joelhains Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I think I've finally figured out how to dip tubes. These are my first tubes that look decent!. I'm dipping on aluminum arrow shafts cut down to about 5-6 inches in length. I bent a price of wire put it inside the shaft and poured lead down inside to hold the wire in place and close off the open end. I also made my own tail splitter using utility knife blades with prices of cardboard between each blade epoxied together. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basseducer Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Maybe the hollow end of the arrow shaft will produce a more solid head on the tube. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 That looks good. If you want to stop the nipple on it then dip it in cold water before it can drain down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apdriver Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 That looks good, Joel. I'd fish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archery1 Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 They do look good. Sum home made thinkin right there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelhains Posted January 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Thanks guys. I still have to tweak a few things. I might need to increase the spacing between the blades. It takes a lot of pressure to cut thought the tails. I need to figure out the hardness I want out of the plastic and number of dips relative to the tempature of the plastic too. These are triple dipped but I want a thinner tube with a firmer plastic I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 I don't know how you do your cutter. We had one similar and put it in a vise, held the tube over it and rolled a dowel rod across it to cutit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 consider a rotary cutter kinda pricey but works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 Jig Man's idea is good engineering, I like it. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archery1 Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 lurecraft has a cutter think its kinda pricey but it works good.. i just spray mine with pam every 4 or so tubes. i got a can crusher. cheaper than arbor press works good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 You can make a cutter similar to the lurecraft cutter with a block of 1 1/2" thick X 2 1/2" wide X 2" long hardwood and single edge razor blades. Cut a channel in the 2 1/2" face of the block, in 3/4" from each edge and deep enough to bury most of the razor blade, so 1/4" is still exposed. That should give you a 1" wide channel. If you want more blades, make both the block and the channel wider. Fill the channel with razor blades, and drill a pilot hole through one side for a screw, to be able to push the blades against the other side of the channel. Seal the finished block with epoxy, so you can spray the blades with PAM as a lubricant without saturating the wood. You can space the blades with cardboard if you want wider tails. If you want longer tails, make the block longer, and use longer blades. I suggest the razor blades because they're cheap and easily replaced when they dull. If you can get one of the self-healing cutting boards to lay your tubes on, you can use an arbor press to push the blades through the bait and do a bunch pretty quickly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyfawcett Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 so I am new to soft plastics thing can you still add salt to the plastic when you dip? I would love to get started making tubes but did not what to shell out the money for the molds. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Posted June 27, 2017 Report Share Posted June 27, 2017 If you use the can crusher, or any other pressure, get some gum rubber. The blades go through the tube easier and the rubber won't dull your blades as quickly. General rubber carries it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyfawcett Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 On 1/16/2016 at 1:27 PM, mark poulson said: You can make a cutter similar to the lurecraft cutter with a block of 1 1/2" thick X 2 1/2" wide X 2" long hardwood and single edge razor blades. Cut a channel in the 2 1/2" face of the block, in 3/4" from each edge and deep enough to bury most of the razor blade, so 1/4" is still exposed. That should give you a 1" wide channel. If you want more blades, make both the block and the channel wider. Fill the channel with razor blades, and drill a pilot hole through one side for a screw, to be able to push the blades against the other side of the channel. Seal the finished block with epoxy, so you can spray the blades with PAM as a lubricant without saturating the wood. You can space the blades with cardboard if you want wider tails. If you want longer tails, make the block longer, and use longer blades. I suggest the razor blades because they're cheap and easily replaced when they dull. If you can get one of the self-healing cutting boards to lay your tubes on, you can use an arbor press to push the blades through the bait and do a bunch pretty quickly. Mark have you made this. if so would you mind posting a pic please. thanks for the response Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 13, 2017 Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 5 hours ago, Rustyfawcett said: Mark have you made this. if so would you mind posting a pic please. thanks for the response Sorry. I left that back in SoCal when I moved north. It's just a block of wood with a channel down the center. I made it just to see if I could. It was more fun to make than to use, since I don't like to dip tubes. I'm lazy, and it's too much work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy bait Posted July 24, 2017 Report Share Posted July 24, 2017 (edited) I have been using £.16 nails in dipping them or use a magnetic bar and hang them upside down works terrific you could use different size nails for different sized tubes are also made a homemade Carter like the original above post tried to post pictures later. I am also working with a mold maker to make tubes these will be either a 10 or 20 cavity mold I will keep you guys updated sometime in August before we can get this done. Edited July 24, 2017 by crazy bait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 26, 2017 Report Share Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) I have been using spikes to dip tubes for a long time. I round the point off on the bench grinder first. You can dip them really quick and once you get the hang of it no drips and nice smooth tubes like the ones in the photo. With a little practice you get a feel for the plastic temp and spike temperature and can adjust on the fly to get consistent tubes very quickly. I hang my dipped spikes on a piece of modified egg crate. They slide into place and the nail head keeps it from falling through. When I was doing this a lot I would dip out a cup of plastic out in one heating. One can really knock out a lot of tubes. I used a the spaced stack of razor blades to cut my tubes and just pressed with a hardwood backer. I have a lot of rotary blades now but just haven't made the cutter yet. A decent rotary set up you can really knock out some cut tails quickly and at a very cheap price in regards to materials. I used one similar to the one Bonjon used in a clip he sent me and think a little over a second was need to cut a tail. Edited July 26, 2017 by Travis 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy bait Posted July 26, 2017 Report Share Posted July 26, 2017 just got home and gone for two days I need to post pictures here to show you what we have been doing and I think it may even help you out if you have a method that works for you and with it we are starting to make tubes for the smallmouth bass fishermen here in the Columbia River in Oregon we are working with a bunch of new plastic are quite don't like what I have and I need to get the person to make it a little bit harder I'm not real happy because some of my plastic Beach are tearing real easy may be good enough for 10 or so fish will try to get back on here to talk more about my method and show some pictures when I get some time here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
