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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/25/2016 in all areas

  1. Let me preface this little write up by saying I'm in no way affiliated with Ultra Molds and haven't been and won't be compensated for this post. The reason for doing this is that I know there is interest in this product but there is very little hands on info about it and I would have loved to have someone shorten the learning curve and give me pointers before I got mine. Hopefully this will not be removed and thought of as an advertisement because that is not it's purpose at all, it's simply some tips and tricks to help people decide if this system might be for them. With all that said I wanted to wait after I've had the system a few months and have ran around 300 gallons of plastic through it before I gave my thoughts. The system comes with two pots with stirring motors and heaters with digital controls connected by a manifold for dual injecting. You also need to by the dual injector that has the tips that fit in and turn the valves on each pot and the manifold. First thing I would recommend is getting the Universal Heater that they sell. There are a couple of reasons for this. One reason is that the first thing I do when I walk into the shop is turn on the Universal Heater with my dual injector sitting in it and let it start getting hot. While it's heating I then can clean the pots out from the residue from the day before and the injector will be up to temp by the time I'm done cleaning and heating the plastic up. Another reason for the Universal Heater is that I run it's temp up to 325 on the digital control but I run the pots at a different temp. (more on this later) A couple of other "options" that I opted for and almost didn't and am so glad I did after using the system. You can get a mounting plate with holes all pre drilled and everything ready to mount it on. I almost didn't get this but it made it very easy to set up in the shop. I drilled 4 holes in the stainless bench that I have it on in the shop and mounted the plate with system on it and fastened it with bolts and wing nuts so I can remove it easily if I need the room for something else. Another thing I almost didn't get and can't imagine using the system without is the locking brackets. The way Rupert explained these to me is that they designed these for a customer that had a disability and had limited use of one arm so he need to be able to draw the plastic one handed. The brackets make drawing plastic so much easier that I honestly think if you have a system without them you need to spend the 20 bucks or so and get them. Instead of having to push in with one hand to seat the injector and pull on the handle and working against yourself and making it easy to suck air the brackets keep the injector firmly seated and you can draw plastic one handed. Very slick and like I said I would hate using it without it now. As far as actually using and running the system it's pretty simple and straight forward once you get the feel of the valves and injector. Here are some observations and tips from things I've found after running it a few months. 1. I seem to have the best luck with reducing dents, getting good laminates, not discoloring the plastic, if I run the digital controls on each pot set at 300 degrees. (remember I set my Universal Heater at 325) I keep my injector sitting in the Universal injector set at 325 the whole time I shoot. I feel like by keeping the injector on that heater it will stay much much hotter and I have no problems with it plugging up. It would probably work fine sitting in the middle cradle between the pots, but I feel like it keeps things flowing better when the injector is really hot. 2. I heat my plastic in the microwave and then add my coloring, glitter, etc before I put it in the pots. You can heat from raw to workable temp in the pot, but it's going to take longer and you are going to have to turn the temp up and then back down. I run on 60 ounce batches and it takes 12-15 minutes to heat 60 ounces of plastic to temp depending on the strength of your microwave. I put 60 oz in each pot. If I'm doing single color baits both sides get the same color, for laminates I have one color in each. the 60 oz comes up to just under the top of the stirring paddles. 3. Cleaning is not as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. All I normally do between colors is after the pots have cooled I peel what plastic I can out including the "puck" at the bottom, then spray the inside with simple green and wipe out with a paper towel. When I take my plastic out of the microwave I turn on the pot heaters to begin heating the pots. I don't do this before then because I don't want what is leftover in the channel to the valve and manifold to melt and run back into the pot before I add the new plastic. After I get the colorant and glitter I dump the plastic in the pots and then I purge the manifold and injector by drawing an inch or so out and shooting it on the table. Usually doing this 2-3 times and you are rid of the previous color and ready to go. I read on here somewhere about blowing the channels out with an air compressor and am going to try that pretty soon as that may reduce the amount of plastic I have to purge. Shooting Star vs Presto Pots I started out trying to run two presto pots with a Basstackle Twinjector setup. For what I do and my personal preference I can't imagine going back to the prestos. I feel like I'm much more efficient with the shooting star (even though Frank could still shoot circles around me out of his Prestos, but that doesn't count because he is a machine) there is no blending block to clean out and your injectors aren't submerged in the hot plastic The shooting star is a pretty well sealed and contained unit so the smoke is very much reduced. I still run a vent system, but I couldn't handle the smoke that the presto pots put out. There is very little waste when you are done with a batch and I always had a hard time with sucking air when I got close to empty with the prestos. One thing I will note is that the single injector you can get for the system is kind of difficult to use with the system due to the push/pull thing I talked of earlier and the opening and closing of the valves can unseat the injector tip. I have found the single injector extremely useful for doing remelts though. I heat the injector in the universal heater and melt sprues in a big pyrex and just draw from the pyrex with the single injector and wipe it and sit it back on the heater between shots. After using it for several months I would say I'm very happy with the system and Rupert was very easy to deal with whenever I had a small issue and went above and beyond to get it resolved. I also had him build me an air clamp that you can see on the right side of the picture of my setup. This is a huge time saver as well not having to mess with manual clamps. Like I said, this is not meant as an advertisement, but mainly to give info on a fairly new system and to answer questions people might have that are on the fence about it. If anyone has any other questions I'd be happy to answer as I'm sure I've left something off.
    5 points
  2. I sell a number of lures from an Asian company and one of their colours comes in a very nice matte finish. It is a pure matte finish and looks and feels very different to normal coated lures both above and below the water. It doesn't actually look like there is a top coat on it, so I suspect it may be some special paint they use. It is a very tough finish and is actually more durable then their standard top coated lures. I sent them off an email tonight to see if they will give up any secrets about the paint/top coat, if I get any info I will update the topic.
    2 points
  3. Thanks Dave! I did read a couple of the posts and that's what got me fired up about switching to injection. I saw where Mark got his injector from Basstackle and that seems to be the best price for an injector with a locking cap in the 6oz size. Bob's info about salt was very helpful. I just don't want to order the stuff and find out I also needed something else I hadn't thought about. Stay safe over there Dave and thanks for your input!
    1 point
  4. Benefit to this epoxy is, it is very clear. Clearest expoy i"ve used. Venation Lures, This stuff goes on very thin.. You would have to use 2 coats. So that's 2 days of dry time and I would not ship till it sits for 2 days after. The epoxy gets very hard and looks like it will perform very well. Just very slow cure time... Probably be some of the best looking baits ever with this stuff... But if you need to ship soon.. Probably not the perfect stuff for your use. I have not been able to test the actual fishing because of Winter. But I have a trip planned to Lake Erie in May and will put the baits to the test on Walleyes....
    1 point
  5. Great write up! Thanks for sharing. Maybe this could be a sticky, so everyone thinking about trying that system can have access to all your great information.
    1 point
  6. I agree with Dave. I've sanded the top coat on a bait to give it a "matte" finish and then submerged it in water. You can't tell the difference between it and a bait that hasn't been sanded. Ben
    1 point
  7. This is a tough one, as even those durable topcoats that have matte properties are not truly matte. Ironically, matte or gloss, both look the same under water, so other than satisfying a customer's request, it is pointless. Give a gloss bait the treatment with a very fine emery, to make it as matte as possible. Hold it under water alongside a gloss bait for comparison. If I am right, show the comparison to the customer and change his mind. Dave
    1 point
  8. Love my Ultra molds system. For two color shoots its a dream! really cant imaging doing it any other way. I run my blending block at 333 and my pots at 302-305....no denting issues at all What a very well thought out product!!!
    1 point
  9. ladle pouring isn't really all that hard. I would look into the Rowell brand of ladles that rotometals sells they are easier to work with in my opinion. They also have a thermometer that you should use. It is easy to overheat your lead and make bad fumes with an open flame under the pot. I built a simple clamp to hole my thermometer in my pot. I'm sure there are some good ladle casting videos on youtube that could help you. I use a turkey fryer style burner with a 50# capacity cast iron pot on it for most of my casting. Making big jigs uses a lot of lead so I need a bigger pot with less refilling. Plus you need some level in the pot to scoop from. You could get by with a 20# capacity pot for that 6oz-8oz stuff depending on how much your casting in a session. I add lead when I need it and use the time while the pot heats back up to trim some sprues and add those in also. I use the space around my pot on the burner to preheat my molds and that works great. I made a plywood table for casting on. I added a tin top to it for heat resistance. I often use a length of closet dowel rod to tap the mold to release any jigs that don't fall out on their own. I'm sure you'll catch on to ladle casting right away if you decide to go that route.
    1 point
  10. That is just shameful. Glad he was caught. Dave
    1 point
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