Swimbait foam harness

[Bigone]

What type of material is that yellow stuff swimbaits like castaic huddleston and rago have inside of them??

How would you go about using it? I believe this is to provide stability within the bait but not sure.

[Bigone]

Come on, none of you guys know?

[Jason]

Looks like a foam insert

[bssmstr]

That's a nasty growth! LOL

But seriously, could it be injected foam like the kind found in the "rattle" cans for sealing spaces around new doors or windows? I filled my net's handle with it and it floats if I accidentally kick it overboard.

[Bigone]

I am very interested in figuring out what that stuff is exactly and how to produce it.

That is EXACTLY what I was talking about..seems the hook in incorporated into the foam somehow, wonder how it holds up?

[Delw]

Oh man the possibilities are endless with that stuff.

I wonder if door jam foam will work with soft plastic? I think I have a can laying aournd somewere Might have to try it next time I pour.

[Vodkaman]

It looks like it is there as a buoyancy aid, kind of negative ballast. Possibly to counter the gravity effect on that large top mounted hook.

I found a can of that insulating foam in my brothers garage. It is quite soft when cured and probably dificult to mould, one touch of the trigger and you have half a pint of it up to your elbow!

If you wanted to try it, an idea would be to cast a length of it in a 15mm dia pipe, split down the middle, then cut the result to length with scissors. It is very sticky stuff, so a release agent will be required. A generous layer of petroleum gelly might do the trick.

The hard baits guys use a much denser foam (hard as rock) that may be more suitable, but expensive just for a trial run.

[Delw]

It looks like it is there as a buoyancy aid, kind of negative ballast. Possibly to counter the gravity effect on that large top mounted hook.

I found a can of that insulating foam in my brothers garage. It is quite soft when cured and probably dificult to mould, one touch of the trigger and you have half a pint of it up to your elbow!

If you wanted to try it, an idea would be to cast a length of it in a 15mm dia pipe, split down the middle, then cut the result to length with scissors. It is very sticky stuff, so a release agent will be required. A generous layer of petroleum gelly might do the trick.

The hard baits guys use a much denser foam (hard as rock) that may be more suitable, but expensive just for a trial run.

I didnt mean use it as a mold, use it as flotation, it would never work as a mold as it is too porous. but stuck in the top part of a swimbait it would make it float.

[LaPala]

Husky the king of foamies should speak here. Search the forum for foam lure threads.

[Vodkaman]

Dell, I was just thinking that it may be better to form it into the required shape first, ie. a tube of expanded foam and then insert. But injecting directly into the cavity would probably be the easiest, just have some solvent handy for the clean-up.

I agree, it could not be used AS a mould, I think we have our wires crossed here.

[Bigone]

Wouldn't it be best to cast the foam insert first and then position it in the mold; followed by pouring the plastic into the mold?

The foam has to be positioned in mold BEFORE the plastic is poured right?

Also it's definitely not insulating foam. Its much harder and more dense, where can it be purchased?

[nova]

It looks to be the same type of foam that they inject into boats floatation.

www.novalures.com

[gunnie3035]

Check with any place that manufactures archery targets. It comes in two different cans and must be mixed. You only have a few minutes before it starts to expand. Try Utah Foam, but I don't know if they sell to the public......

[bojon]

Why not use balsa,covered with Devcon 2 ton epoxy?

[Delw]

Dell, I was just thinking that it may be better to form it into the required shape first, ie. a tube of expanded foam and then insert. But injecting directly into the cavity would probably be the easiest, just have some solvent handy for the clean-up.

I agree, it could not be used AS a mould, I think we have our wires crossed here.

we didn't get our wires crossed I did LOL

Wouldn't it be best to cast the foam insert first and then position it in the mold; followed by pouring the plastic into the mold?

The foam has to be positioned in mold BEFORE the plastic is poured right?

Also it's definitely not insulating foam. Its much harder and more dense, where can it be purchased?

yes I wouldnt inject the foam into the plastic, if you get one of those cheese grater type files for drywall you can shape foam pretty good. I am restoring a bass boat and when I shot the foam I found one of the cheese grater type files and it cuts cured foam extreamly fast.

Why not use balsa,covered with Devcon 2 ton epoxy?

thats a very good idea as well. it might be cheaper to cause foam isnt that cheap to begin with and then you have the mess of shaping it and making a molds for it.

with balsa you can chuck a nail in a drill chuck, stick the balsa wood in the nail, grab a course file and cut it down to what you want

[Bigone]

Delw check your pm.

[Mr.Nsmith]

There's Smooth-on flex it series of expanding foam which is very well... flexible... so could possible using flex It X to make a swimbait similar to  hudds, Castaic Catch-22, Savage Gear trout, Decoy Hydra tail, etc? If any TU member has used flex it by Smooth-on reply asap, if so your experience with this expanding foam.  I'm desired to create make a bait that is a completely-solid foam swimbait that is flexible as well as durable and not stiff as the other attempts.

[mark poulson]

That's a nasty growth! LOL

But seriously, could it be injected foam like the kind found in the "rattle" cans for sealing spaces around new doors or windows? I filled my net's handle with it and it floats if I accidentally kick it overboard.

 

Great idea!  I have the structural foam that expands to 3X's it's volume that we use for seating and insulating bathtubs, and for filling voids in various areas.  That should work perfectly.

My net has an extension handle that slide inside the other part, so I'll probably use a hollow cardboard tube to place a section of foam around the outside of the net handle instead of trying to fill the handle itself.

Edited January 19, 2014 by mark poulson

[capt mike]

I have used alumilite foam. It looks like the 2x expansion foam.  That foam is hard to use in a silicone mold.  It swells bad.  You have to clamp it or it comes out swollen.  Im working on something like this right now.   Foam has the specific gravity of less than balsa..  If you can tame it.