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New Injection Equiptment

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Hey all,

what are some of the better names/products out there in relation to injectors, injection molds, etc.?

In light of my last post, I am going to start injecting baits instead of pouring. For now, I will be making baits for personal use only but I would still like a decent amount of production. So, long story short, what do I need and what are some of the better products? (quality, speed of production, ease of use)

Thank you in advance!

nick

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I guess no one wants to respond. I will and take it for what it is worth. Molds out there are of such great quality that, it does not matter who you get them from they are top quality( Basstackle,Dels,Bears Baits, Bobs tackle,Lure craft and Jacobs baits) If I missed some one sorry. As for injection you can inject a hand pour mold but you cant pour an injection. Most of the injection mold makers have settled on a 5/8 opening to inject. Most hand pour are of a taper design. An injection mold will fill all of the cavitys at once but if you inject a hand pour mold you will have to do one at a time. This is good if you want to inject laminates so you can put the colors from top to bottom or side to side. A good way to look at a mold is look at what it cost per cavity then compare. The mold out there are a little differant Bears has a hinge so you just clamp it and shoot. Dels has pins and nuts so ther is no need to clamp but more parts. Basstackles have wing nuts and alignment pins so you can put the nuts on and inject or leave the nuts off and clamp many together and shoot. Jacobs baits have pretty much the same as BTs but smaller bolts. Bobs are the same as BTs(he and BTs are cousins so they share ideas). So there really is no good or bad from any of them, they all make great molds. You will not go wrong with any of them.

Injectors now here they all do the job but the clean up is a little differant. Dels have threaded on tip and require a little more time to take off but work great. The tubing is 125 wall. Another 125 wall injector is Basstackles but the tip is held on by a pin that can be turned slightly to remove. Very fast unit. Jacobs injector has thin wall construction with the same pin to lock the tip on. Another very fast and easy to use unit. Bears injector has thin wall construction but the tip is a push on and cleans very fast.

I have made this review from my own experiance with these products and like them all. I have had the pleasure to own at one time or another all of the products in this review. So I am not talking about something that I read about,I have actually used all of them. You will have to make your own opinion when you get started. We all are very lucky to have all this talent making products for us. Frank

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Hey all,

what are some of the better names/products out there in relation to injectors, injection molds, etc.?

In light of my last post, I am going to start injecting baits instead of pouring. For now, I will be making baits for personal use only but I would still like a decent amount of production. So, long story short, what do I need and what are some of the better products? (quality, speed of production, ease of use)

Thank you in advance!

nick

I made a post a while back about my experiences with the various hand injectors I've tried. Bass Tackle, Jacobs, a Cabelas meat marinade injector (modified), and one I made myself on my mini lathe. They all work to some degree. (Except the Jann's plastic it toy. It does not work very well and its way too small.) That being said I'll try to address the other part of your question about getting a decent amount of production.

What I found was that to get a decent amount of production I had to have more molds, two or three injectors, and a Presto Pot. That way I can work pretty much non stop. I'll shoot a bunch, and while they are cooling I'll clean my injectors for the next round and cleanup up any spills and do any necessary bait cleanup. I CNC cut my own molds, so the number of molds I have is limited by the amount of time I want to dedicate to cutting with my little machine. I've got six 2 cavity molds of my favorite bait. That way I can make them 12 at a time. My next favorite so far I've got three 3 cavity molds. I want to make one more of that one so I can shoot it 12 at a time also.

The other thing you need to do is learn your molds and injectors so you are not wasting your time and making bad baits. I learned that of the one I have six molds I can shoot four of them with my big Bass Tackle injector. If I try to shoot five I just get a partial, and its impossible to then finish another injector. Instead I set that one in my dross pan and pick up another injector to shoot the other two. I learned of my three cavity molds I can just barely shoot all three with a big Bass Tackle injector, but they will give me hollow nose baits if I'm not careful. Rather than take extra time with each mold I just shoot them, and then I pick up my Jacobs injector to top them off after the plastic starts to contract a little.

So the answer to production is to have more equipment. Sure you can shoot a few baits with a microwave, a single injector, and a couple molds, but you can do a lot more with your time if you have more equipment. That way you are not standing there waiting for molds to cool and you are not standing there watching the microwave reheat your plastic for the 57th time.

The only other thing I can think of is DO NOT throw your dross, injector cleanings, and bait sprues into the pot. Shoot all of your plastic until you can't pick up a clean injector full first. Tossing your slugs back in the pot just cools down the plastic and slows you down while you wait for it to melt. You can heat those up more quickly in the microwave and pour it into the pot, but its really easy to over cook it and change the smell and color of your plastic when you are reheating plastic dross for the Nth time. That is especially true when you are trying to get some decent production and you have everything else worked out so you are pretty much working nonstop already.

Lay out is important too. A big work table that you can dedicate to the job is best.

THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO SET ON THE TABLE IS YOUR GLOVES. Place them in a spot so that everytime you approach the table they are right in front of you. If they aren't handy you will be tempted to shoot or demold without them. Its possible the first round or two, but then everything really starts to get hot. Even if you don't burn yourself with molten plastic you will find yourself trying to open a hot mold and juggling it in your hands and dropping it. That will really slow your production down if it was open or opening when it hits the floor as you will need to stop and inspect the mold carefully, and probably file down a corner so it will close properly the next round. Besides the screaming really annoys the neighbors.

Get your area for hot plastic ready and if using a Presto Pot start heating your plastic. I like to set the temp below my target and stir it, then turn it up each time the light goes out. I also do not trust the temps on the knob. I use a non contact thermometer to check temps. Always check temp, stir, and check temp again. While your plastic is heating lay out your molds, get your clamps ready, and plan the order you plan to shoot them. Set your dross pan nearby. I bought several cheap aluminum cake pans for this. Also when I am done I use them to store any leftover plastic and stack them in the cupboard I use for plastic pouring. Then layout your cooling area. Most of the guys here, myself included, start out by just rolling out some aluminum foil to lay baits on to cool when they are demolded. Eventually I hope to come up with a better more permanent type cooling tray or area. Something I can set on one end of the table while I am working. Maybe some thin aluminum sheet braked to fit the table top. I don't know, but something.

Now that you are all layed out check your plastic again. When its right add your color and flake, and start injecting. Make sure you stir your plastic thoroughly before each and every shot. When the pot gets low its perfectly acceptable to tilt it so you can get a clean draw with your injector. I prefer to set two legs on a block of wood so it rests solid when I get to the at point. Accidents are very painful when making baits.

I am a beginner at pouring plastic also, and I do not sell baits at this time. I just wanted to be able to pour baits efficiently enough so I could spend an evening getting ready to go fishing rather spend all night pouring baits and neglecting my boat and the rest of my gear. The guys on this forum are awesome. I have received tons of help on various techniques. Everything I said in the first part(s) of this post is either learned directly from the guys here, or learned myself based on that knowledge base.

P.S. Go back and read Frank's post again. He always has something useful to say.

Edited by Bob La Londe
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