Will Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 I received my first gallon of Calhoun plastic the other day. Made sure I stirred that bucket pretty good before I filled a couple of one-quart bottles for easy pouring later on. I also stirred pretty good one of the one-quart bottles before I poured some for melting. I was not too happy with the end-result. The grubs and swimbaits I ended up with were way too soft and I had to ad some hardener to it to make it better. I have a two-piece stix mold coming my way and my understanding from some of your posts is that your formula with this particular mold and plastic is to add softener on top of a plastic that is already very soft. Am I doing something wrong? Is Calhoun plastic supposed to be this soft? Your comments will be appreciated! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskat Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 I use the Calhoun plastic and have no problems with it. I don't add softner or hardner with mine. I have one of the two peice senko style molds and it pours great. One thing you'll find about the Calhoun over other plastics is that it takes the heat much better, with very little smoke. The other plastics settle in the container twice as much as Calhoun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Will I am guessing your didnt stir it enough before you poured it into the 1 quart containers. If you added softener into it with out the salt ( like the stik forumlas)it will be pretty soft. The softtener is added to counter react to the hardness the salt gives. One suggestion is pour it all back into one container and mix it extreamly good(more than a few mins) Another way of mixing it From the customers I have talked to is to get another gal bucket and pour it back and forth(between the 2 buckets) a bunch of times. that mixes it pretty good from what I am told. me personally I only mix it with a drill and a turbo paint stirrer . I do this 2-3 mins on med speed. Delw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted August 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Thanks Del, I will follow your advice. I'm waiting for my paint mixer (drill driven) to arrive and I will mix everything back together. [image removed by moderator, hotlinking is not permitted] How long do you spend stirring your plastic with the drill? Once you think the plastic has been stirred well, do you pour the plastic into smaller container? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Will that stirrer will work also and should leave less of a mess than the one I got. I stir between 2-3 mins on med speed. I never transfer my plastic into smaller containers. I always leave them in the one gal bucket or the 5 gal bucket . heres my reason. when its in a smaller container I will shake the plastic,( cant fit the stirrer into the hole) this doesnt mix it well enough. this way I am forced to stir it in the 1 gallon buckets. This is one reason why we went to the buckets instead of the containers, to many people shook the plastic and they had softness problems. Yes I agree the bucket is a little more cumbersome, but I know they are getting stirred properly and I dont get as many questions about softness. Alot of people buying the plastic are first time users and first impressions are always what sticks in thier minds. Delw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted August 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Del, It makes a heck of a lot of sense what you say. Thanks for your input, it is always apprecialted. This is way it will be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
