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blackjack

Question for Foamers??

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How would the rtv or epoxy molds hold up to production? How many baits per casting session. Thinking I might give it a try. Wanna make a big O type bait. Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soft RTV will rip and even though it's been said that Mold release is not needed, I've had some sporadic sticking in a few molds. Vy isthe guy to ask about Epoxy Molds. He seems happy with the results as long as the right release agents is properly applied. BTW, Epoxy molds must be perfect, or that foam puppy ain't coming out in one piece. :rolleyes:

Foam is cheap, strong, waterproof and sets up fast. With a few molds in action, you can be making 3 every 20 minutes, sans wire and hardware installation. I had a bunch of Bluefish chewing on the same plug and I couldn't even detect a scratch. These are fish that can seperate you from your fingers in a heartbeat. A wooden plug would have been relegated to the repair shop.

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hey blackjack,

I've made 60 lures with my epoxy mold ? so far some small scratches. Good coat of ease release is a must. More easily the lure comes out of the mold - less scratches to the mold. I am thinking to add some fill to the epoxy before pouring to make it stronger?

vytautas

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I have considered making some foam lures again myself. The biggest advantage that I see with foam is that each bait is the same as the one before it. It also lends itself well to including "through wire" and "weighting" into the molding process thereby eliminating these steps. As far as speed is concerned, I still think wood is faster unless you are able to put together a multi-cavity mold. Without hurry I can cut out a bait on the band saw and run it across the router and have it ready for weight in just a few minutes, this is impossible with the foam. Each process, be it foam or wood, has its challenges. With wood you have all the sawdust, inconsistencies with wood grain, density, etc. With foam you must deal with mold cost and failure, time in making molds, handling the chemicals, etc. Either way it's alot of fun!

RM

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I have considered making some foam lures again myself. The biggest advantage that I see with foam is that each bait is the same as the one before it. It also lends itself well to including "through wire" and "weighting" into the molding process thereby eliminating these steps. As far as speed is concerned' date=' I still think wood is faster unless you are able to put together a multi-cavity mold. Without hurry I can cut out a bait on the band saw and run it across the router and have it ready for weight in just a few minutes, this is impossible with the foam. Each process, be it foam or wood, has its challenges. With wood you have all the sawdust, inconsistencies with wood grain, density, etc. With foam you must deal with mold cost and failure, time in making molds, handling the chemicals, etc. Either way it's alot of fun!

RM[/quote']

Considering time, used for making wooden and foam lures:

I takes about 20-30 minutes to carve my wooden crank (gills, sanding etc.), then about 10 minutes to make, glue in and sand trough wire with weight. So it takes 30-40 minutes to make lure ready to paint.

With foam - 5 minutes to make trough wire, prepare mold with release agent, wait 20 minutes (in that time I make something else) and take out the lures. Cut off all the excess foam, sand a little - another 5 minutes. So it takes 10 minutes to make lure ready to paint.

All other process is the same in wooden and foam lures. So I save up to 30 minutes per lure :)

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