Tiderunner Posted January 29, 2022 Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 Recently received my Angling AI core shot stick bat mold. Having been buried in snow today, I decided it was time to try it out. It's got me baffled. I made a rainbow trout type color, light baby bass green shell, pink core. My shells are loaded with flashing almost the entire length of them. Can't figure that out. And the core shots aren't completing. Some are actually shooting out the side of the shells even though inspection doesn't reveal a tear. Although it may be too small to see. The tail part of the core is filling. but not the shell. How is that happening? I've run 15 baits so far, and was able to save two? I give up. What am I doing wrong? Especially with the flashing. It's making otherwise good looking baits look awful. Shooting shells at around 350, and making core color over that temp. Any higher a temp with the core and it will burn. Using heavy pressure on both, but extremely heavy on the core. I realize that could be a problem with the shell, but why are my cores not shooting? I'm making sure there is a hole at the tail end to displace air. Not enough lube on the core rods? Maybe I wasn't meant to own this mold? The fishing gods are getting even? If nothing else, it's the flashing that's bothering me most, because should I want to make stickbaits without using the rods, the baits will still look like crap. Luckily I own 3 of the Do It Yamomoto Senko molds for that Using the brass nuts that come with the mold, and then holding the mold gently in a vise so it doesn't go flying. I did add salt to the cores, but the plastic is almost watery so it's definitely hot enough. Maybe its too thick with the salt even though it appears watery? Should I lube the rids more so the core color passes through more easily? I knew there might be a learning curve but this is crazy! It can drive a man to drinking! Any help would be appreciated. Just so y'all know I've been pouring plastics for nearly 30 years so for me to reach out it's gotta be pretty bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dink Master Posted January 30, 2022 Report Share Posted January 30, 2022 First thing I would try is just a straight stick worms no rods. (you can keep remelting, until you get it right) Use a lower temp. and lighter pressure when shooting. Try shooting without the vise. If you have to use the vise, try using a clamp on the top. No salt in the core. Make sure you have clean/clear opening at the head of the worm. 350* for the cores should be okay. You might be shooting the cores with to much pressure also. If you have hot plastic and a open core, they should shoot fine. Good luck, keep trying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 30, 2022 Report Share Posted January 30, 2022 I've never used their molds, but I'd suggest you contact them and see what they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted January 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2022 16 hours ago, Dink Master said: First thing I would try is just a straight stick worms no rods. (you can keep remelting, until you get it right) Use a lower temp. and lighter pressure when shooting. Try shooting without the vise. If you have to use the vise, try using a clamp on the top. No salt in the core. Make sure you have clean/clear opening at the head of the worm. 350* for the cores should be okay. You might be shooting the cores with to much pressure also. If you have hot plastic and a open core, they should shoot fine. Good luck, keep trying. No need for straight stick worms. I did however use a lower temp for the shells, and less pressure to shoot. First run no vise. Worst flashing yet. Shot the cores anyway Totally filled at a higher temp. Ok so next run, Still lower temps shell, still minimal pressure, and I socked that sucker into the vise nice and tight! NO clamps, no finesse! Shot my cores hot, and a good amount of pressure. PERFECT CORE SHOT STICKBAITS! It's almost as though the top and bottom plates of the mold don't match up perfectly. I never have this flashing problem with any other molds. Plastic or Lead molds unless I'm pouring a buttload of whatevers and the molds, injectors Molten metal or plastic is way hot. The I get a tiny bit of warping in my molds, but not often. Don't understand why it happens so easily in this mold. And yes I put salt in my cores. I fish deep water smallmouth 40-60 ft, and I need the extra density to get my baits down. Weight for these baits has been a consistent 9.7 grams. A factory senko weighs just over 10 grams. My home poured senkos weigh about 11.5 grams. I use a combo of glass and salt. And yes a lot of softener. 16 hours ago, mark poulson said: I've never used their molds, but I'd suggest you contact them and see what they say. As I said, it almost seems as though the two plates don't match. I weigh around 230, and I am socking the snot out of this mold to keep the baits from flashing. I shouldn't have to use that much oomph to make them flat. It's almost as if they're warped. And I'm talking about flashing occurring with cold molds. Also, I'm not a big fan of the brass knobs. My thought for the knobs is make the mold 4 cavities, and add extra knobs in the middle. I have some molds from Jacobs Machine, and their screws are in the middle, and I use a vise with them too. Though that system seems to work pretty ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted January 30, 2022 Report Share Posted January 30, 2022 I removed 100% of OEM nuts & bolts and went to clamps. Then bought the pneumatic vises which are the absolute best for eliminating flashing. I use lumber scraps as softeners at vice faces and between groups of molds. Some very tall molds still require individual clamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted January 30, 2022 Report Share Posted January 30, 2022 Lay the mold halves one at a time on a flat surface, cav. side down and see if it rocks back and forth when you push down on each corner ( one corner at a time )of mold half. Also mite have a burr on the mold some where and it is not letting it close all the way . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dink Master Posted January 30, 2022 Report Share Posted January 30, 2022 Glad you got it to work. The reason I wanted you to try a straight stick, was just find out if you mold or your clamping method was bad. The plan was to eliminate things that might be giving you problems (no salt in the core). Clamping the bottom half of your mold could force the top to open up a little, so you need to clamp the top. A warm Injector also helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) I'm a retired carpenter who does a lot of hand tool woodworking. I use belt sander belts, cut at the seam, to flatten metal surfaces. I clamp the cut belts onto a flat, hard surface like MDF, and pass my metal plane faces over it to flatten them. Maybe it would help to true up the faces of your molds. Edited February 3, 2022 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
