[King Bait Co.]

I have been going to all RTV silicone molds over the past few months. I found that I can get five to ten RTV silicone molds made compared to one or two stock CNC molds. MOKEYqpHUNTER has been making my RTV silicone molds for me. He has been doing custom molds that I can't get made anywere for under $600 or more and that price is for five CNC molds. MOKEYqpHUNTER gets them made and back to me in about a week and keeps me updated the whole process by phone or email. The RTV silicone molds have help me get long pours done faster because I have more molds and I can get them out of the molds faster. So I have decided to go with all RTV silicone molds. Do to the price MONKEYqpHUNTER makes them for. Also I can have more of a oringal soft bait that no else has. Then cutting down my production time is a great plus I can get more done in less time. The ones I have been getting made are almost good as a CNC mold so my plastics still have the detail that I like to see in my plastics. So if your the little guy like me or are just starting out they are the best and only way to go. Its nice having a new connection like MONKEYqpHUNTER I made on TU.

[RipLip]

I've been thinkiing of doing the same thing. I have a lot of AL. molds which are great but for custom molds, silicone and POP are the way to go. I went back and followed all messages on a custom mold today that started on 3/24/08. That is for a AL. mold which I know will be nice but it is now July and half way through the season in NH so that doesn't work to well. My question to you is how reliable and long do the silicone molds last? Also do you have any full round or two piece style molds? I've worked on my own to see if they were effective in the water but I would rather have someone with experience to fine tune them. Good advice King and I'm going to contact Monkeyhunter on this subject.

[King Bait Co.]

I have some RTV silicone molds that are three years old now. I think they will last quite a long time if you take care of them. I dont have any full rounds yet. Me and MONKEYqpHUNTER have been shooting some ideas around on how to make a full round for one of my new custom plastics. RipLip do you mean a custom bait you made needs fine tuned for action in the water?

[Travis]

I have several two piece RTV molds. They work just fine. But I still prefer aluminum.

[King Bait Co.]

Do they have a frame around them and how thick are they?

[RipLip]

Basically when I said fine tune I mean neaten the job up. I pretty much can get the bait the way I want it in a master but when I make the mold out of silicone I'm just kind of messy with stuff like that. Someone with more experience making them can get me a better mold there for they will be better baits. I know there are cleaning steps and other secrets that make them better that I just don't do. I'll have dust particles and I'll set the bait in too the silicone to far sometimes and then if you try to fix it it gets worse, just a whole mess of different stuff happens when I have made the few I have now. The last couple I know I used too much silicone which is pricy and I just eye the mixture for the silicone so everyone feels different. You know how you always try to make something better....sometimes it doesn't work out.

[RipLip]

This is probably dumb but I'm going to throw it out there anyway. When you guys are talking about two-piece silicone molds I am a little confused when you say you don't have any full rounds. If it is two-piece doesn't that make it full round????

[RobShaw-BasSport]

RTV is how many of us started. For me, I guess Ive been pouring for close to 15 years. When the custom aluminum molds first hit the market, I, like many others quickly bought everything that was available. Unfortunately, the 3 or 4 guys that makes these molds are not able to keep up with the demand and the customer service for atleast one of them is deplorable.

When I find some free time nowadays and want to pour a bag of worms for friends or myself, I find myself reaching for one of my trusty rtv silicon molds!

[King Bait Co.]

Originally Posted by RipLip

This is probably dumb but I'm going to throw it out there anyway. When you guys are talking about two-piece silicone molds I am a little confused when you say you don't have any full rounds. If it is two-piece doesn't that make it full round????

I mean a two piece when I call them a full round.

[Zbass]

Thought I read somewhere in these forums about the rtv breaking down after awhile. Is that true or is that just in high use situations?
Zbass