fishforfun Posted August 25, 2007 Report Share Posted August 25, 2007 Hi. I need some help on buying plastic, molds...etc. I'm new to making my own lures and I need to know whats worth my money or not. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 There's two ways to look at it. If you do a lot of fishing and spend quite a bit of $ on baits then it's worth while looking at it from the money end of things. If you want to have a hobby that with test your imagination and creativity then it will also be worth while but not from the $ aspect of things. Some guys don't fish all that much but they sell a few baits to there buddies to offset the costs. In any case; be warned; this is very addicting. lol www.novalures.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishforfun Posted August 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 thanks nova. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncleskippy Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Nova hit it right on the mark. I get a great feeling when I catch a fish (any size) with a bait I crafted. The warm fuzzies I guess. Uncleskippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Sock Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Your molds are the biggest expenditure, but once you take that hit, your cost per bait comes down significantly.. It is very very addictive, super fun to do and like others once you get it down, you can offset your cost by selling some to friends and other fisherman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDC Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Pick up a gallon of plastic(don't buy just a quart), a few basic colorants, a few colors of flake and a simple mold or two. Pick colors you like to use and molds to match your favorite baits. Practice, pratice, practice and before you know it you'll be eyeball deep like everyone else here. Start off simple and work your way into more challenging molds and color combos. Bob's and Del's aluminum molds are definately worth the $$ but you can make nice baits from RTV and resin molds from M-f Mfg, Lurecraft and others. Some of my favorite worms are from M-F's resin molds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishforfun Posted August 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockylinx Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Fish, I've been at this for a couple months, the most interesting aspect for me is making my own molds (bait). What I mean is not just copying other baits, but fusing bait ideas together to work better for you. It took me a month to re-engineer a swim bait. My bait swims like a real fish I'm no genius or engineer just a guy with ideas just like yourself. I got lucky and stumbled upon a great design. I would have never had the vision if it wasn't for some of these guys on this board What type of fishing do you do? What type of fish do you target? Thank You Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 There's quite a few ways to go about prototyping new lures. For our company we start off with going through a rough design and shaping it from wood. We make rough castings from there and you can have a pourable mold within a day. Buying molds isn't my style. Also, buy good plastic and dye. I use M-F for all of our dye/glitter/plastic needs. Painting is a different story. The lure business is in my blood and I don't think I'll ever get away from it lol. Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockylinx Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Jake how is it done in 1 day?? It takes 1 day just for RTV to dry, 1 day for Resin to dry, and 1 day for pop to dry so it can be sealed Please explain your awesome ways Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 The RTV I use sets in just a couple hours. This doesn't necessarily mean it's fully cured. I tend to mix juat a bit extra hardener so I can handle it fine. It's a bit difficult to explain the setup w/out pictures, but here it goes. The lure is suspended on the mold table where I can pour the RTV and forms will keep it a rectangular shape. The first pour will go half way up the lure and I will let it set up a bit to where I can pour again ontop of it. After it sets I pour again to create the other negative. Once I have both negatives I can pour RTV positives in which I can cast my aluminum from. The aluminum compounds I use are a bit secret, but they're similar to what some people use on this board. Getting to where you have the two positives doesn't take long especially with the right RTV (maybe 6-8 hours depending on the cure time). I'll let the two positives cure well before I cast the aluminum. The aluminum is mixed with a specific hardener and after about 30 minutes of being poured onto the positives it starts to "fire up". At this point it's hardened quite a bit and you can handle it. The two aluminum composite plates are then placed together respectively with the cavities and placed under pressure to cure for about 4 hours. I tend to do most of this work in the evening or at night so I will usually finish the mold the next morning, but if started in the morning it can be finished later in the day. I'm sure that was a bit confusing as I can't describe much anything worth a darn haha. The mold table is a piece of silestone counter top (very solid) with some 2x2 aluminum angle that's fixed at a 90* in one corner. From there I can add different pieces of angles that will act as forms depending on the size of lure I'm prototyping. This help at all? The only step after the aluminum cures is to drill a pour hole on a drill press. This process is quick and easy for me to go from raw prototype to computer design within the same week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishforfun Posted August 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 thanks. I like to bass fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockylinx Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Fish, I would go to Nova's site and look at his custom work.Try to get some ideas of what you want to pour and what bait works for you now. Before I started pouring thats what I did. I collected all the plastic bait I could and tested it in the pool. Some I liked some I hated. I made the ones i liked better A lot of these gentlemen are master pourer's but only a few are innovative enough to come up with there own designs. MattLures sent me the following statement when i was getting started and changed my whole perspective I can never understand why everybody copies other baits. Why not just take the time and carve out a master and make a mold of it. Believe me the Hammers action is good but it can definatley be improved. You will get much more satisfaction catching fish on a bait that you designed than making a mold of somebody elses bait and calling it yours. Those simple swimbaits are the easyest to carve. Also when you do make your own baits you will learn what makes a bait swim and what you can do to get a desired action. By copying other baits it is dificult to fully understand them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishforfun Posted August 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 thanks rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I know you want to keep your trade sectrets and I do respect that. But what are you referring to by aluminum, it's obviously not the metal, aluminium (as we brits call it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockylinx Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Vodkaman, That was my next question Aluminumn??? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Posted August 28, 2007 Report Share Posted August 28, 2007 When I was a kid in high school we poured aluminum. Maybe he really means that. But can RTV take the heat of molten metal? It would be sweet to make masters from aluminum if you could pour it into RTV or somthing like that. We used a special sand to make the mold for the aluminum pour. That was a million years ago so its hard to remember the process. Willy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted August 28, 2007 Report Share Posted August 28, 2007 Try lead in POP. www.novalures.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 Nova. Interesting idea, has anyone tried using lead as a mould. It would have a limited life and would probably not give a shiny finish for plastics, but would be fine for hard baits. How would you seal the PoP mould. Would the lead mould last longer than RTV. How many castings can you do from an RTV mould, I realise that this is like asking how long is a piece of string as it depends on the shape of the part being cast. But is it hundreds or thousands. How re-useable is RTV, do you re-melt or throw it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 I wasn't suggesting to make the mold from lead; just the master. I've done it once before. Comes out good but it takes a lot more time than using wood or clay. www.novalures.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibby Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 I may be wrong but I think it might be "Aluminum-Filled Epoxy Casting Resin" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
