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checkonetwo

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  1. I've been tinkering for several months with a couple of resin swimbait models. Molds are good (vacuum degassed silicone). Sprue holes and vents are properly placed. I've gotten very good results with straight pours (using no pressure pot, just burping and vibrating). But, I want perfection, or as near as I can get... I have now experimented with degassing my resin, and with pressure casting. I have even degassed my resin AND pressure cast...Here's what Ive noticed. In order to get the buoyancy I'm after (using alumilite 7 minute), I'm having to use a ridiculous amount of MB's. The resin is getting tons of introduced air. And the shrinkage in the pressure pot is ruining my casts. Huge voids at the top of my lures...I've incresed the holding capacity of my sprue holes, to make up for the shrinkage...but what appears to be happening is, the resin is losing the battle. It can't flow down into the mold due to the amount of air wanting to come back out, due to the shrinkage. Yesterday I experimented degassing the separate parts of resin, after mixing in the mbs...but because I had to use tall cups, my mix ratio ended up being off (due to material loss on the bottom and side of the cup). The pour ended up a mess, with too much resin, not enough hardener. I will attempt this technique again, with adjustments made for the loss. I've got some questions for the seasoned pros. 1. Can pressure casted PU lures ever be Consistently bubble free? Or are imperfections just unavoidable? I've heard of seasoned veterans still having imperfections that require puttying, bondoing, sanding...etc. 2. In your opinion, is pressure casting even worth the extra time, and material cost? If you plan on selling your lures, the hours spent fixing imperfections can ruin your profit. 3. What do you guys do about shrinkage during pressure casting? Do you have HUGE reservoirs of resin? Do you do what I mentioned above, and degass your resin first? What are your methods if so? 4. This is a clear coat question. I've now tried two different types of epoxy. A 30 minute I bought at hobby lobby...and envirotex lite. After some reading in these forums, I've learned to mix DA with the 30 minute, and breathe on it, and use a fine hair brush...these are techniques I will try...The envirotex lite worked well for me, but I still ended up with a strange, uneven coat (even using a turner, which I made out of a baby crib mobile). The clear coat ended up with "dry" spots where the epoxy didn't fill...very strange. Any ideas what caused this? Apologies for the projectile vomit of info and questions...I've been working on this stuff for months...and it seems like one step forward always leads to one step back.
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