NJFishRGuy Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Hey, everyone... Finished my first mold and tried it today for the first time. The mold itself has some errors; for example, I didn't tape down the worms I used for masters for their entire length, and a couple of them got plaster under them, making the cavity too deep. And I didn't allow for any curvature up to the flat area. But it works! Senkosam sent me a sample of a clear worm he had made with my last order, and he used only glitter in it. He inspired me to try something like that for my first pour. See how it came out below. I made about 32 of these worms from 4 ounces of plastic using 4 cavities in the mold, so I kept reheating the plastic. I noticed about 2/3 of the way through that the plastic started to yellow a little from the constant reheating, and that really affected the brightness of the glitter. Next time I'll work with 2 ounces at a time. I wonder if this wouldn't happen if I used a pouring cup and hot plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 looks damn good. Cool color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsac Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Charlie, what you're going to find out is that with only 2 oz of plastic, your plastic will actually cool quicker! The more mass you have, the longer it stays hot. Your plastic is also more prone to burn faster when reheating with less plastic in the cup. It's just getting past that learning curve and learning to pour faster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJFishRGuy Posted January 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Jake, Good point. So how do I get around the fact that the worms take three minutes to cool? It doesn't help me if I pour at warp speed, they still have to cool. (Unless I use a water cooled mold, like with injection molding equipment... hmmm...) Or is the solution a pouring cup and hot plate? Will the plastic yellow if you keep it warmed up that way for a long time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsac Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Ahhh...you just answered it Charlie. More cavities and more molds! One of my biggest pet pieves when I started, was having to wait for baits to cool Now I make my molds with a minimum of how many cavities I can pour before having to reheat. I know that's one of Chris' (Al's Worms) biggest pieves too, having to wait for poured baits to cool before being able to pour more. I searched until I found some metal dishes, cake type, that will hold enough baits for any kind of bait I pour. Even though some of my baits are bigger and require more room for the mold, they also take more plastic, so I will run out of plastic before I run out of cavities. I just use a razor and scrape out the bottom of the pan each time I'm done. They can be used over and over. I also have some smaller glass dishes I use for single cavity pours. The single cavities are my original creations. I just pour enough to fill up the big mold pan, then I make anther mold. Thrift stores and $1 stores are great places to find metal and glass dishes cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJFishRGuy Posted January 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 :idea: That is so obvious now that you said it, but it never occurred to me before. For grins I did pull out another worm mold while pouring these and poured a few worms of another type because I had the plastic melted and ready to go. I'm always worrying about the plastic thickening (I generally heat only 4 ounces at a time), but I can pour more than 4 cavities, at least with a one piece mold. (I seem to have problems doing more than 4 cavities with sticks. I don't know if the constant stirring cools the plastic or if I'm still not heating it as hot as I should. I have a candy thermometer so I'll just have to check next time.) I've got to start checking out those dollar stores for pans and spoons and maybe even Pyrex... Thanks for the useful advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJFishRGuy Posted January 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Jake, When you pour for personal use, how much plastic do you melt at a time? 4 oz? 6 oz? 8 oz? More? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsac Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 I always work with 4 oz at a time. This allows me to be consistent with my colors and it's a good amount in the cup. Not too hard to pour with, and it stays hot longer then 2 oz. The only time I use more is if I'm pouring a single color. I double my color recipe and pour 8 oz at a time. Depending on how much I am going to be pouring, I will premix 4 or 5 cups with 4 oz each of the colors I need. When one cup starts to get low, I throw a new one in the microwave and let it start cooking. For about the last year, I have been adding all my colors to the plastic before I cook it. That way I know they will always be the same. The only time I add afterwards is when I'm making new colors and I need to add a few drops after it's started cooking to adjust the color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJFishRGuy Posted January 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Jake, Excellent... that's how much I'm using and it seems a nice comfortable size. Good idea with mixing up multiple batches in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
