[squigster]

Has anyone had any luck finding a way to hold the Netcraft molds tight enough together so you dont get flashing? The C clips they give you are a joke. I used regular C clamps and actually broke one by over tightening it. Has anyone used quick grips for this? I have a 4" grub mold. It does make a nice grub when it does work.

[nova]

Sorry to say this; but leave them alone before you burn yourself badly. Move on to safer molds.

www.novalures.com

[mradamh]

Agreed. I got burned by those molds. There's something about 340 degree plastic under pressure near my hands that scares me. Spend the dough, and stay safe. It'll be worth it in the long run.

[hawghunterbaits]

Ok Do I need to talk about netcraft molds and injectors again! Nova is right stay away from them they r very dangerous to use!!!!!!!!! Don't get me wrong ALL the guys down there at netcraft r awesome guys to deal with and talk to, just soft plastic molds and injectors r not there nitch!

[Delw]

A knife is dangerous if you dont take precautions in using it just like everything in everyday life.

While I dont reccomend the plastic injectors, due to there melting point is around 350-375 degrees. I do know they work and you wont get hurt if you wear protective full length gloves and a face mask. Just like your wouldnt gas/arc weld without gloves and eye protection.

I burned my hand extreamly bad back in 2002 or 2001 cause one melted. it wasnt the injectors fault is was mine and Bobby's. I was stupid enough to hold the mold together while bobby was using the injector and squirting plastic in.

one way to use them is too pour your plastic in then use teh injector to shoot air in, then finsh pouring.

bottom line is you still have to have common sence when using anything

[squigster]

I bought some quick grips today and clamped them to the Netcraft molds and it held together well. Out of 12 baits 5 turned out without voids.WHooo Hooo only wasted half my time today. I now understand $5.99 for a mold and why it is a bad idea. The injector looks in the catalog like it would hold a fair amount of plastic but it is only the size of a pill bottle and cools off pretty quick (Clogged injector 40% of the time that you have to clean out as the rest of the plastic sets up inside the tube.) It isnt worth the $10 in my opinion. I tried different pressures and flows but it didnt seem to matter. I will not buy any more and have learned my lesson. Its a shame because the grubs turn out almost like a Kalins 4" grub. I tried pouring the molds with superhot plastic and just using the injector to push air through it as someone had suggested. This will not work with their injector due to it lets air bleed out of the plunger. I then tried gluing an O ring around the plunger. What a mess that was. I then found a big injector my kid used to use for his medicine and even with an o ring glued to the base where it seals against the mold you could not get enough pressure to push the plastic all the way though to fill the tail. I then got the bright idea to try the injector on a few aluminum molds and it left voids all over the baits most of the time even though I preheated the molds and pushed slowly. I hate to pour baits with a pan and if it is intricate I might as well forget it. Chalk it up to another lesson learned. Thanks for all of your opinions and suggestions. Back to buying grubs I guess ...

[bassman843]

from all the advice from this board I have never tried the injection molds I started with pots and 1 and 2 part molds but would it be posssible to pour them like a 2 part mold like you would get from dels.just a thought

[Spike-A-Pike]

I just have to think that adding a vent in the furthest parts of a mold and applying just enough vacuum to draw the plastic to that void has to be safer than forcing a liquid under pressure with air needing to be forced out to make room for the plastic. Sort of like a hydraulic ram that still has air that needs to be bled out so the air pressure won't force the ram to extend once fluid pressure is removed. Oh well...

[Delw]

squig, I am not following this coversation really well
are you trying to inject plastic into a alum grub mold so you dont have to pour the tail seperate?
if you are you need to drill a 1/32 hole at teh very type of the tail 1/16 is best because most guys dont have a drill press and only have a hand drill.
hand poured molds are not made for injecting as they dont have bleed holes, you DONT need to pre heat the mold either as it wont make any difference.
if you put a bleed hole in the tail you could pour down the body then shoot air into it with the hand injector then finish pouring the body, just keep your plastic on the hot side. with out a bleed hole you just cant do it.

Vaccum wont work on a alum mold with a long tail like that due to the plastic cools off to fast

[squigster]

In reference to handpouring the baits I could do that but I am inconsistant in doing that and I end up overflowing the cavity most of the time so it is not a real option for me. I wanted to inject the baits but this is not obviously working out.

Del, I am trying to inject the netcraft molds and your Horny Toad mold.
I added 1/32" vents at the tips of the legs in the Horny Toad mold as you suggested, but when I inject it, the baits are mostly left with voids. I injected 22 baits and 5 came out okay, the rest were left with voids on the baits. As I stated in the my previous post the injectors plunger lets air escape out of the injector so it has no air pressure it only works when plastic is in the injector because it fills the void around the plunger. I also used a medicine injector that was sealed and it does not work because it does not have enough pressure to push the plastic to the tail. I tried to preheat the mold thinking it would help the plastic flow easier. I gave up on the vacuum idea because if it pulled too hard it would suck plastic into the line. I thoough about using an air compressor at a low psi but everyone thought it was too dangerous.

Originally Posted by Delw

squig, I am not following this coversation really well
are you trying to inject plastic into a alum grub mold so you dont have to pour the tail seperate?
if you are you need to drill a 1/32 hole at teh very type of the tail 1/16 is best because most guys dont have a drill press and only have a hand drill.
hand poured molds are not made for injecting as they dont have bleed holes, you DONT need to pre heat the mold either as it wont make any difference.
if you put a bleed hole in the tail you could pour down the body then shoot air into it with the hand injector then finish pouring the body, just keep your plastic on the hot side. with out a bleed hole you just cant do it.

Vaccum wont work on a alum mold with a long tail like that due to the plastic cools off to fast