[ChadK]

Attempted my first pours today out of recycled plastics. I was pouring soft stick's and the bottom halfs of the baits looked good each time, but the tips would always be hollow. What am I doing wrong. How full should you fill the stick? Should it overflow into the funnell?

[The Dutchman]

Fill the entire "funnel" area with plastic. Also, as it "settles" pour more into mold. This will take care of problem.

[ChadK]

then when cooled you "cut" the funnel portion off the bait?

[alsworms]

Don't mean to hijack Dutch's post, but that's exactly right Chad. I had to do that same thing when pouring 2 piece frog molds. Otherwise, the head would be hollow.... almost like a tube. It also helps if you pour a little slower when reaching the top of the bait. Just my

Good luck!

[ChadK]

No Hijack at all. I want to hear from everyone! OK, I also was noticing that by the time I was getting to the 4th and final mold that the plastic was already starting to thicken up, so should I need to re-heat the remaining plastic for the final top-off? I also notice that the bottom of the cup was mostly the glitter and salt. I figure this is due primarally to being recycled commercial plastic and not new. Would any vibrating or tapping on the mold help this problem or help the plastic to settle any?? After hearing from everyone this most likely has to be caused by air bubbles working their way to the top of the bait.

Also, how many times could you re heat and re-try before your plastic is garbage?

[alsworms]

You'll need to constantly re-heat and stir, stir, stir. That's the reason for all your salt and glitter being on the bottom. When you think you've stirred enough, stir some more. There is no such thing as "too much stirring" when it comes to pouring plastics. If you're plastic is beginning to get too thick before your last mold, toss it on the burner (or in the microwave) again. You should be able to get many reheats if you watch your plastic.

Now then.......having said that........everything goes out the window if you're reheating commercial plastic. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into if you're heating someone else's old plastic. That stuff is usually flat out nasty and something I would never recommend doing. If you must, be VERY careful. I have seen some really cool little fires from reheating old plastic.

[ChadK]

Ok, filling the mold to the top solved the hollow end. I knew this would be a simple fix for you guys. Now, a couple of other questions.
What do you use to get a clean cut of the funnel piece so its not a flat, smushed cut?
Also, I remember reading something about the dents in a bait and what causes that. Pouring too fast, or too slow? Not hot enough?

[ChadK]

OK, stir, stir, stir. What do you use to stir? a knife?? each time you stir your building up plastic on your utensel (knife) correct? Do you just ignore the build up, or try to scrape it off each time???

I would imagine that quite often when your done pouring a color or a bait your going to wind up with a bit of plastic left over. Do you save these scraps for next time and if so, what do you keep them in.
I was able to pour four different colors out of recycled baits tonight. I havent been saving them long so only wound up pouring a dozen or so sticks. I feel pretty good for that being my first time and must admit, I'm a little excited to see if these are actually going to catch fish. For some reason I've always kept old Jelly or glass jars after I'm done with them. I used these to keep the scraps of the colors i used tonight in.

[alsworms]

Chad.....

I have always just used an exacto knife to trim the baits.

Other members on here might be able to give you a better answer on the dent problem as I only poured into one 2-piece mold. The dents (for me anyway) were always caused by the plastic not being hot enough and not completely filling the mold.

I always used a simple butter knife for stirring, then I'd scrape the excess plastic back into the pouring cup. After the job, I'd take the excess plastic and put it in an old coffee can. Through the years, a guy can build a good supply of plastic that way! Although I must admit, I don't know why I saved the plastic because I never used it.

[SwampBaits]

On the stick mold I would get dents when I poured to FAST into a HOT mold! Slow down your pour when your mold gets pretty hot to the touch.