Adding Softner Or Hardner

[dmaiden38]

i currently pour alot if swimbaits I always have been tweaking the formulas to differn't ratios to get the best action out of my baits.I recently switched plastics i dont want to buy 3 different plastic types hard,soft,and med. i would rather buy med and custom blend my own using softner or hardner. What ratio of hardner do i need to make a saltwater grade or hard plastic and the same for softner to make soft. I have always heard 10 percent of softer to make soft formula.

[McLuvin175]

You will always be more successful softening your formulations rather than hardening them. When you add hardener your adding unprotected resin, meaning there isn't heat stabilizer in the Hardener formulations to protect that resin from scorching during the heating process. So if you do harden a formulation you need to be a little careful when heating and it might require heat stabilizer to be added. As a rule when adding hardener you should be OK going from a Medium to a Medium/Hard. Going from a Medium to a Hard is where you can run into issues.

 

With your premise you will need Plastic, Hardener, Softener, and probably Heat Stabilizer. (4 products) There is more than 1 way to skin a cat but think about this:

 

Option 1) Buy the hardest formulation you will use and Softener. You can just cut back the hard formulation to the softness you want. (2 products only)

 

Option 2) Buy the Soft formulation and the Hard formulation. Blend the two of them at any ratio to get any firmness you want besides Soft and Hard. Depending on your supplier a 50/50 blend of Hard and Soft should give you a decent medium. (2 products only)

 

Since you are custom blending your plastic you are the one you have to please. Only you know what you like and will work best for your baits to maximize action against durability. This winter would be a good time to get a good notebook and pour sample baits based on some custom formulas you can duplicate in the future. Add that 10% Softener to a Medium plastic, wait 24 hours, and test it. Adjust as needed. Once you build your formula library you will always have it and can go back and adjust as needed.

 

Good Luck!