Adding salt

[Fisheye48]

Never added salt to any of my plastics but a buddy has asked me to shoot him some with salt. What are some of the do's and dont's and salt preference. Thanks!

[Anglinarcher]

Hi fish, I see that you are pretty new and I don't know if we told you how to use the search feature.  It is not straightforward.

Hover over ACTIVITY at the top right of the screen.  When the drop down menu comes up, go down to search and click on it.  Type Salt into the feature, then hang on for all you get.  LOL

22 minutes ago, Fisheye48 said:

but a buddy has asked me to shoot him some with salt

Is this for "taste", "scent", or "weight".  It all makes a difference.

Actually scent and taste, if there is a scent, are the same.  You don't need to add nearly as much.  Adding for weight requires up to 25% by volume, depending on a lot of different factors.

24 minutes ago, Fisheye48 said:

What are some of the do's and dont's and salt preference.

Adding salt clouds the plastic and weakens it and stiffens it.  So, Use only the amount you need.

• If you add salt, especially for weight, then you will need to add softener to the mix.  The amount will depend on the amount of salt.
• The salt you use should be as fine as you can get, or the special flake salt.  I have an old, very very old, small coffee and spice grinder that I use to grind my salt.  I want it like powder.  The flake is designed to use as is, but I have never used it.
• If you are doing it for weight, consider using glass beads used for sandblasting, not recycled but new.  It does not cloud the baits or weaken it nearly as much.
• If you use the salt for weight, the amount is a crapshoot.  Many people have asked the question on how much to add to get their bait sink like a Sinko, and the results depend on the Plastisol you use, the volume of your bait, the ........ like I said, capshoot.  You will need to experiment.
• If you are adding for taste, then I like about 5%, maybe 10%.  I don't actually measure that out that much.  If you wash off a freshly poured bait and then chew on it, and can taste salt, it is probably enough.

I hope this helps, but do the search, and then by then I bet others will jump in here.

 

[Driftwood]

Anglinarcher hit the bullseye here. Beads are better than salt for weight. We also grind the salt when adding it to our baits and mix salt with scent and add it to the plastic when shooting for taste. ( A different perspective to consider.) A cautionary note... don't use your wifes blender to grind the salt lol.

[DaveMc1]

11 hours ago, Anglinarcher said:

Hi fish, I see that you are pretty new and I don't know if we told you how to use the search feature.  It is not straightforward.

Hover over ACTIVITY at the top right of the screen.  When the drop down menu comes up, go down to search and click on it.  Type Salt into the feature, then hang on for all you get.  LOL

Is this for "taste", "scent", or "weight".  It all makes a difference.

Actually scent and taste, if there is a scent, are the same.  You don't need to add nearly as much.  Adding for weight requires up to 25% by volume, depending on a lot of different factors. The amount is 100% personal preference and there are absolutely NO requirements. 

Adding salt clouds the plastic and weakens it and stiffens it.  So, Use only the amount you need. It all depends on the type of salt you use and whether or not you grind it. Grinding salt was the WORST thing I have ever done, severely clouded the plastic and clumped in the plastic. Find the finest worm salt you can get your hands on. I use roughly 30%-35% salt by weight in a stick bait, my sticks are relatively translucent, can see the flake buried in the bait, and they are quite soft and more durable than the GYCB standard, again, it all comes down to the type of salt you use. 

• If you add salt, especially for weight, then you will need to add softener to the mix.  The amount will depend on the amount of salt. NO YOU DON'T, again it is all preference and up to the end user. Myself, I use a lot of salt, over 1500lbs in the last 8 months, I NEVER add softener. 
• The salt you use should be as fine as you can get, or the special flake salt.  I have an old, very very old, small coffee and spice grinder that I use to grind my salt.  I want it like powder.  The flake is designed to use as is, but I have never used it. If you want the best results, DO NOT grind the salt. Get the finest salt you can get, several suppliers sell a fine grind calling it worm salt, it will work well. 
• If you are doing it for weight, consider using glass beads used for sandblasting, not recycled but new.  It does not cloud the baits or weaken it nearly as much. Personally, adding glass beads will offer a bit of clarity and durability at the expense of your equipment. Many have reported that it will chew through injector o-rings and damage the internals of the injector. Salt will not do this and it is also NATURAL and water soluble. 
• If you use the salt for weight, the amount is a crapshoot.  Many people have asked the question on how much to add to get their bait sink like a Sinko, and the results depend on the Plastisol you use, the volume of your bait, the ........ like I said, capshoot.  You will need to experiment. Absolutely 100%
• If you are adding for taste, then I like about 5%, maybe 10%.  I don't actually measure that out that much.  If you wash off a freshly poured bait and then chew on it, and can taste salt, it is probably enough.

I hope this helps, but do the search, and then by then I bet others will jump in here.

 

 

Sorry, I found it easier to include my comments in the quote.  The main thing I think the OP should take from any of this is there are NO do's or don'ts, just start adding and experiment with it. 

[Anglinarcher]

Buy the way, I suspect the differences between myself and Dave is production.  He is a production guy, I have not used 

5 hours ago, DaveMc1 said:

1500lbs in the last 8 months

or ever for that matter.  I am a hobbyist, I don't have the courage to go big, or go broke.  LOL

Because I do small batches, what I have said, and what you will find in the searches, will differ with each of us.

[DaveMc1]

2 minutes ago, Anglinarcher said:

Buy the way, I suspect the differences between myself and Dave is production.  He is a production guy, I have not used 

 

I am still just shooting all my baits by hand  I much like Frank have figured out what I needed to do to be very efficient and aren't afraid to put the work in to make the baits LOL. As of right now I am not using any equipment that everyone else on the forum can't get. 

[Anglinarcher]

Nothing wrong with hand shooting, but clearly you pour more then a few dozen a year.  LOL  

I never get clumping because I mix slowly and never heat more than a cup or two of plastic.  I am not as efficient as you, but it works for me.

Also, because I don't use recycled beads, I don't seem to have the "equipment" problem, but if I did, that would be a deal breaker for sure.  Salt is so much softer, and it does dissolve in water.

 

[GaryDel]

On 2/3/2018 at 9:29 AM, DaveMc1 said:

 

Sorry, I found it easier to include my comments in the quote.  The main thing I think the OP should take from any of this is there are NO do's or don'ts, just start adding and experiment with it. 

In one of the posting it was mentioned NOT to grind salt.  Can I ask why not?

[alsworms]

1 hour ago, GaryDel said:

In one of the posting it was mentioned NOT to grind salt.  Can I ask why not?

I don't know about others, but when I tried grinding salt, I blew up 2 of my wife's blenders.  To this day, she doesn't let me forget it.  LOL

[mark poulson]

4 hours ago, alsworms said:

I don't know about others, but when I tried grinding salt, I blew up 2 of my wife's blenders.  To this day, she doesn't let me forget it.  LOL

Hahaha

I use a coffee grinder that my in-laws left at my house one holiday.  After I realized it would grind salt, I "forgot"  to return it.

[Anglinarcher]

I do know that it can destroy blenders.  My very ancient coffee grinder has a single spinning double winged blade that crushes, not cuts, the salt (or spices or coffee).  I do a little at a time so it does not pack or get hot and melt into clumps, but...... a cheap blender I got at a thrift store got toasted when I did too much too fast.

To answer the why not to, well, two things.

1) Powder salt can leave lots of white that can cloud baits.  Salt flakes or small crystals won't cloud nearly as much, or so I am told.

2) Grinding salt can destroy blenders.

Notice that you can buy fine salt sold as worm salt.  Ever wonder how it got to be "fine"?  Salt crystals grow at different rates, and are normally larger than what we buy, so, it all gets ground somewhere?  Just saying.......

[DaveMc1]

10 hours ago, Anglinarcher said:

Notice that you can buy fine salt sold as worm salt.  Ever wonder how it got to be "fine"?  Salt crystals grow at different rates, and are normally larger than what we buy, so, it all gets ground somewhere?  Just saying.......

 

There are small amounts of additives added like anti clumping/caking agents in the finer grinds that keep it from clumping up. something you don't have when you grind it yourself. 

 

I have ground up my fair share of several different types of salt. I always found no matter what salt I started with and no matter how small the batch was and no matter how slow I mixed it would clump up bad in the plastic. I found a gallon jug of "worm salt" in a box of bait making supplies when I bought a guy out once. It was great, mixed in the plastic just fine, dispersed great, didn't clump. Took a sample into a major salt wholesaler here and have been buying part skids of 50lb bags ever since. 

[Anglinarcher]

But, your idea of slow is different then my idea of slow.  I have not used 50 pounds in my life, not even close.  When you mix only two or three cups at a time, like I do, I can prevent clumps.

But, I am glad to hear how they add anti clumping agents.  that makes a lot of sense to me.

[GaryDel]

Thanks everyone I really appreciate your comments about salt.  Now I understand.  This form is a plethora of information. ( I always liked Howard Cosell)

[DaveMc1]

On 2/3/2018 at 3:10 PM, Anglinarcher said:

I never get clumping because I mix slowly and never heat more than a cup or two of plastic. 

 

This is the SLOW I was referring to. Which has absolutely NOTHING to do with how much salt someone uses. 

 

18 hours ago, Anglinarcher said:

But, your idea of slow is different then my idea of slow.  I have not used 50 pounds in my life, not even close.  When you mix only two or three cups at a time, like I do, I can prevent clumps.

 

You keep trying to make this distinction that because I am a "production guy" (Frank also) as you say that none of the suggestions and tips etc apply to any of these situations, yet I know I have explained to you specifically several times that NOTHING I am doing is any different than what most on here are doing except I am working with larger volumes of plastic. Standard off the shelf equipment that is available to anyone. Hate to tell you this but the biggest difference between mixing and cooking 2 cups and 2 gallons...........2 gallons is easier to work with as any problems that may occur happen slower and you usually have time to adjust unlike smaller volumes.

 

So please, do me a favour and stop making generic assumptions you know nothing about just to suit whatever your agenda is. 

[Anglinarcher]

Dave, I see that the two of us are just never going to agree.

Here is the problem, I can and do grind salt for soft plastics.  I don't do it often, and I don't do it a lot, but I do and I don't get clumping. 

I suppose that if the two, of if you include Frank, the three of us, got together in the same room and did it together we would see how our ways differ.  I don't think it means one or two of us are doing it wrong, just different.

Just because it does not work for you does not mean it doesn't work for me, or others.  But, because you and I have some specific difference does not mean I have an agenda.  I assume you don't have an agenda either, do you?

I don't know how trying to help out has offended you, but for what is is worth, it was never my intention to do so.

 

[mjs]

Your 'lively discusion' brought out interesting points and more precision. Thanks to both.

[Tonypeets]

Just buy a cheap mortar and pestle to grind salt.

[wallyc14]

I have always used worm salt. At the being I ground salt and it’s a pia which is why I stopped. To each their own:-)

i will add this though, I add my salt to cold plastic and heat it all together. I’ve had great luck with it over the years . Mine does not clump at all . Which ever way you go good luck . Experimentation it’s part of the fun of this and keeps it interesting!

p.s I keep a small bag of dry white rice in a perforated bag in my salt container it keeps the moisture at bay.