Tubeman Posted July 27, 2003 Report Share Posted July 27, 2003 I've been experimenting with a couple of epoxy resins for making hand pour molds (one sided). Two companies I would recommend are Adtech from CASS polymers and PTM & W industries. http://www.casspolymers.com/adtech/adtech_products/epoxy_casting.htm Adtech's is a slow curing resin with very low exotherm (heats up very little during cure unlike polyester resin). I make my molds out of styrofoam meat trays with a piece of 1 inch strofoam under it. This way I can pin the baits down. I cut the heads of the pins and push them right into the plastic so you wont see anything but a small dimple. This resin copies the baits exactly and is the toughest material....its damm near bullet proof. Another resin I just poured is from PTM & W industries out of Sante Fe Springs,CA. It's product, Replicast 612 is very similar to Adtechs. The biggest differance is that it cures in 10 minutes !. I demolded in 40 minutes and it was ready to use. It needed no release sprays prior to pouring the mold (found that one out by accident :oops: ). I'll be trimming out the scrim and testing it this weekend, I think it will work very well. http://www.compositesworld.com/sb/name/P/828 Epoxy resins are more expensive, about 140 for a 1 gallon kit, but they are so durable,copy extremely well and are designed to withstand lots of heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidlizard Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 What kind of finish are you getting using these resins? We have been working with polyester, but not getting a good shiny mold. Do you coat your molds with anything like Devcon? Anyone got any advice on this? I thought we had it figured out with the resin, but I am not satisfied with the dull baits I am getting from it. It also shows imperfections in the master really well. Does anyone know if devcon with adhere to resin and hold up to the heat? Thanks alot guys, its good to see some posts starting to crank up. John Huffman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubeman Posted July 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 Hi John, I also find they are abit dull. Oiling them on every second pour seems to really help and you can add scent to the oil. The Replicast resin mold turned out real nice except for a few small bubbles. I think this problem happens when the resin cures so fast, leaving the air no time to escape. I think the only way to get a shiny mold is to go to metal molds like Del's. Another way is to put abit of oil in the packaged product, alot of larger manufactuers seem to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robalo01 Posted July 29, 2003 Report Share Posted July 29, 2003 The reason an aluminum mold makes a lure shine is because it is polished. You can polish the resin just as easily. Try a dremel and polishing compound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
