Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone, I am having some issues with bubbles on my swimbaits and I need some help getting rid of them. I will start off by explaining what I am doing. I make my own lures by hand and make my own silicone molds as well. I melt my plastic in a pan and pour it between 340 and 350 degrees, but i've tried all different temperatures and none of them fix my problem. My lures swim awesome and I know the fish don't care if they are smooth or not, but I would just like to know how to make them smooth like my mold. There is not water nor moisture in the mold, which leads me to believe that there is just air being trapped inside of the cavities. 

Here is one of my molds FullSizeRender.jpg

These are the finished swimbaits FullSizeRender (2).jpg

If you look closer, you can see the bubbles FullSizeRender (3).jpg FullSizeRender (4).jpg

 

If you know how to fix my bubble problem I would love to hear it, any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you 

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender (4).jpg

FullSizeRender (3).jpg

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

post-47114-0-79744100-1427664464_thumb.jpg

post-47114-0-31170400-1427664469_thumb.jpg

post-47114-0-78636100-1427664471_thumb.jpg

post-47114-0-99641400-1427664475_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bubble are common when the plastic is heated quickly in a microwave. Different power levels on ovens can produce the result worse than others. Not the only reason for bubbles, but I struggled with it myself.

I turned down the power and heated in increments. Some brands of plastic are worse for this than others.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like degassing of the silicone. Is the silicone you used meant for Hi-temp use? Have to be very careful with what type of silicone that you use for pouring 320 degree plastic into....some/most silicones give off large amounts of formaldehyde gas when heated...causing the bubbles to form on the contact surface as seen in your photo's. This problem you show can also happen with the first few uses of the newly made mold, especially if your using molding silicone....it contains a small amount of release agent that will burn off with use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bubble are common when the plastic is heated quickly in a microwave. Different power levels on ovens can produce the result worse than others. Not the only reason for bubbles, but I struggled with it myself.

I turned down the power and heated in increments. Some brands of plastic are worse for this than others.

I cook my plastic in a pot on a hot plate and usually I just put it on high because it is faster. Do you think I should put it on medium and let it cook a little longer? Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like degassing of the silicone. Is the silicone you used meant for Hi-temp use? Have to be very careful with what type of silicone that you use for pouring 320 degree plastic into....some/most silicones give off large amounts of formaldehyde gas when heated...causing the bubbles to form on the contact surface as seen in your photo's. This problem you show can also happen with the first few uses of the newly made mold, especially if your using molding silicone....it contains a small amount of release agent that will burn off with use.

I used Alumilite High Strength 2 Silicone Mold and it is rated up to about 400 degrees. Do you think there could be any other mistakes that I am making? Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used Alumilite High Strength 2 Silicone Mold and it is rated up to about 400 degrees. Do you think there could be any other mistakes that I am making? Thanks

Sorry I have not used that brand. With the Lurecraft molding Silicone it really takes almost a week to 10 days before it has completely cured and leached out all of its release agents.....even after that it will take a few pours before it stops fizzing. I wouldn't sweat it...give a few more pours and see if your problem goes away which it should.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry I have not used that brand. With the Lurecraft molding Silicone it really takes almost a week to 10 days before it has completely cured and leached out all of its release agents.....even after that it will take a few pours before it stops fizzing. I wouldn't sweat it...give a few more pours and see if your problem goes away which it should.

Ive been pouring with this brand of silicone for about 6 months now and ive always had this problem, which makes me believe that it is a pouring issue rather than a mold issue. Thank you for commenting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know the easiest thing to blame is the plastic but one other thing that causes that type of bubbles(wavy surface) is bubbles in the silicone. You see when you pour the plastic in it heats the air within the mold and causes this. Do you know for sure the silicone has no bubbles? I know if you look in and see none there could be some just under the surface. It is really hard to get all the air out of silicone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know the easiest thing to blame is the plastic but one other thing that causes that type of bubbles(wavy surface) is bubbles in the silicone. You see when you pour the plastic in it heats the air within the mold and causes this. Do you know for sure the silicone has no bubbles? I know if you look in and see none there could be some just under the surface. It is really hard to get all the air out of silicone.

That makes a lot of sense. If there was bubbles in the silicone I would think that the bubbles would be consistent throughout all of my lures, but each lure has unique bubbles/dents. To test this further, I cooked some clear plastic so that I could see what was going on and what I saw was little air pockets on the inner walls of my mold. Do you think that it could still be a mold issue? Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That makes a lot of sense. If there was bubbles in the silicone I would think that the bubbles would be consistent throughout all of my lures, but each lure has unique bubbles/dents. To test this further, I cooked some clear plastic so that I could see what was going on and what I saw was little air pockets on the inner walls of my mold. Do you think that it could still be a mold issue? Thank you.

Yes it could be. Did you do anything to get rid of the bubbles before you made the mold? I used to vacumn the silicone them let it cure under pressure. This still did not work 100% but it was way better. Not being consistent could be from your plastic temp not being at the same temp all the time. It sound like a bit much but it halo out me with plastic and resin baits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay I figured it out, I don't get bubbles when my mold is pre-heated. I tried heating it up with a hair dryer and it got it up to about 150 degrees and poured my plastic at about 350 degrees and it was flawless. No bubbles at all. Thank you all for your input. 

Was going to post what you just figured out.  I have that problem if mold are cold also will happen when plastic is too cool...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...


×
×
  • Create New...
Top