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drof99

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About drof99

  • Birthday 06/07/1978

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  1. I use Calhoun medium plastic everyday. This is what I have been told. They switched to a different heat stabilizer. When they did this their plastic has gotten the yellowish tint to it. I have used it for lighter colored baits and not had a problem. I just got a new batch of the stuff couple days ago and the tint is much better in this batch. This plastic has the least amount of bubbles I have ever seen. I'm doing 10 cups batches and there are NO bubbles in any of it.
  2. Someone using that user name sent me an email. I tried to reply but something didn't go right. Would you please PM me again as there are too many jigmans here to send my message to everyone. Sorry for the mix up!
  3. Welcome aboard! Becareful though, this can become very addictive. I personally don't like to remelt old plastic down to make baits. They may have absorbed some water, especially if they contain salt, and some of the store bought plastics can be nasty to inhale. Which brings me to my next thing. Before you start pouring you should get a few things lined up to keep you safe. Some gloves, long sleeve shirt, pants, and some kind of ventilation system. This can be as simple as a fan sucking the fumes away from you or some time of respirator, or both. As far the the plastic goes. You can get that from Bearbaits, Del-Mart molds, or Lurecraft. Those are the ones that come to mind. Just do a Google search and you'll find them easily. Several of them also advertise here so click their link. I'd suggest ordering a starter kit from one of them. It will contain everything you need to get started. The only thing you'll to mix into the plastic is color, softner if you choose, salt, and scent if you choose. If you do decide to make your own scent you can not put anything in containing ANY water. Hot plastic and water do not mix well. While you're waiting for your supplies to arrive check out some more on Tackleunderground. Just spend some time looking at some of the how to's and that'll give you a good start. Just spend the few days it'll take to get your stuff reading as much as you can and you'll be set when it shows up.
  4. Well, looks like these things work great. On my second cast with the new tubes I nailed this guy. 42" with no leader and a tiny lil bass net. 10lb line. Needless to say I was a little pleased. They'll even work on some other species, if ya like catching these sort of things The baits swim great! I'll be getting more of these for sure.
  5. I like what vodka said. I've got another idea. If you have a glass Pyrex (brand name) cup you can use in the microwave try it once so you know what is going on. I'd suggest doing this just so you know what is should all look like and the different stages it goes through. I also like Del's suggestion to not put the color in first. Run some plastic in the microwave for a minute to start. Then do 30 seconds intervals until you got it up to temp. It will go from white to getting gelled up and then back to clear. Once it gets to this clear stage that's when I'd add the color. I've used the pans from Lurecraft and that is when I scorched some plastic. Not saying it can't be done but I just had problems. I think the microwave will help out just so you see how the plastic looks when its ready. It should run off whatever you use to stir pretty fast when its ready. It will smoke a little but not so smoke is just rolling off it. The therm you ordered will help a bunch. For the salt I would look for something a little finer. That or take the salt you're currently using and run it through a blender until it is very fine. Another option is to buy salt from one of the guys selling here that is already fine. Yet another thing is buy some canning salt from the store. This stuff is already pretty fine and fairly cheap. Local grocery store should carry that. Keep at and you'll do fine.
  6. First off Potter don't get frustrated. With the help of all the guys here we'll get ya straight. I personally don't care for the hot plate because I was burning plastic. Other can help more with that part of it though I'm sure. Are you keeping your plastic mixed well? If not the salt can settle. Also if your plastic is too hot that will make the salt settle even more. Do you have an infared thermeter? They are not that expensive and will go a long way keeping your plastic to the correct temp. I bought mine for $25 at a hobby shop. They use it for checking temps of nitro RC cars. You can "shoot" your plastic without the thermo touching it and it'll give you the temp. You need to have your molds warm before the very first pour. I warm mine on an electric griddle but you can use the stove or oven. This will help your plastic flow better in the mold. As far as the color goes. You need to be sure you plastic is mixed VERY well. Something else to consider is the heat. If your plastic is too hot that will make your plastic burn or scorch. This will make the color get darker and darker the more it gets heated. Hopefully that makes sense. You have to have a really good pot I think for even heat on the hot plate. I'm sure other can help with that more than me. The microwave is very easy to use. The thermo will go a long way I think in helping out. Sounds to me that the plastic is getting to hot and changing the color on ya. Good luck and be sure to let us know how you're doing. Before much time you'll be pouring perfect sticks!
  7. Thanks for all the replies guys! I have no idea how I went from "what color tubes do you guys like to fish" to fluted gun barrels! Little strange. So......what color tubes do you guys like to fish? Do you have a favorite scent to use on them? Thanks in advance for the help.
  8. Thanks Jim. Means alot coming from you. I didn't inject these with tube plastic, just regular medium calhoun.
  9. Thanks bojon. I've never made tubes by dipping but these take pretty much no time at all to make with the injector. Very fast and demolding is just as easy. I was just messing around and dipped the head on the black while it was still on the mandrel before demolding. You can change the head size of the tube from almost nothing to a complete solid body tube. There are a bunch of different setups to make them just how you want.
  10. I just got a new tube mold today and couldn't wait to give it a try. I got this one from Bearsbaits. The ones I made are a 4" tube. The top 1/2" is solid. Mold poured very easy. I even dipped the body on some of them. The part that I really is that you don't have to cut the tails. I love fishing tubes but didn't care for cutting tails. I'm looking forward to coming up with some more colors for these. What do you guys like to fish for colors on tubes? Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.
  11. Hey Jim you opened up a can of worms here. I have a Bearsbaits injector. I use the medium one. I do not pour anywhere near the volume you do. I just make mine for personal use. I pour senkos with 1/4 cup of salt to one cup of plastic. Many times I pour more than that at one time. I use a presto pot for heating the plastic and keeping things mixed well. The salt and glitter seems to stayed mixed up well for me. I run the pot and then get all my molds clamped and ready to pour. Shut off the stirring unit and suck the plastic into the injector. Then I shoot all my molds and put any remaining plastic back in the pot. My injector will do several molds depending on size. I'd think with a couple of the large injectors you could really get some volume done. You'd just need to be sure and have enough molds. After shooting just turn your stirrer back on while you demold. I believe doing it this way keeps the salt and flake mixed well. Bear sell special o rings for his injectors on his site. They are only around $8 for a bag. I have personally put over 5 gallons of plastic through the orginal o ring and see now signs of wear on it at all. You mentioned that you wanted to get your hands on some injected baits. I could send you some if you like. I'm not the best pourer by any stretch of the imagination but can get great looking baits. Oh, I forgot to mention when I'm injecting heavy salt I do turn the heat up just a little over 350 for injecting. It just seems to give me a little less trouble. If you'd like to pm me your address I'd be happy to send you a few samples. Just don't make fun of my color.
  12. I've seen the one that bear sells on his site. Works good and has a good price. I bought mine at a hobby shop. They sell them to check the temp on nitro powered rc cars. I paid $22 for the one I have. I has helped me a bunch with the temp of my plastic. I was also getting mine a little too warm. Highly suggest getting one whatever way your heating your plastic.
  13. Good news on the light box. I'll be looking for your pics. Any chance of talking you into taking a pic of the light box? I'd like to see how you made it.
  14. Tyler I wondered about these too. The hi-lites make the bait have a shimmer to them. Not like a sparkle of a flake. Hopefully that makes sense. It takes very little of this to make the baits shimmer. I put a gold hi-lite in a motor oil that came out pretty cool.
  15. I've got one of bear's pots and can say the vavle has worked out great. I got some one piece molds and can pour a very small stream of plastic when I need to. My table that the pot sits on is tilted to the front. I don't think that I even get a half a cup left in the pot when I'm finished. When I'm done pouring I leave the ball vavle open. After it cools well I can just pull the plastic from the vavle. I don't have any color or plastic left in the vavle when I'm done. I've went from pouring dark colors with glitter to pouring light colors back to back and never found a problem with glitter or color left in the valve.
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