DoubleT Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 About a month ago I bought a 5 gallon bucket of hard formula plastic. For ease of handling, I also purchased 5 one gallon plastic jugs. Before I transferred to the jugs I mixed everything up really well with a paint mixing arm on a drill. I had been doing my best to give the jugs a good shake every couple days to keep things in suspension. Well.......I forgot and they sat for about a week. I had about a 1/4 inch of material hard packed in the bottom of each jug. I shook each jug like a mad man and while it did mix some of the material back in, a lot of it stayed tight to the bottom. So I eventually (after scraping with a piece of PEX pipe) was able to get it all broke free. I poured the five jugs back into my original 5 gallon bucket and tossed the jugs. At least working from the 5 gallon bucket I can use the mixing arm to bust up the hard pack and get the plastic back to a usable state. I plan to give the 5 gallon bucket a occasional shake in hopes of not having to deal with a large amount of hard packed material. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Get a nice screw on lids and just mix just before you use it every time. Keeps everything real consistent all the time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleT Posted October 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 37 minutes ago, Frank said: Get a nice screw on lids and just mix just before you use it every time. Keeps everything real consistent all the time. Will do Frank. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landry Posted October 20, 2018 Report Share Posted October 20, 2018 As u know I am using this same plastisol it hard packs badly i keep it in the 5 gallon pail and use a piece of aluminum angle to scrape and stir. I use one gallon jug and dump it back in 5 gallon pail if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallyc14 Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 PEX pipe:-) plumber by chance? Lol a sheet rock mixer in a cordless drill in the 5 gallon bucket is the best way I know of. I will pull 1/2 a gallon off At a time ( I use it pretty quickly . I put a couple of 1 ounce lead weights in the bottom of the gallon jug I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 Forgive a general question, but what makes some plastics hard pack, while others don't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 3 hours ago, mark poulson said: Forgive a general question, but what makes some plastics hard pack, while others don't? Always wondered that myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 Why but plastisol that hard packs? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 From what I understand one of the products in plastisol can be dry and can settle. The coarser the dry product the worst it settles. The end product is the same just needs attention before use. All plastics have some type of settlement. Get into a habit of making sure you get all of it mixed well before use and thing will get way more predictable. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleT Posted October 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 (edited) 15 hours ago, smallmouthaholic said: Why but plastisol that hard packs? I am relatively new at building soft plastic baits. I make large (13 ounces of plastisol) musky baits. The plastic that I used initially didn't hard pack at all and I loved that aspect of it. The problem that I experienced with it was making repairs and paint adhesion. The manufacturer of that particular plastisol adds something to the plastic that makes it constantly exude oil. No matter how much I washed it prior to paint I always had some paint adhesion problems. Also, you can forget making repairs to torn baits. I tried several different adhesives and never had any luck. If anyone is aware of a plastisol (saltwater/hard formula) that doesn't hard pack and is easy to paint and repair, I am all ears. On 10/20/2018 at 8:20 PM, wallyc14 said: PEX pipe:-) plumber by chance? Lol a sheet rock mixer in a cordless drill in the 5 gallon bucket is the best way I know of. I will pull 1/2 a gallon off At a time ( I use it pretty quickly . I put a couple of 1 ounce lead weights in the bottom of the gallon jug I use. Not a plumber. Locomotive Electrician. lol. I had a piece of left over pex from a small plumbing project at the house. The pex pipe worked great though. It didn't scratch or gouge the bottom of the bucket while breaking up the hard packed material. This is the paint mixing arm that I purchased at Lowes. It worked great and was really easy to clean off. Edited October 22, 2018 by DoubleT Smaller image 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baitjunkys Posted October 23, 2018 Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) Science makes plastic settle and hard pack, Eventually they all will do it. Viscosity IMO is the number one thing, You cant suspend sand in water. Were you may suspend the same sand in Mayonnaise. On that note I have almost been solely using Lureworks Suspendasol, But it is not microwave friendly at all... Edited October 23, 2018 by Baitjunkys 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoonMinnow Posted October 26, 2018 Report Share Posted October 26, 2018 Funny that M-F always mixes what settles on bottom while Lurecraft is impossible to mix. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted October 26, 2018 Report Share Posted October 26, 2018 Problem solved ! Wide mouth gallon jugs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rixon529 Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 Curiosity question: does the hard pack of the plastic vary by degree of hardness? In other words, does the hardest formula hard pack more than the softest? Is it the quantity of hardener in the plastic that affects it? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoonMinnow Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 The plastic I bought from LC was med. soft and was always difficult to separate with no use of 3 weeks or more. Maybe they've improved formulation. I haven't gotten plastic from anyone except M-F so I wouldn't know the consensus of other plastics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 13 hours ago, rixon529 said: Curiosity question: does the hard pack of the plastic vary by degree of hardness? In other words, does the hardest formula hard pack more than the softest? Is it the quantity of hardener in the plastic that affects it? Rick Yes the harder one settle faster than soft. I believe it I the amount of pvc material added that makes it settle faster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baitjunkys Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 I agree with frank, Tho I would also like to add, viscosity also plays a huge roll. and I also believe proper mixing in the original manufacturing operation does as well. I use Spike it Suspendasol regularly now, It has a extremely high viscosity. I have yet to see it have a drop of sediment on the bottom. In plastic there is lots of trade offs. One company you can easily hit 400 degrees without scorching, but at the same time it wont hardly suspend glitter without stirring the crap out of it. Another hard packs so badly you need a jack hammer to loosen it. same thing, heats easily, smells ok etc. Now the suspendasol does not work in the microwave at all. But this is a trade of for what it does do in the injection machine. It will float 30% salt overnight cold. Baits always come out uniform etc. SO there is a huge amount of apples to oranges comparisons now days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 On 11/2/2018 at 9:59 AM, Baitjunkys said: I agree with frank, Tho I would also like to add, viscosity also plays a huge roll. and I also believe proper mixing in the original manufacturing operation does as well. I use Spike it Suspendasol regularly now, It has a extremely high viscosity. I have yet to see it have a drop of sediment on the bottom. In plastic there is lots of trade offs. One company you can easily hit 400 degrees without scorching, but at the same time it wont hardly suspend glitter without stirring the crap out of it. Another hard packs so badly you need a jack hammer to loosen it. same thing, heats easily, smells ok etc. Now the suspendasol does not work in the microwave at all. But this is a trade of for what it does do in the injection machine. It will float 30% salt overnight cold. Baits always come out uniform etc. SO there is a huge amount of apples to oranges comparisons now days. You use Spike it Plastisol . Hmmmmm ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 I am guessing he uses it because Spikeit make plastic for the bait making industry. They can adjust formulas for situations we have. Other company’s make plastic for many industry’s and we are not top of there list. Using suspendasol tells you that is probably the case. No one else even offers such a thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baitjunkys Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 7 minutes ago, Frank said: I am guessing he uses it because Spikeit make plastic for the bait making industry. They can adjust formulas for situations we have. Other company’s make plastic for many industry’s and we are not top of there list. Using suspendasol tells you that is probably the case. No one else even offers such a thing. That is exactly why Frank. Amongst a few other things. Don and Josh have been extremly good to me. In a injection machine Suspendasol hands down is the best product on the market if you want good quality, consistant baits. Cost is a bit higher but glitter and salt, let alone clean out. It 100% currently cant be beat. No reason to step over a dollar to pickup a quarter. I will pay the price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
