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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/06/2020 in all areas

  1. For plastic, you may want to look into Polysol/BaitPlastics, they carry colorant as well. Spikeit/Lureworks also have great selection of colors.& glitters.
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  2. It would probably cost more to get all the tools and items needed to make one. It would be better if I just went and purchased one and alot safer.
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  3. I wanted to give everyone an update on my issue. I am happy to report that I have fixed the issue of my tube baits tearing open after inserting the 1 ounce ultra minnow jig in them. I did nothing but switch over from the Dead on Plastix "Tube/Craw" blend to the Bait plastics "Saltwater" blend and I have not had one tube tear open since the switch. From my understanding dead on plastix is supplied by the bait plastics manufacturer so i suppose the dead on plastix "saltwater blend" would also work, i just found it a better deal going through bait plastics as their shipping is free for anything over 40 dollars vs paying 22 dollars for shipping with dead on plastix. I attached a few pictures of my lures made with the new plastic blend. Thanks to all that helped me figure out the issue
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  4. I found this German website that describes hard bait making. I put the page through the Google translation filter and it reads pretty good. I hope it translates okay for you. The interesting part starts near the bottom with step 15. It describes the effect on bait movement for weighting location, bill size/angle/shape and placement, eye loop/line placement and a bunch of other stuff and how it makes a lure dive, wobble, run straight, etc. The translated website is here.
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  5. I'm sort of guilty of designing a pretty lure then make the hardware in and around it and keep my fingers crossed. I'm learning what works and what doesn't as I make bait after bait. The site I posted does something that I can't seem to find anyplace, or at least not complete, just in pieces. The result is that most information is very vague and disjointed. I like the information because it seems to be sort of a baseline. Maybe less hit or miss bait making if I at least keep within some boundaries.
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  6. Good article, but I do not agree with the whole process. I believe that the process starts with a desire for a particular. action. movement, depth, speed and so on. Some research as to what configurations contribute towards those qualities. The result is a collection of ballast positions, lip angles, lip widths, tow eye positions, hardware distributions and so on. I will then draw a body around the hardware and develop a lure. Most designers start off with a pretty shape and then try to make it work. Sometimes this strategy is successful. But, understanding the mechanics is more important. Decide what you want to achieve. Sort out the mechanics, then design al shape around that works. Dave
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  7. I usually draw the center line one of 2 ways. The first way is sort of like Dave said. I lay the pencil horizontally on something I have hanging around the shop. For example a 1/2" center-line, I use a scrap piece of 1/4" trim board, with 2 pieces of scrap sheet metal stacked with the pencil on top. I sometimes have to use index cards, cardboard or whatever I can find that is flat to get the pencil at the right height. Trace the bait around the pencil, flip the bait and repeat for the 2 lines. Try to get the pencil to the height of one of your center marks and a lot of times the two tracings will be on top of each other. The other thing I use, once I get a good center mark at each end, is a plastic notebook cover. I cut the cover off a notebook and cut it into pieces preserving the straight edges. You can get a piece with an 11" straight edge from the side of the cover and two six to seven inch straight edges from the top and bottom of one cover. To make them easier to use cut the straight edge sections into whatever lengths you want depending on the size baits you make . The plastic cover material is flexible enough to conform to the curve of the bait and hard enough to use to trace a line between the center marks and each end. I once had a flexible plastic ruler that I used for that. I lost it somewhere, probably buried in a tool box. Make sure you note where you start the tapering on a bait. If your bait has the action you want, you can put marks on the side template indicating where to begin tapering. Just trace those marks around the corner a bit once you have the side profile cut out. You can then make 2 marks equally distance from the center mark on the ends. You can use the plastic straight edge to make a straight line form the tapering mark to the end of the bait.
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  8. It all depends on the patents that are carried and up to date on the original... many have no patents or cant get one because it's not different enough from others to apply. This is a good watch...
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  9. I draw the center-line by drilling a hole in a block of wood and jam a sharp pencil in the hole, roughly the height of the center-line. No need to be accurate. Place the blank and pencil block on a flat surface and wipe the blank all round on the pencil. Then flip the blank and repeat. You end up with two parallel lines. Now you can eyeball more accurately between the parallel lines. Dave
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  10. For the cores - you can really use almost anything metal. I use all sorts of metal - aluminum, brass, steel.... combinations of the those... doesn't matter and pretty much any metal has a higher meting point that 350. Basically - just find something metal with a diameter bigger than your current core and shoot a few and see if the problem disappears. If you find a piece of tubing that you can slide snug over the core you have - that would work too... all you wanna do is see if the diameter is the issue - once you find out if it is (or isnt) - then you can find a more permanent solution. I will say your tubes do look cool... I love the random mixing of colors. Nice. J.
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  11. I have not tried to hand pour my tube mold but I do have a dual injector as well so that is what I typically do. I also have the do it molds tube mold with the two splines but to be honest with you, I didnt care for it too much. I have not tried cutting the tube in half but what I have done is dipped the rod that comes with the mold into some hot plastic in one color and then removed the sleeve that formed and then dip into another color and cut that sleeve in two and placed one of each color back on the rod and then shot the mold with a more transparent color of one of two sleeves so you can see both colors through the main body. Its a pain in the butt but its interesting to do. I attached a picture of one I did with one color strip under neath, just imagine a second brighter color underneath like a chartreuse lime or green. I also made a bait where I drizzled some bright color on the side of the mold, closed it up, heated the mold really hot and poure a black over it. It came out looking really nice.
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  12. Have you tried to hand pour one or both of the mold sides before you inject the center? I pour a lot of my tubes with a orange "bottom" and then inject the watermelon green. I end up with a body that is orange on the "bottom" and green on the top and legs are green. If you really want to go crazy you can cut the bait in half (lengthwise), put it back in the mold and shoot the top. Since you have to cut your tails it would be easier to do that with the Do-it molds with the spline. I leave the bait in the "bottom" of the mold and then use a razor blade to cut across using the flat mold to be my guide to keep it even. . If I want the tails to also be the 2nd color I cut the "top" tails out of the spline. Make sure the plastic is hot so that it mends with the lower level! Of course you could use a Dual injector and get the same effect (I know have a Dual Injector so that's how I do it now). Basstackle.com even has a triple injector ! You can make up a much of orange baits. Cut the tail and save then, put them back in the mold and then inject the front color. (The Do-it molds you have to leave them on the spline and use a razor blade to cut above the tail and then pull the head off and re-shoot). You can also use a dye and paint it on a paint and it will leach down the sides. It looks kind of cool but eventually it can leach all the way down. So you have to use them quickly. I live in Minnesota so I have all winter to do wild, time consuming baits! I think the best thing to learn is how to hand pour the bottoms on molds and then inject the rest. I makes really nice looking creature baits!
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  13. I am trying to figure out how to add different color layers without adding too much thickness. Any tips for this? I am using a mold and it came with rods i am suppose to use with it. I dont know how to modify it to use thicker rods/mandrel. I still need to get a reading of the rods that I am using to answer your first question. Sorry I was not prepared.
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  14. Yeah, I agree and think the thickness is what might have been causing it, however other tubes from the same batch pour of the same thickness have yet to tear. My mold makes 5 tubes at once and out of those 5, 1 of them will tear open and the others are perfect for use so I guess I just dont understand why the thickness would affect 1 of 5 tubes from the same pour. The thickness comes because I like to dip the tube in clear to seal in the eyes. although, I have had some tubes that i did not dip in clear that have also split. This doesn't happen to all my tubes, just a 1-2 from each pour which is enough to drive me crazy. lol. You mentioned I can use anything metal for a core? I am using a mold with rods that were made for it. can I add girth to these rods somehow? I am assuming your comment was intended assuming I hand dipped my tubes so just wanted clarity on if I can somehow add more girth to the rods that came with my mold. Thanks again for your help, I will def keep trying and If I find out what caused it, I will report back. I have ordered some hard and extra hard plastisol from baitplastics.com so hopefully that helps some too.
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  15. Hey Fern, It looks like the lead head that you are using is pretty big. Its stressing the plastic. Shaving it down a bit, or going with a slimmer one should fix the issue. Moving stuff around a little, rather than getting too caught up, is often the better option.
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  16. McLuvin has a real good point.... Your wall thickness looks really thick although it could just be the angle/photo.... there is a balance between too thin and too thick when it comes to stretch.... The one photo you showed with 3 samples makes it seem like the two upper baits have a reasonably "thin" wall - and didn't tear... and they look great BTW. Seems like your other baits that tore have a pretty decent wall thickness. If the wall thickness is too thick and resists stretching - it will find a weak point (thin, bubble, etc) and just tear... if the walls are thinner it should give all the way around and that head has a better chance of sliding in. I'm sure you can use a "more strechable" plastic - but there is no reason you can't trouble shoot what you have and use what you already bought. You can use almost anything metal for a core... Personally I'd start there with upping the diameter of the core until you find a sweet spot. J.
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  17. Try a few without dipping & some with & see what happens. I'd think it unlikely, but you never know especially if you're dipping them pretty quickly after shooting. May even try letting a few sit undipped for a couple days then dip & see what happens. It's definitely worth a shot.
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