Timing question?

[Patrick]

When pouring two/three color baits , how quickly must the next color be poured? Some of my 5 -6" swim baits I pour seem to be splitting at the colors. I assume its my slow timing of pouring the second/third colors

Must the second color be poured immediately??? 2 - 10 seconds???

My guess is I'm waiting at least 10 seconds between colors, sometimes longer

Thanx in advance for any help

P

[nova]

You have to pour the 2nd and 3rd color as soon as possible. I like to have my 2nd color a little hotter than the first and the 3rd a little hotter than the 2nd.

You also should pre-heat your molds.(I usually fill the molds with one color and let them set)

You're getting what I call "cold-cracks". Sometimes the baits will come apart because of them.

Give it a try and let us know.

[jm]

It's welding is what it is. Just like any welding, the trick is getting the heat right. You have to get a thin zone that melts together without having everything so hot that they just mix. It'll vary with the plastic, the mold, what part of the mold. Once you figure out how to pour a particular bait, keep track of your timing, heat, etc. Write it down and follow your own instructions.

I used to weld stone cold black heads onto a different colored body by pouring the heads first, then trimming them so I had a sloping joint across which I poured hot plastic for the body of the worm. About 2 inches worth of plastic was all poured against the same area of the head, and it welded very well.

hope it helps.

jm

[borderbasser]

I'm not a pro, but what I do when I pour 2-color beavers is, pour the first color. I then blow on the plastic or gently shake the mold from side to side until I can see that the plastic barely moves. Then I pour the second color. As mentioned before, the hotter the second or third color is, the better it will adhere to the previous. I have found that in my experience, if you pour your second color ASAP, you may find your colors mixing instead of laminating. Keep in mind it gets a little tougher to decide when to pour that second color if you have a thick bait that also has thinner areas, as the thinner areas will cool faster than the think ones. You just have to mess around with it until you find what works best for you.

TJ

[bojon]

During the early 70s I was pouring a whole lot of tri-colored grubs.They were the split tail grub and had a flat bottom.The colors were a black back,chateuse main body,with a fire tail belly.I poured these by the hundereds,and never had a single one come apart.They were placed on a large cookie sheet and cured in the oven(not micro wave)for a short period of time.They took on a higher gloss,and the colors stayed put.

When dipping tubes I sometimes delay a dip in a second color so that the tails come apart and have a nice two tone color.I alow the first color to cool down completely.Bottom line is if the plastic is too cool it will come apart.