20 replies to this topic

[ROWINGADUBAY]

I am sure this will help out some of the people looking at getting into this hobby.
I should probably say that I have never tried any plastisol just messed around with remelts
I was using the search feature doing some research on wich plastisol to purchase when I figured out price would be a factor so I looked a bunch of them up the prices listed are for a gallon jug not sure if shipping is included

Caney Creek 54.99
Lure works 23.75
Barlows 65.95
Lure Craft 60.50
MF 68.75
Calhoun 30.50
Hagens 60.50

[FuzzyGrub]

From the handful of brands I've tried, MF is the one that I woud still recommend for first time pours. It is more important for a newbie to have success, than dealing with a particular brands idiosychroncies.

Calhouns yellows very quickly during reheats. Lureworks Pourasol creates allot of bubbles in a microwave which is a problem with hand pours. I don't remember having problems with LC (my 1st), but haven't used it recently enough to say good or not. Yes, I know there are ways to deal with these issues, but MF seems to be the more "idiot proof" (of what I have used).

Once they have gone through a gallon, they will have enough expeirence to make choices and have the basic process down, to have more control to deal with other plastisols. JMHO.

BT sells MF for $55 shipped.

[bryanmc]

I just looked through some receipts and the last gallon of Calhoun I got from Bear cost $23.81 to ship, so that would make it $54.31 total.

[bassman2169]

Zeiners bass shop, a little store, sells mf for 45$ a gallon. I believe shipping is about 7 dollars. I agree with fuzzy grub on this being very easy to use. It's my favorite, other than the smell. Gonna try some cc, as I've heard good things about it, comparable to mf, with less smell. The price is comparable also.

[SHK]

FuzzyGrub, on 30 January 2012 - 07:58 AM, said:

From the handful of brands I've tried, MF is the one that I woud still recommend for first time pours. It is more important for a newbie to have success, than dealing with a particular brands idiosychroncies.

Calhouns yellows very quickly during reheats. Lureworks Pourasol creates allot of bubbles in a microwave which is a problem with hand pours. I don't remember having problems with LC (my 1st), but haven't used it recently enough to say good or not. Yes, I know there are ways to deal with these issues, but MF seems to be the more "idiot proof" (of what I have used).

Once they have gone through a gallon, they will have enough expeirence to make choices and have the basic process down, to have more control to deal with other plastisols. JMHO.

BT sells MF for $55 shipped.

no it actually doesnt, unless you greatly over heat it. ive gone through several drums this year and have had no issues what so ever with yellowing. with the ammount of stabilizer they use in the plastic you shouldnt have an issue. would really hate to see you miss inform someone just starting out.

I use Calhoun, tried most (except for CCM) and keep going back to Calhoun. is it for everyone? NO. is any plastic for everyone? NO. to tell someone they should use a particular brand as their first because it will work best for them (which really is a preferance kind of thing anyway) is some of the worst advice i have ever heard given out on here. I will be honest, if i tried M-F as my first plastic i wouldnt be pouring still, i find the odour while cooking it unbearable and caused me sevear migranes, i also found it to be VERY oily after molding it.

In short, if you are starting out, call everyone of the plastic suppliers and tell them you are just starting and trying to figure out which plastisol will best suit your needs, and if you can get a sample to try. you will have to pay shipping in most cases, but most should be willing to send you a sample, then you can form your own opinion instead of following some one elses.

[FuzzyGrub]

SHK,

If it only yelllows from overtemp, than it is easy to do in the reheats, and more so than the other two I tested this weekend. The 1st shot was clear, but the reheats for the 2nd thru 4th got noticably yellower. I ran into this yellowing issue last year doing "clear" and translucent type baits, and was part of the reason I did this testing.

Now, my old mic/oven combo has only a high mic setting, so you do small intevals, and stir allot. This would be similiar to what a newbie would be doing. The Pourasol and MF only had the very slightest of tinting during the reheats. I think the MF had slightly less, but it was close enough to say a tie. The pourasol bubbles were less after the intial heating, and didn't impact my injecting, drawing off the bottom. The other thing I was looking at was floatation. I already knew the calhouns was neutral to sinking, but wanted to test the floataion of the other two, which were about equal.

As far as odors, with ventilation and mask, didn't notice much difference. The finished baits all have slightly differing smells. I don't know if the worse it smells has anything to do with how unhealthy it is, but bottomline is a newbie (or anyone) should not be breathing this stuff in.

FWIW, the calhouns I have are from two different suppliers. Both look to be just repackaged from drums. It does not have any Calhouns factory labeling (if they have such a thing). Both seem to behave the same. The MF was repackaged as well, but the pourasol was a factory package (free sample).

BTW, I'm not banging the drum for any plastisol, it was my opinion on what would be easier for a newbie to work with. The price, especially for factory packaged is outragous for MF.

[SHK]

no clue why you are having that issue as i havent seen it once. Calhoun has a slight yellow tint compared to others i have used but again, that is from the amount of stabilizer in it. where any plastisol is from has really no bearing so long as they are mixed properly before breaking them down into the smaller quantities. The Calhoun Bear sells is the same Calhoun Del sold and is the same i get from the factory. Same goes for MF etc.

seeing as this was just a post regarding pricing i dont see a reason for this thread to dive down that slippery slope of who uses the best plastic. considering that it all comes down to what you prefer and what works best for you and your method of making baits. Everyone should gain expierence using them all and form their own opinion.

[FuzzyGrub]

Yes, the thread was to provide pricing for newbies, and a newbie would gravitate to the lowest price. A newbie is just going to pick one vs testing different ones from the get go. Trying additional brands comes from getting hooked on those 1st pours.

[SHK]

first, calling a beginner a "Newbie" i feel is quite derogatory and make it seem like we are all better than they are, especially when you are making assumptions about these beginners, remember we were all beginners at one point. i don't know about you but the first thing i did when i started pouring was ask several companies for a small sample to try, and i made my decision from there, some i paid shipping and others i didn't. would it not be better to suggest asking for samples and trying as many plastisols as possible and forming your own opinion rather than making an opinionated statement like "your better getting x-brand plastic because its idiot proof" ? if someone said that to me when i started i would have been quite p****d off.

[alsworms]

No need for a plastic war here, fellas. We've all been "newbies" and "beginners" at one point. I've poured for years, but I still learn from this site all the time!

Find the plastic that works for YOU.

[FuzzyGrub]

I guess I'm in the minority, I just purchased my first plastisol from the place I bought the 1st molds. Maybe you can provide a list of all the suppliers that will send out free samples to people just starting out. Lureworks did, but I thought it was bold just to ask.

[SHK]

no list, i just asked, dont expect FREE samples and it would surprise you.

[carolinamike]

FuzzyGrub, all plastisols no matter whose it is will yellow if overheated. Some are more heat tolerant than others. For a beginner a good way to think about the way plastisol performs when heated, let's say it's kind of like a fast moving locomotive. Once the momentum gets going, you can't stop it real fast. If you were from the South, I'd tell you it's like when frying bacon in a cast iron frying pan, when you turn the stove off the bacon keeps frying. When your plastic reaches temperature (and I'm not sure what temperature you're using), even if using a microwave, once you take it out of the microwave, it's still heating. It takes it a few minutes to turn around and go the other way. It's usually at this point where you get the yellowing. This was one of my hardest things to work through when I was doing hand pours. I just didn't understand how the material related with heat. It took some practice but I finally got it. There is a rule of thumb that runs throughout the whole plastic production industry and any of the large injectors will tell you this, and almost all plastic suppliers will say the same thing, the lower the heat the better off you are. You want it just hot enough to set up well and fill the cavity properly. And by the way, I think almost everybody out there selling plastisol would send you a 4 to 8 oz sample to try. I would immediately offer to pay shipping after asking. If you'd like to try a sample of the runners PM me your address and if you'll pay the shipping, I'll send you a pound or so and let you try it out, but it will be colored, no clear.

[SHK]

alsworms, on 30 January 2012 - 07:39 PM, said:

No need for a plastic war here, fellas. We've all been "newbies" and "beginners" at one point. I've poured for years, but I still learn from this site all the time!

Find the plastic that works for YOU.

that is what i want to avoid, can we get back to the original topic?

[FuzzyGrub]

I am fairly certain I didn't overheat it or do anything different than I did with the others. This coming weekend, I will repeat the test with both calhouns I have. I will take IR and probe temps at each stir. I will report back in a seperate thread. I'll be glad to find out it is something I'm messing up.

Edited by FuzzyGrub, 30 January 2012 - 08:43 PM.

[t-billy]

carolinamike, on 30 January 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

FuzzyGrub, all plastisols no matter whose it is will yellow if overheated. Some are more heat tolerant than others. For a beginner a good way to think about the way plastisol performs when heated, let's say it's kind of like a fast moving locomotive. Once the momentum gets going, you can't stop it real fast. If you were from the South, I'd tell you it's like when frying bacon in a cast iron frying pan, when you turn the stove off the bacon keeps frying. When your plastic reaches temperature (and I'm not sure what temperature you're using), even if using a microwave, once you take it out of the microwave, it's still heating. It takes it a few minutes to turn around and go the other way. It's usually at this point where you get the yellowing. This was one of my hardest things to work through when I was doing hand pours. I just didn't understand how the material related with heat. It took some practice but I finally got it. There is a rule of thumb that runs throughout the whole plastic production industry and any of the large injectors will tell you this, and almost all plastic suppliers will say the same thing, the lower the heat the better off you are. You want it just hot enough to set up well and fill the cavity properly. And by the way, I think almost everybody out there selling plastisol would send you a 4 to 8 oz sample to try. I would immediately offer to pay shipping after asking. If you'd like to try a sample of the runners PM me your address and if you'll pay the shipping, I'll send you a pound or so and let you try it out, but it will be colored, no clear.

Hey Mike. What's with the geographic profiling? Us yankees fry bacon in cast iron skillets too. Krepples too for that matter!!!

Edited by t-billy, 31 January 2012 - 03:14 PM.

[prochallenger]

Just a quick note to add to this and I have not seen too much on this topic,when youb pull the plasic out of the microwave if thats how you are heating it I have found that the pyrex cup your heating it in will hold heat and I call it a super heating effect,it will keep heating the plastic until it will turn yellow and actually start to burn,on the cheaper plastisols with not much or no heat stabilizer you need to pull the cup out of the microwave well before it is done,stir it until it is ready as it will continue to heat up and cook outside of the microwave due to the heat of the pyrex cup,,hope this helps give you some info on what goes on after you take your plastic out of the microwave!!!

[filthyfisherman]

I live in Hawaii and have been pouring plastic's for over 10 years... Used them all... I recently got Caney Creek Molds plastic in a Box! and So Far,,,, I have been very impressed!!!!! So far for me BEST deal with shipping and eveything!!!!! The Plastic is very clear! Easy to get it clear quickly! Seem very clean with less fumes....

[FuzzyGrub]

While last year was still using a pyrex cup, this test was done with thin walled borosilicate glass. It does not have the mass like pyrex.

[smallmouthaholic]

I've used 5 different brands of plastisol over the past 5 years. My summation as follows-

1- Some hard pack
2- Some smoke more
3- Some smell more
4-Some bubble more then others
5- Some yellow faster then others
6- Some baits are more stickier for 24 hrs.
7- Some are just simply priced out of consideration for those in business
9- Then is is the proverbial "bad-batch" for whatever reason from a respected brand

Re-heating(in a microwave oven)- light colored plastiol-unused and cutoffs,(clear especially,) will cause a color change and yellowing reguardless of additional heat stabilizer w/ all the brands I've used. The presto pot w/ stirrer is your friend for the aforementioned problems. The dependable heat control is basically very accurate. I've NEVER had plastisol bubble in a Presto Pot.

All that said, it's up to the idividual as to what he's willing to "put-up with" for the price,performance and aggrevation with all the various brands of available plastisol.

Edited for punctuation

Edited by smallmouthaholic, 01 February 2012 - 08:34 AM.