sammy01007

To me it looks like it may say Shallow R. Did a Google search. Looks like the newer Shallow R's have square lips but older ones have a round lip, like whats shown in the pic. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161079127309&item=161079127309&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466 Good luck!!

Pete, I am very jealous!! I have been wanting to do this process for some time, but can't get my head around the 3D software. I have 2 swimbaits I want to make on a 3D printer. One is a 4" six segment bait, the other is a 9" six segment bait. I have spent the last year making the 4" out of resin, to see if I could get it to swim right. Just an FYI What I discovered is adding microspheres did not make the bait boyant enough. Instead I made the first 5 segment hollow, and filled them with expanding foam. As far as the molds go, they were tricky and I am still not a good mold maker. I made 2 piece squish molds, and used a quick cure resin. Although I would like to try a slower curing resin n a pressure chamber in the future. Good luck with your project!

Hi, I am not really clear about what process and materials you are using, but I had trouble joining hollowed halves made from Alumilite regular. It was suggested I use Zap a Gap, which worked well, but has a very very short working time. What I found worked better was mixing small amounts of Alumilite Regular and using that as my glue. It has a longer working time and I think a better adhesion strength.

I ordered some online this morning. Sucks shipping equals 50% of the unit price, but what can ya do.... I also sent Alumilite an email looking for their recomendation, I'll let everyone know when I get a response. Looks like Micheals might carry the small bottles, so next time I am near one I will check to see if they have any onhand. Using the 30 minute Devcon 2 made no difference, just does not stick strong enough to the resin.

Markinorf, Thanks for the info. I will look into getting the Zap a Gap if the 30 minute epoxy doesn't hold.

Thanks for the input. i did not clean the resin with anything, just lightly sanded with 220 prior to gluing. Gino, I like the idea of drilling some small holes and filling with epoxy to increase surface area. If this works I can include them in my next mold. I will also try some 30 minute epoxy. Thanks for the advise!

To lighten my resin swimbait I have been exploring casting hollowed pieces. The idea was to make a hollowed 1st segment with solid resin, then forming the following segments with resin and micro spheres to obtain an ideal weight. The first segment came out lighter and stronger than expected. I tested the shock resistance by repeated throwing onto a concrete floor. I took a lot of force to get it to crack. But a slight twist of either the line tie or hook hanger easily separates the two halves glued together. I am using devcon 2 ton (5 min) to join the two halves. Is there anything stronger? I think the weakness is the ability of the Devcon adhering to the resin. I do not use any release in my casting, and I lightly sand prior to gluing. Not sure what else I can do except increase surface area. Attached is a photo of 1/2 of the first segment.

If it is a solid peice, making good square cuts will be difficult. My swimbaits are made from2 peices of wood (left and right side) that are eventually glued together. One thing I did early in making resin swimbaits is I made a mold of my shaped bait (left and right side) before cutting it into sections. This allowed me to quickly make a resin bait, then try different configurations, like changing the number of segements, and location of joints. I quickly found resin does not behave like wood and not having to carve the entire master over and over again saved a lot of time. I am still working on getting better molds, but this has been my experience so far.

I have recently been making a swimbait mold, and after several poor attempts the best method I found was setting a segment into some clay, pouring half the mold, removing the clay, and then doing the second half. This method is used a lot in tutorials, and I suppose for a good reason. For larger, single peice baits, I suspended the bait in a mold box and dont hassel with the clay.

Could a local Steel Rule Die Shop cut those lips. I had several around me when I lived in MA. Some even had water jets that would make a super clean cut. If all they have are laser, then the quality would depend on the ability of their laser and operator. Another possability would be making a mold and casting them. If they need to be clear, this creates a challenge thats probably not worth exploring due to equipment costs. If they can be colored, then this would be an easy solution.

As everyone has mentioned, grerat work and thanks for sharing. Next time Petco has their $1 per gallon tank sale, I know exactly what I am getting!

My understanding is vacuums are best for RTV molds. If you use a vacuum on casting resin you are likely to increase the size of the bubbles as the resin quickly dries. Pressure chambers will crush the bubbles, making them undetectable. I am not sure exactly how much pressure I will need crush those bubbles, but according to some, as little as 20 psi is sufficient.

I have been having trouble connecting too. I have been getting redirrected to another site again .