Troutfishing303

I too would like to know if heat stabilizers are compatible. I have Bait Plastics plastisol and am looking into buying LureWorks' heat stabilizer. Are they ok to use together?

Let's say, for one mold, your baits + sprue + runner = 100 grams. Pour plastisol into a measuring cup until it reaches 100 grams too (or a little more for good measure). Now you know how many fluid ounces that mold takes to fill. Since you haven't actually made the mold yet, I would make one cavity and see how much that bait weighs and then multiply that by however many cavities you want and then use the same method above to see how many fluid ounces the mold would take to fill. I'm new to soft plastics. This is just what I would do so maybe the veterans can chime in too.

@OIR After you remelt them into cubes, what do you do? How do you store them? Do you store them in buckets or some kind of organized shelf? I have so many different colors now that I've been super addicted to making my own plastic lures...

How does everyone store your left over plastic?

@Basseducer Thanks for the reply and explanation. It makes more sense now. I want to start buying by the 1/2 pound too but man, that's a lot of glitter lol.

Hello, I bought a lot of glitter and hi-lite powder online and when I received them, some of the jars seemed kind of empty at the top so I weighed all my jars of glitter. If a jar of glitter is 4oz, shouldn't it weigh at least 4oz on a digital scale? Some of these jars I received are 3oz-3.5oz total including the jars when the jars are labeled 4oz. Any one else run into this problem? I found 4 or 5 jars like this and that's a lot of missing glitter and hi lite powder. Would you guys complain about this?

@Travis Glass beads sounds like the best one. It sucks how it can ruin your injectors and possibly other equipment. I will still look into the beads though. @Bass-Boys It's for both. The fish probably don't care whether it's opaque, clear, or super clear. Making cool looking baits gives fishermen confidence which I think plays a huge part in being successful at fishing soft plastics.

I wanted to experiment with Kosher Salt today but I couldn't find any without the anti-caking additive. Morton Coarse Kosher Salt contains that additive. I went to three different stores today and couldn't find any pure kosher salt.

@Travis That was exactly what I was looking for! Excellent info there. I wonder if the larger grit GBM (glass bead media) will be more clearer than the smaller grit since there would be less media per square millimeter in the bait...It sucks how it scratches your injectors though. That's crazy how glass can scratch aluminum that badly.

Nice, I'll try Kosher salt out before I go buy a 50lb bag of glass bead media (I'm still thinking about glass bead media though). Thanks @mark poulson @TravisThanks for that explanation! I had a lot of questions in my head about Kosher salt and you hit the nail on the head on all of them. That flat surface area makes a lot of sense and a huge difference in everything. Plus the purity. I like it! Thanks again.

@mark poulson Thank you so much for that info! I kind of had a feeling it would cloud it up but I wasn't sure. Why do you use Kosher salt instead of regular salt? You don't grind your kosher salt?

@mark poulson I'll have to try it out some day. Anyone ever used salt flour? I found this: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/morton-50-lb-bulk-salt-powder/102SALTPOP50.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CjwKCAjw67XpBRBqEiwA5RCocR7DGFJ6AeT35OewTit28GpI-p8Gqootbzk45RDduudAzeioM3zWnRoCQ90QAvD_BwE I bought a coffee grinder last night too. Trying to get all this started!

@mark poulsonWhat would it look like if you put glass bead media in clear plastisol with no colorant? Would it be clear like glass or clouded glass? That'd be cool if they made super clear glass bead media.

@Baitjunkys what do you use to make your baits sink like a Senko if you don't mind me asking. I have both floating and sinking formula plastisol. The sinking formula doesn't sink fast like a Senko so I think an additive like salt or glass beads will be necessary.

So I tried using table salt and now I know what you guys are talking about when you say the salt doesn't suspend. This made the weirdest feeling baits I've ever made. Soft on top and hard/salty on the bottom. If you pinch the bait, it leaves a dent in the bait lol. So for all the n00bies out there, don't use table salt because the salt won't evenly suspend the way you want it to inside the bait.

Thanks for the link! So do glass beads not cloud up your baits at all or just a little less than salt? My goal in adding salt is to make my stick baits cast far and sink faster than normal plastic. Just like the Senko. I'm contemplating on whether I should buy glass beads and have super awesome looking baits or get a coffee grinder and grind my own salt and be more efficient. The cost of the salt plus shipping from the big online stores is just too much, in my opinion.

What grit size of glass beads do you like to use? Any particular brand I should get over the other?

Thanks everyone for responding. I guess I will have to experiment with all the different kinds of additives out there. Kosher salt, ground salt, glass beads, sinking formula, etc. I'm making stick baits so I wanted them to cast far and sink faster than they are now. Just like the original senkos.

Hi, what happens if I use regular table salt in my baits instead of the stuff that's made for soft plastic baits? What's the difference? Can I make my own "salt for soft plastic baits"? Sorry if this has been covered. I think there's something wrong with the search button lately. Thanks, Troutfishing303

Hi, What happens if you add water to your hot plastisol? Everyone says don't do it but they never really say why or what would happen. I could have missed it too. The other day I heard taps in the microwave and when I opened it, the plastisol was producing bubbles and making loud tapping noises when the bubbles popped. It kind of scared me as I thought the cup was going to break. Everything turned out OK but I was just worried. I don't think water got into it but maybe it did and that's what caused the loud bubble bursting?

@Canga~ Nice, that makes me feel better. Thanks for replying. I'm going to try out their Stingers.

Hi Canga, I'm wondering if you received your molds from Angling AI. Day 37 for me.

I have Bait Plastics Super Soft right now and I like it. It's good for worms and it floats. No complaints so far.

@mark poulson That's so odd that catfish are attacted to it.

I agree, if they say it's EXACTLY the same as the Gary Yamamoto mold, it should be EXACTLY the same. What if your customers demand no logos on your products for some reason? Do-it should definitely mention the logo in their description.