Jump to content
Sudd

Making Crankbait Lips

Recommended Posts

I'm wanting to make a mold for this Lip, my question is what can I use to to pour them. This lip is punched from lexan. It needs to flex just a bit so it won't break when stressed. Any ideas what I should use? I'm thinking about 2 ton epoxy but I'm not sure.

IMG_20170522_102334618~2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Molding lips is a tough game to play.  There are several materials I can suggest, but unless you degas (or pressure pot them while curing) them they will be full of air bubbles.  I also don't know if the materials I could suggest will be strong enough.

First, the lip is NOT punched from Lexan, it is molded, but probably molded from Lexan.

You could make a silicon mold for that lip and if your skills are up to the task it would be an exact replica.  If this is your only lip you would need to make a mold for one, pour several, then make a mold to pour many at once, assuming you need a quantity of them.

D2T might work as a resin, but the fast cure time and bubble problem would make it a challenge.  

Alumilite has some options that might work well for you, including Alumilite Slow Clear and Alumilite Water Clear.  http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/64-MakeLure-Casting-Resins.aspx

The Clear is a little harder, so in this case stronger, but the Water Clear will give you a little more working time.

I hope this helps, I have used the Clear to repair broken lips and it worked well, but I did not have a degassing vacuum at the time, nor a pressure pot, and the bubbles were nasty.  The lips still worked great, so............. yes, I believe the above options would work.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Anglinarcher said:

Molding lips is a tough game to play.  There are several materials I can suggest, but unless you degas (or pressure pot them while curing) them they will be full of air bubbles.  I also don't know if the materials I could suggest will be strong enough.

First, the lip is NOT punched from Lexan, it is molded, but probably molded from Lexan.

You could make a silicon mold for that lip and if your skills are up to the task it would be an exact replica.  If this is your only lip you would need to make a mold for one, pour several, then make a mold to pour many at once, assuming you need a quantity of them.

D2T might work as a resin, but the fast cure time and bubble problem would make it a challenge.  

Alumilite has some options that might work well for you, including Alumilite Slow Clear and Alumilite Water Clear.  http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/64-MakeLure-Casting-Resins.aspx

The Clear is a little harder, so in this case stronger, but the Water Clear will give you a little more working time.

I hope this helps, I have used the Clear to repair broken lips and it worked well, but I did not have a degassing vacuum at the time, nor a pressure pot, and the bubbles were nasty.  The lips still worked great, so............. yes, I believe the above options would work.

 

Ok thanks, yeah the mold is gonna be made from alumilite silicone. I did go ahead and ordered the clear (not water clear) Just their clear resin from make lure. So hopefully I can get these made. This was a lip that was in a crankbait my uncles designed back in the 80s and made and sold. They sold the bait business out, and the mold for this lip is long gone.  I'm bringing this crankbait back and want it as close to the original as I can get as I have a bait business now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike at Alumilite can help you with the details, and the how-to videos at makelure.com should do you well.

http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx

Just keep in mind that to get the clear bubble free results you will need to degas the resin or mold it under pressure.  You can go to their forum under lure making and see a thread on degasing pump and container.

I thought that lip looked familiar, but I just cannot place it.  Good luck and I hope you do well.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Anglinarcher said:

Mike at Alumilite can help you with the details, and the how-to videos at makelure.com should do you well.

http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx

Just keep in mind that to get the clear bubble free results you will need to degas the resin or mold it under pressure.  You can go to their forum under lure making and see a thread on degasing pump and container.

I thought that lip looked familiar, but I just cannot place it.  Good luck and I hope you do well.

 

Where you from? My dad and uncles use to have Suddeth bait co in SC. They made the popular Little Earl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suddeth, huh.  I bought a few of their foamed baits 15-16 years ago and liked them.  They caught fish and their design was unique.  When I went back to see their other offerings, I heard they had sold the company and never saw those types of crankbaits again.  Good luck if you are planning to revive their designs.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, BobP said:

Suddeth, huh.  I bought a few of their foamed baits 15-16 years ago and liked them.  They caught fish and their design was unique.  When I went back to see their other offerings, I heard they had sold the company and never saw those types of crankbaits again.  Good luck if you are planning to revive their designs.

Yes that was my dad and his 3 brothers. Since I now have my own bait business, I'm going to do my best to bring them back as close as possible. I have the original patterns to make the molds, which I'm in process of doing now.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I canceled the order of alumilite clear and went with their performance 65D. Thats what they recomended because it has a bit of flex to it while still rigid, so it should hold up without breaking. Its just translucent not water clear but that shouldnt be a probem.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Sudd said:

Yes that was my dad and his 3 brothers. Since I now have my own bait business, I'm going to do my best to bring them back as close as possible. I have the original patterns to make the molds, which I'm in process of doing now.

Glad to see you coming along good!! How did the deep divers come out that you showed me on FB?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, JBlaze said:

sure wish you the best of luck with these Little Earls. I still have a few of those Little  Earls both sinkers and floaters. They were/are great little crank baits. Hope you do bring them back.

John

Thanks Blaze, we are coming along good with them. I got together with my dad and uncles, (The ones that designed the little earl) this past week and we got the molds right. And we turned out some very nice bodies. Now we getting the lip ready. We hope to start testing before long. We had to make new molds from the original patterns since they sold all the stuff when they went out of business but that part has come out great! 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, fshng2 said:

That is sooo great that your Dad and Uncles are helping you resurrect these original family patterns.

For you the time that you spend with these guys will forever be remembered as special.

Absolutely!! I'm cherishing every minute of it!

  • Like 1
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