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Fake stone vs aluminum injection molds

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Decided to breakdown and buy some molds and injector. Just want to make the tails for some of my hard jerk baits and some bigger swimbaits for pike 

I have seen both fake stone and aluminum molds what are the advantages/disadvantages of the different materials?

any recommendations on large swimbait mold 6+ inch?

 

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I have a few of the stone molds and they work fine.  As far as +/- here are a few thoughts:

+ = cheaper than alum molds, many are made outside US, so you can find replica bait molds that may not be otherwise available

- = the molds used to take about 6 wks to get once ordered.  However some are made in Ukraine, which may be hard or impossible to deliver currently. They need to be oiled before use to prevent sticking, stone could break, the ones I have are all one cavity.

CNC Alum - baits will be professional looking, molds are solid as long as taken care of, they are costly, depending upon the bait can be found in multiple cavities.  There are numerous bait companies to look through.

6" swim bait - I would look at the open pour molds at Angling AI.

6+" not sure.

Hope it helps.

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i have a 5" horny toad stone mold. Its a direct upsized knock off. You wont get that stateside. It makes serviceable baits for personal use. Kind of dull but look shiny when wet :) . Puts fish in the boat.

CNC molds make nice baits. 

I'd pick CNC at a higher price if given the choice. They just make nicer baits.

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17 hours ago, Outlaw4 said:

i have a 5" horny toad stone mold. Its a direct upsized knock off. You wont get that stateside. It makes serviceable baits for personal use. Kind of dull but look shiny when wet :) . Puts fish in the boat.

CNC molds make nice baits. 

I'd pick CNC at a higher price if given the choice. They just make nicer baits.

I have several popular  jig trailer molds in artificial stone. I have a couple of the horny toad molds too & adjusting the amount of colorant sometimes  works great for baits made with them.I usually use just a little less colorant so they won't be as dull. These molds also laminate really good too. 

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A tip I got here was to coat the stone mold with kbs diamond coat if you want a glossy finish and don't want to oil every time. 

Copy baits might be a bit off from the originals. For example a 2" fin s minnow is awful skinny. Fixed that by carving, sanding the stone mold. 

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Good stuff above.  I'd just add that I don't have to use release compound on my CNC aluminum, but I do on my engineered stone baits.  So, I get a better finish on the CNC, particularly if dusting or using color shifts.  I forgot the release one time & the stone mold broke trying to get it apart.

For me, I inject for speed, but like to hand-pour for quality & flexbility in CNC.  Pricey, but they last forever.  A couple examples below for CNC tails.  Both make good molds, slight preference for Epic, but that's probably because of good customer service.

https://anglingai.com/cali-tail-mold/

https://epicbaitmolds.com/products/tail-mold-7-inch-curly-tail-grub?_pos=2&_sid=88a6ffc06&_ss=r

Good fishing.

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The master is right, that's a nice product.  But for me, I have been happy with the less expensive single injectors, if you are not needing dual layer effects.  There is also a kit for using two singles like the one below to convert to dual injection.  As I mentioned, I do my "special" effects with hand pours, and fast turnaround with injection.  Skin coating your injection molds is another option for effects, and that works well for me with crawdads (dark back, brown/red/zombie whatever below).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154318057368?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648

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On 3/13/2022 at 10:33 AM, G D Beck said:

Good stuff above.  I'd just add that I don't have to use release compound on my CNC aluminum, but I do on my engineered stone baits.  So, I get a better finish on the CNC, particularly if dusting or using color shifts.  I forgot the release one time & the stone mold broke trying to get it apart.

I use worm oil the first few shots with the artificial stone molds & then never have to again. I'm not sure if it somehow does  something to the pores on them but after a few shot's that's it & i have some i've been shooting pretty regular for several years now & never do anything other then clamp them good & tight & inject & after 3 minutes demold. When they start getting hot i'll let them cool for a little while, but  I've shot 6 dozen jig trailers in just a little while   It also seems  the more yellow colored molds release better  than the white ones do. May be a little difference in the material somehow.

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Ok ordered two molds from epic bait molds to get me started 

I am having issues trying to order an injector through bass tackle because they are only giving me the option of in store pick up through their website. So far no one is answering the phone either. If this continues to be an issue come Monday I will be looking elsewhere 

They might just be awesome injectors but traveling from Canada to pick it up is not happening lol

So any other options on good injectors?Companies with good customer service are always a plus 

 

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there is a small machine shop out of new york called Yag Machine that makes single and dual 4 and 6oz injectors that are VERY nice, and priced extremely reasonably. it's just justin making stuff and shipping stuff out in the evening, but he responds within a day. he also sells on eBay, but you can hit him up and get stuff through him on FB. i have a single and dual injector from him and i'm super happy with them both. 

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Well never could get a hold of bass tackle so I won’t be ordering from them. Unfortunate because there is molds I would have considered buying from them as well

But I did get in contact with bait plastics and ordered a 6 oz dual injector from them. Sounds like it will be shipped out tomorrow. So far a positive experience ordering from them 

The fun part of sourcing tools/materials for new projects finding those who provide both good products and services 
 

 

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