Outdoorartist

Well, made my first couple pours tonight into open molds. The learning curve is quick! Right off the bat I realized that I should have sanded down the lip where the bait ends and plaster starts! First pour I didn't heat the plastic long enough. The small legs broke in every pour I made, I really don't know why yet.... But I still managed to make baits that could easily be fished with!

Cami, the link you posted is basically exactly what I have done. The only difference is that mine are plaster and my injection and bait are in-line so I am pushing straight down toward my bait. Vodkaman, I have been looking for good information about the vacuum method. The first mold that I made I scraped air canals to all of the little pieces and then connected them to a vent hole. But I did not like the look of it so I scraped it. I am hoping this works. Also, I made my plaster molds extra thick to compensate for any pressure. Both halves are close to 2" thick. I know that it will require extreme attention to safety for sure, I will prolly make an aluminum foil shield around my dowel to minimize any splatter that may shoot out of the injection port if an air bubble tried to come back up or if it squirted under pressure. I am glad to see that in all my tinkering I may not have wasted my time! I bought some Silicone today to try to make a silicone open pour mold just for fun, I am excited about this hobby!

The 2pc molds I have made so far are only single bait molds. I am just trying to get a feel for it. I feel like the quality of the mold is pretty good. I do not have air bubbles in them and my cavities are picking up great detail of the baits, I can even see who made them after sealing with elmers and water. I got a piece of copper tubing to place inside of the port that I made and plan to sand the dowel down to fit it. I am not looking for a long term solution, as I will probably get an injector if I continue, but just a way to get a couple bags of baits to try out against their originals. If I feel like they are good I plan on maybe designing my own versions and things.

Hello everyone, I am brand spanking new to this hobby and site and have already figure out it could get expensive and addicting in a hurry! I am making POP molds of all my favorite lures and some needed to be two part molds. I read that you need an injector to get good results from tails and small parts. All the injectors that I could find were way expensive for me to buy just to see if I like the hobby and plan to continue. SOO, I have built my injector into my mold. I made a cavity in my mold using a dowel that I plan to pour the plastic into then reuse the dowel to PUSH the plastic down into the mold. I cant seem to find any information for anyone doing this. I know I will have to be extra careful and make sure I have all the proper PPE. Has anyone done this? Does it work with decent results? What are some things that I should watch out for? I also read that POP molds do not seal that great so there will be alot of flash but having vent holes isnt as big of an issue as with the rtv, silicone type molds. Any thoughts on this? Thank you for any responses! Merry Christmas!