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Hello, My name is Wayne and I have recently joined the forum. While searching the internet for some soft VIB molds I came across the UT and saw some very interesting posts which I'm sure will be very helpful as I gain more experience. I'm am new to soft plastic making and would like to try making some SP VIBS. At least that what we call them here in Australia, we do have some slightly different terminology than the US in some instances and this maybe why I cannot find what I'm looking for. There are times when I'm using soft plastics in deeper water 90ft + that it takes to long for the plastic to sink into the strike zone near the bottom. To overcome this I have been using weight soft VIBS similar to those in the picture below. A Jackall knock off. I would like to have a go at making some myself and making my own colors. Could any members recommend a place to buy a aluminium injection mould for this type of lure/bait? I have search in this forum and the net for only one result. This set comes with 2 molds so you can make the harness and then do the injection however, the seller has been unresponsive so that's why I'm looking for alternatives. Any comments appreciated. So much information here I can see hours of reading coming up. Cheers Wayne

So the new Dual injector showed up and yes it had to be tried. I though I only had one mold that would do a laminate correctly, but since the ES 6" paddletail is one of our favorites we had to try. The initial guess was that since the plastic has to turn a corner we though the best we would get is swirl, needless to say we were surprised when we cracked the mold. There is still work to do on the color , the goal was baby walleye this iteration is probably a half decent baby bass The other thing is my 25 year old microwave just does not have the juice for 2 cups of plastic , so it needs to be replaced, what sort of wattage should I be looking for.

Smalljaw has all the skirt material catalogs memorized. Allen

I saw a gentleman on youtube make a thing like an icing bag. Basically he cut the corner off a clear sandwich bag and used it to shoot epoxy into his lure holes. Just tossed it when he was done.

I tried to accomplish different "shimmy" actions via different blends of plastisol but because of the configuration there isn't enough density of material to make a noticeable difference. Personally I take 10 penny nails and cut the head off and insert in the bait. Depending on where I can get to swim in a circle or fall backwards on a dead stick.

Heard back from one so far, it's not cheap but reasonable. it goes to show it pays to contact a real person sometimes.

I would dial their number. The shipping bots are generally extremely inaccurate when shipping out of the country.

In that volume the shipping cost/gallon is minimal. and there would not be a problem, at personal use level the shipping nearly doubles the cost of the resin . In general for personal use tagging onto the store order up until this order had worked great this one has just gone sideways. (the fist attempt there was some sort of new regulatory chemical ban so the whole shipment was turned back, the next was no french labels). A son of mine has dreams of during semi-pro :) so eventually we will need to figure out how to get larger volumes. Right now we are in learning / development mode so we just need reliable and not too expensive.

If you are going to continue what was being done before with the same plastic then there is no question about having to degass. Many guys want it done. Is it another step yes for for you. Will it take time yes. Will it cost you more money to get the equipment to do it yes. But that is what it will take to carry on what was done before. I have been doing it for myself for years and for me it was a no brainer to get my own equipment. I have told anyone who wants to do it how to and even posted a picture of my set up here before. But some will not want to do it and it is up to you to acomidate them or send them to another supplier that does it for them. I don’t know what the sales ratios of degassed to standard sale were but if you don’t offer it then in my mind you are loosing out. You must be open to what others want and change if necessary. It is not weather you see a benefit in it it is if your customer does. Already on this post people have given another supplier that does this for them. Do you want to lose even more customers?

I have used about a gallon of the “bj blend” and I like it. When I placed my order for 6 gallons (5 original baitjunkys medium and 1 hard) they called me and said they couldn’t get the baitjunkys from the supplier and they were working on a new blend, that was very similar to it. So I had them send a sample along with my gallon of hard baitjunkys. I figured I would make white with it to see how it held up, after 6 reheats you couldn’t tell the difference between the original heat and the last reheat. I also haven’t noticed it being oily at all, all of the baits I have made with it since October are dry still. i might try another plastic when I run out of the stuff I have left, but it’s good stuff IMO.

You should get a thermometer to make sure your initial temp hits 350. Also, how much stabilizer did you add? A drop or two per cup is usually sufficient and I usually only add it to light colors on the second and subsequent reheats.

Hopefully this works

That guy skimpy has a utube video where he spray paints the mold with hi temp paint. He states makes the baits alot less dull....check it out.... Also how close do u think these baits are to the kietech far impact....other than size of course