ravenlures Posted July 23, 2017 Report Share Posted July 23, 2017 Has anyone ever made a mold with a lip slot in it. I am about to make a mold with the lip slot in it, I know what angle I want, I am just wondering how the slot will hold up in the mold. I also would consider putting the lip in when I pour the resin into the mold, This is for a musky lure 8" long and a 2" lip by 3/16" thick. I would like to have a aluminum mold made but too costly unless there is somebody that could make one for a few hundred bucks!! I know just asking! Any suggestions would help. Thanks guys Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted July 23, 2017 Report Share Posted July 23, 2017 Oh yes, many times. I prefer to use a little stiffer silicone mold when I do that, something like the Alumilite Quick Set or the Trans 40. They keep a little more dimensional stability so it is easier. http://www.makelure.com/store/p/918-QuickSet.aspx http://www.makelure.com/store/p/1081-TRANS-40-Translucent-Silicone.aspx Now, as for an "aluminum mold", there is another option that is just about as good and down right cheep compared to having one machined. You can make one from Alumilite Vac-Master 50. It is as close to an Aluminum mold as you can get, in fact it contains a high amount of aluminum in it, and can be machined. http://www.makelure.com/store/p/1056-Vac-Master-50.aspx If I was going to pour with the lip in place, and I was not going to pour dozens or hundreds, I would use the Trnas 40 because you can see the lip in place as you pour the resin. But, if I was going to pour lots and lots and had the mold designed with no undercuts, a good clean fit, then the Vac-Master 50 would be my go to material. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosko2 Posted July 24, 2017 Report Share Posted July 24, 2017 Hi Wayne, I've made silicone molds for musky cranks using both methods....Pour with the lip in place and also pour without the lip in the mold but account for the slot. In my opinion I feel it's easier to pour with the lip in place. I also use wire through construction so it makes more sense for me. My wire runs through the lip for the line tie through two small holes that are drilled and I also drill two small holes in the lip in the area that will fill in with the resin or foam. I lay this lip and wire into the two piece mold and pour. The resin oozes through those two little holes and basically forms two little lip pins that give it a little more support. I use high strength 2 silicone from makelure.com. Speaking of cranks, I switched to using alumafoam instead of resin for more buoyancy and am very pleased with it. It's tough as nails too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted July 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2017 One question; When you pour a crank with or with out lip in a vac-master mold is it hard to remove the lure, I would like to make as many as I need for a production run lets say I need a hundred lures I would make four molds of same to increase production. With the silicone molds using foam it just deforms the lure, I can see since the vac-master 50 is stiff to hold the foam in place is this true as I see it. I would like to go over to foam but the resin is working ok for me now but I am always trying to improve and make less costly. I will have to look into this, Thanks for the information Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosko2 Posted July 26, 2017 Report Share Posted July 26, 2017 I've never used the vac-master but I'd like to know the answer to your question too for larger production runs. As far as the foam getting deformed when pouring into a silicone mold, I don't have any issues with that happening as long as I support the mold on both sides with pieces of wood clamped together. I use high strength 2 because it's a little stiffer than rc3 and I made the mold a little bigger to give it more side wall rigidity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted July 31, 2017 Report Share Posted July 31, 2017 On 7/25/2017 at 2:39 PM, ravenlures said: One question; When you pour a crank with or with out lip in a vac-master mold is it hard to remove the lure, I would like to make as many as I need for a production run lets say I need a hundred lures I would make four molds of same to increase production. With the silicone molds using foam it just deforms the lure, I can see since the vac-master 50 is stiff to hold the foam in place is this true as I see it. I would like to go over to foam but the resin is working ok for me now but I am always trying to improve and make less costly. I will have to look into this, Thanks for the information Wayne Wayne, sorry I was not on sooner, but some days I just cannot get on line. I will answer your question with a question. "When you pour a crank with or with out lip in an aluminum mold is it hard to remove the lure....." The Vac Master is a substitute for aluminum so the same pros and cons exist for both. If you have the right design of lure, if you use a two piece mold, you can place the lip in mold piece 1 and use mold piece 2 to hold it in place. As you remove mold piece 2 it frees the lip so the lure can be removed. But, Silicone molds are a lot more forgiving and you can make a mold so the lip can just slip into a slot and the material can flex to enable the removal easier. If you do want to go to Alumifoam, and want to go with a Silicone, then a Platinum cure lake Trans 40 or better yet the Plat 55 might be better then the HS2. I have used HS2 and Quickset as well, and the Quickset is stiffer and easier, BUT..... If you don't mind the added step of clamping the mold between a couple of pieces of wood, and using thicker mold walls, you can still get excellent results with Alumifoam. Hope this helps, and sorry I was off line a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted July 31, 2017 Report Share Posted July 31, 2017 On 7/26/2017 at 7:38 AM, rosko2 said: I've never used the vac-master but I'd like to know the answer to your question too for larger production runs. As far as the foam getting deformed when pouring into a silicone mold, I don't have any issues with that happening as long as I support the mold on both sides with pieces of wood clamped together. I use high strength 2 because it's a little stiffer than rc3 and I made the mold a little bigger to give it more side wall rigidity. I hope I have answered your questions. I agree with your HS2 and wood clamping. I will be making tutorial videos soon, and Vac-Master is on my list. PM me if you have a specific issue you want me to try and show. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted July 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2017 Anglinarcher Thanks for the information, The only way is to just do it, I may make a mistake but that is the way I learn ( hands on) I will start with a silicone mold then move to a more stiffer mold as I go finally settling on one that's works for me. Thanks again for the information and will if I need help I will send you another question. Wayne 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted July 31, 2017 Report Share Posted July 31, 2017 You learn like I do, and my best teacher has been mistakes. But, as long as you are learning, are you really making mistakes, or are you pushing the envelope to the limits?????? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleT Posted August 1, 2017 Report Share Posted August 1, 2017 I used the Vac-Master 50 to make some injection molds for large grub tails. The only problem I experienced was removing my original from the mold. I sprayed the original good with mold release but it didn't seem to help much. I totally destroyed my original trying to remove it. Once I got everything cleaned up the mold works great for injecting tails. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted August 1, 2017 Report Share Posted August 1, 2017 (edited) Sounds like you had some undercuts. Undercuts are ok for a silicone molds but prohibited on Aluminum, hard plastic, or Vac Master molds. My guess is that the tails don't have the undercutting. Still, love you to PM me a close up picture of the mold. Edited August 1, 2017 by Anglinarcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosko2 Posted August 2, 2017 Report Share Posted August 2, 2017 Anglinarcher, If I'm pouring alumafoam into a two piece vac 50 mold, do I need to use mold release on the mold in order for my part to release, including the lip? If so, is UMR the mold release you'd suggest? Do you suggest the same mold release when actually making a two piece mold out of vac 50 as well? Thanks! Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted August 3, 2017 Report Share Posted August 3, 2017 I do suggest using a good mold release if you are using Alumafoam in Vac Master. Is it necessary, probably not, but it is so much easier. The biggest thing is to make sure that there are NO UNDERCUTS. No amount of mold release will work if there are undercuts. Yes, I prefer UMR because it works on all of the different materials I use and it works great on Vac Master 50. I also like it because I can paint over it straight from molding. I do occasionally just smear the Vac Master 50 mold with a thin coat of petroleum jelly when using Alumafoam. It works well, but does require a cleaning step before I paint. Hope this helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
