accidentally dropped a body onto a hard tiled floor and the nose snapped off, most likely weakened by the lip slot. I am not sure how this brittle nature compares with commercially available lightened resins like alumilite, they may well have the same problems, but no one has mentioned anything in the forums. Maybe I am reading too much into the problem.

 

Finally, the resin is not water proof, it is water resistant, so you still need to pay attention to sealing and top coat protection. Obviously nowhere near as problematic as timber, and again, may not be a problem at all.

 

On a positive note; it is cheap, easy to drill and work with saws. Sands and finishes nicely.

 

A final warning note; the fumes are harmful, mainly due to the catalyst. use good ventilation and wear gloves. Do some more research and see what other, more experienced users around the web have to say. Is it worth a go, I would say yes. A cheap way to learn about resin casting, before you spend big money on the more accepted commercial products.

 

The shrinkage helps if you are planning to cast in plaster, but the general rule is - hard cast, soft mold. Works well with RTV.

 

Dave

[BIGCREW]

Thanks for the info, sinking like a stone is not What im looking for but at least I got to find out how it is without having to buy the stuff and try it for myself only to have wasted time and money thanks again

[Anglinarcher]

Casting with materials like Alumilite White or AlumiFoam are NOT brittle either.  The density of Alumilite White is a little over 1.0 but with microballons it can be made to float pretty easy.  Alumifoam is about the density of cedar wood.

 

There are other casting resins out there as well, so if Fiberglass is not for you, there are other options.  PS, the Alumifoam is tough stuff.

[BIGCREW]

I seen some casting kits at hobby lobby but they didnt have the casting materials for purchase I would have to buy a kit and they are small I dont think I would be able to make very many lures from it, I guess im going to have to mail order some

[token12]

Look into Feather-Lite casting resin by Smooth-On.  It has the microballons added in to part A and B.  You'll have to mix thoroughly though as the resin separates from the balloons in both cans.  it floats straight out of the mold and it lite.  I wouldn't add a lot of belly weight as it will sink with the additional hardware installed. 

[mark poulson]

Since Solarez is a polyester resin, made for surf board coating and repairs, could you coat a bait made from the Alumifoam, and make it's skin harder and smoother?  That would give you a good surface for painting.

[Anglinarcher]

Yep.  The Alumifoam actually self skins so it is pretty smooth already.  But, yes, you can use Solarez or the new AlumiUV.  I have also used Etex.

[Jdeee]

I have used the SmoothOn foam basically the same thing and used Solarez to seal it up because you get bubbles in the foam at the pour holes of the mold. The foam lure needs to be sealed or it will off gas and be a real PITA to topcoat.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Jdeee