Bigkahuna807 Posted August 30, 2019 Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 Hello everyone, I just recently started pouring my own soft baits and have a little experience pouring hard baits. I ran into a problem pouring 2 piece molds with the resin warping significantly and the POP molds don't warp and really turn out nice. So I got to thinking (look out) why not coat the POP with a very thin coat of resin ? Great detail with added strength and no warping. So Ive searched fairly extensively and haven't found much except on a few art sites that referenced coating plaster with epoxy. So I come to the forum...have any of you guys tried or heard of this idea? Any info is GREATLY appreciated....Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted August 30, 2019 Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 (edited) My experience with polyester resin is that it shrinks. This is the biggest single issue. I have not tried your suggestion of coating pop molds, but I would expect the surface coating to fracture or at least separate/peel. Could be worth a try though as neither material is expensive. As for hard bait casts; the resin is still soft when de-molded. I place the lure halves on a flat surface for a day before glued assembly, with a sand bag or water bag to keep pressure without damaging the cast. If you are making the mold itself from resin then distortion is no surprise. the different thicknesses of the mold shrink at different rates. I am surprised the the mold did not fracture. Dave Edited August 30, 2019 by Vodkaman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted August 30, 2019 Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 I have coated pop molds for a for a friend. I used Bondo fiberglass resin. It is what I use to make my open pour molds. It worked just fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted August 30, 2019 Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 I coat the cavities in all my plaster molds with epoxy, works great, no pealing, no distortion, mirror finish As for coating the entire mold, one thing you have to keep in mind is moisture.. unless you have a special drying method, a plaster mold can take weeks or months to fully dry out.. coating the mold in resin would trap that moisture i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keakar Posted August 30, 2019 Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 (edited) 11 hours ago, Bigkahuna807 said: Hello everyone, I just recently started pouring my own soft baits and have a little experience pouring hard baits. I ran into a problem pouring 2 piece molds with the resin warping significantly and the POP molds don't warp and really turn out nice. So I got to thinking (look out) why not coat the POP with a very thin coat of resin ? Great detail with added strength and no warping. So Ive searched fairly extensively and haven't found much except on a few art sites that referenced coating plaster with epoxy. So I come to the forum...have any of you guys tried or heard of this idea? Any info is GREATLY appreciated....Thanks from everything i have learned about, many people like to coat their POP molds with wood glue and water mix to seal them and get a shiny finish baits. some use epoxy paint to seal them and any granite or grout sealer works too. they are only sealing the bait cavities though i suggest when you have a good mold you like, make silicone casts of them so if you POP breaks you can quickly make an exact duplicate new one of even make several molds for pouring a lot of baits at once Edited August 30, 2019 by keakar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigkahuna807 Posted August 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2019 Thanks for the info...Currently I spray the POP with high heat enamel with fair results, seems to "wear off" after several pours.I like the idea of epoxy, so I will try a few different of the suggested methods and see which works the best. Thanks again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishermanbt Posted August 31, 2019 Report Share Posted August 31, 2019 I’ve used both epoxy and wood glue with decent results for both. With two part epoxy I thin it down with denatured alcohol and paint it on. Take care not to over fill the bait cavity or you lose details. I put on about 2 or so layerings. The pop will decide when it has enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted August 31, 2019 Report Share Posted August 31, 2019 16 hours ago, Jig Man said: I have coated pop molds for a for a friend. I used Bondo fiberglass resin. It is what I use to make my open pour molds. It worked just fine. Bondo is strong, and it doesn't shrink. To make the cavities smoother and stronger, coat them with runny super glue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basspatrol Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 I love Bondo too. They did warp after awhile. Although i but a tile slab for a day and it was good as new the next day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 I made a mold using Solarex UV dual cure resin, designed for surfboard repair, and it didn't warp. Maybe it's because of the UV cure, so there's no "hot" catalyst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keakar Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 (edited) On 8/30/2019 at 12:00 AM, Bigkahuna807 said: Hello everyone, I just recently started pouring my own soft baits and have a little experience pouring hard baits. I ran into a problem pouring 2 piece molds with the resin warping significantly and the POP molds don't warp and really turn out nice. So I got to thinking (look out) why not coat the POP with a very thin coat of resin ? Great detail with added strength and no warping. So Ive searched fairly extensively and haven't found much except on a few art sites that referenced coating plaster with epoxy. So I come to the forum...have any of you guys tried or heard of this idea? Any info is GREATLY appreciated....Thanks you will have the same problem, the resin will shrink and peel off just seal your POP mold with 50/50 of wood glue and water or use epoxy paint or and granite or grout sealer just seal the bait cavity and injector port, leave the rest as-is because POP needs to dry all the way through and it holds moisture within itself for weeks oops, i already said that above lol Edited September 2, 2019 by keakar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 2 hours ago, keakar said: you will have the same problem, the resin will shrink and peel off just seal your POP mold with 50/50 of wood glue and water or use epoxy paint or and granite or grout sealer just seal the bait cavity and injector port, leave the rest as-is because POP needs to dry all the way through and it holds moisture within itself for weeks oops, i already said that above lol Does grout sealer make the POP waterproof? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keakar Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, mark poulson said: Does grout sealer make the POP waterproof? yes, its a "sealer" by its very name its waterproof Edited September 2, 2019 by keakar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 All boils down to what you want in a mold and the time you want to put into it. Guys use methods and techniques that I found to be poor for various reasons and they in return likely have negatives against my favorite thinned epoxy. I am not for sure if any technique that is mentioned on this site I have not used over the past 15 or so years when I have made molds. I switched out to aluminum molds for many of the lures that are essentially knock offs. Of the molds I kept (maybe 100) majority ended up being Durham's and epoxy coated. Few are high heat paint and maybe a dozen RTV. Saturate with PAM, Vegetable, etc... oils.... over time sticky molds, molds go rancid and smell, and need to clean the mold as always a "goop" built up no mine that I did that way. Cleaning molds never a good thing. Modge Podge.... peeled and finish poor. Overall I think it is just too thick of a product even with thinning and it seams to maintain a level of tackiness as we have non lure making things coated in modge podge that will stick to the surface of something if left sitting without moving or worse of a problem with heat. Elmers thinned... had it go soft a few times and peeled from some cavities. Think it is easy to leave brush strokes even in thinned stuff. Slower set time so need to apply thin. Slow flash times as thinned typically with water and not a fan of adding water to POP molds. Can end up with mold growing under the finish but doesn't effect the mold. High heat enamel..it wore and gives less additional strength to fine details or edges. Very quick however in drying time but with the need for multiple thin misting coats to slowly build up adds more. If you are heavy handed and impatient not the best method. Titebond.... mixed in to mix stronger mold finish pretty good. Thinned and coated finish better but some loss of crispness. Superglue... sets up fast but finish can be tricky if you plan on building up a glass like finish. If just coating to let it soak in great but finish not as smooth as building it up. I do use it to strengthen areas fine raised details initially as no pressure/brushing needed just touch the drop and it wicks in. Epoxy thinned. I thin to water like consistency and apply with a small brush. First several or more coats go on very quick and it wicks right in like the super glue. Just you can apply it much quicker. The dryness of the mold plays a huge factor in how many coats it takes. Wetter molds don't get as much penetration. Dryer is better. I probably end up doing a dozen coats consecutively. It flashes off in time you can go back and start the first cavity so no long weight times. I use Devcon 5 minute for this and just leave it to the next day typically but have poured after sealing a few times to test out. With all the paint/glue methods you can get really good baits just some a little more tricky than others. For two piece I didn't like paints as it starts to effect the joining of the two halves. Elmers and Titebond and Modge podge just seam to build up too thick and tendency to pool slightly in deeper cavities. Go to brush it out and easy to steak. Titebond mixed into the mold wasn't too bad in the ones I made. Bondo body filler, easy quick method to make molds but it does shrink and is soft and doesn't do well with heat/clamping. Shrinking can be nice if you want to go smaller bait. One of the first time I used it was purely because needed baits quick. I made a mold, and started copying that mold, the next mold, etc... I made I believe 8 total molds and the final mold gave baits about 20% smaller. Bondo fiberglass good but need to incorporate backing and rigidity from my experiences as if you do any long pouring sessions have had then start to curl. Picks up detail very well. I ended adding support rods during molding and eventually just poured thicker and increased margins around cavities. But starts to add up in costs if you are making many molds. Least amount of experience with however. RTV silicone, cost the big negative and in time they start to lose their luster. Takes a long time for larger pours to cool and poor heat transfer. Picks up detail very well. POP cheapest material and not the best strength but can be improved with glue/epoxy coating methods. Some loss of detail in molding but if you take your time can get good detail. Durhams Rock Puddy not too expensive but more than POP. Tougher than POP but very similar overall in handling and product. Picks up detail slightly better from my experience. Dental plasters.. worked well but didn't find much better results than one can get with Durham's or even POP. Bottom line do what you want that gets you baits that you are satisfied with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keakar Posted September 3, 2019 Report Share Posted September 3, 2019 (edited) to go along with what travis said above, you should plainly see the need to immediately create a few back up copies of molds you really like before there are an issues that happen after many pours. as long as you have "virgin" backups of your molds you can always make a replacement mold if a mold has issues just like you back up you computer files, keep back up master copies of your favorite molds Edited September 3, 2019 by keakar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroutSupport.com Posted September 4, 2019 Report Share Posted September 4, 2019 I've used epoxy over different materials and it worked great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
