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RSullivan

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  1. RSullivan

    3.75" Do-It Mud Bug

    (1) 3.75" Do-It Mud Bug (1- Cavity) Injection Mold. http://store.do-itmolds.com/375-Mud-Bug_p_163.html $40.00 (TYD)
  2. Thanks Frank. I am not sure how the mold misalignment causes the laminating problem (I am not a hydrolic engineer). But the fact is that the misalignment is causing the issue. 1.) I have two molds. 2.) With the hinges on they are both mis-alogned somewhere between 1/32nd and 1/16th. 3.) I have taken the hinges off of one of the molds. 4.) I align (carefully) and clamp the hingless molds. It is aligned. 5.) I close the hinged mold and clamp, it is not aligned. 6.) I have a jacobs Pro machine & two digital thermometers with probes. One on each tank. 7.) The temprature varies by 4 degrees. 8.) I shoot the molds. 9.) The molds without the hinge shoots well (a good laminate). 10.) The 'hinged' mold (which will not align correctly due to the 'bad' placement of the hinge) does not shoot the laminate well. It exibits the original problem I reported. 11.) I then took te hinge off of the 'bad' mold. 12.) Aligned carefully, clamped and shot it. 13.) This mold now shoots well (a good laminate). With the hinges on the molds the 'bottom' of the molds where slightly (1/32nd - 1/16th) forward along the horizontal plane than the 'Tops' of the molds. This meant that the 'sprue hole' in the mold was not a circle, but rather two halves of a circle with one half being slightly offset (ahead of) from the other half. I am pretty sure the mis-alignment was causing cavitation (i.e. 'swirl') in the mold. This data of course is all imperical! Thanks.
  3. Thanks Guys. It happens on both molds. I line the olds up with the injector with a carpenter square, so I am positive they are square to the nozzle. I have looked closely at the molds and now and realized it is in fact the molds, specifically the hinges Do-It uses on their molds. The hinges where put on in a very sloppy manner. When closes and clamped the mold halves where not lined up correctly. I removed the hinges and carefully lined the two halves up and clamped. Though not perfect I can now shoot a satisfactory laminate. Thanks for all the help.
  4. Thanks hpssports. I do not have a camera (or cell phone) handy. If you shoot laminates with the mold and have no problems then I have no idea what is going on. To clarify (Without photo): 1.) Shoot the mold with white bottom black top. 2.) Lay the bait flat with the head pointing away from you. 3.) The pincer and legs on the right hand side are black. 4.) The pincer and legs on the left hand side are white. I would think it is my Jacobs Pro machine but in the same session I shoot plenty of other molds as laminates and they have no such problems: - 5" 16 cavity Wutz-Its. - 4" 4 cavity Wutz-Its. - 3.5" and 4.5" Do-It swim shads (both thin and normal tails). - Plenty of different manufacturers stick's - A 10 cavity 2.5" caw mold (Basstackle). Its the only other craw mold I have. None of these molds have problems as the Mud Bug does. Thanks Bassducer. I have recently asked Basstackle for a 10 cavity 5" stick. They said they have no time right now for any custom work. I suppose I will look at other manufacturers craws and if I find one I like I will give them a call.
  5. I have a couple of single cavitiy 3.75" Mud Bugs. When I inject them with a dual injector (Jacobs 'Pro' Machine) 1.) The bottom of the body is in fact my bottom color (Yea!). 2.) The legs and pincers on one side (the 'top' from the orientation of the mold) are the top color (Boo!). 2.) The legs and pincers on the other side (the 'bottom' from the orientation of the mold) are the bottom color (Boo!). I understand the nuances of molds that do not do well with dual injection, and am assuming that the 3.75" single cavity mud-bug is one of these. Do others see this problem? I am asking becuase I want to get a craw mold (minimum 3.75", maximum 4") that has at least 6 cavities. 1.) I am thinking of getting the six cavity 3.75" mud bug mold. Perhaps it does not exhibit the same issues that the single cavity mold seems to have? Anyone have experience with this mold? 2.) I am unable to find any 6 cavity or better craw molds in my desired size from the usual suspects (BassTackle, Do-It,...). Anyone know of another manuafacturers mold that fits this bill? Thanks.
  6. I have six 5" Senko molds for sale. These are the CNC'd version (Not the sand-cast). (http://store.do-itmolds.com/The-Gary-Yamamoto-Senko-4-5-and-6-inch-4-Cav_p_177.html) All molds shoot just fine. I also have three of the 5" Lami-Plates - Molds. $78.40 each TYD - Lami-Plates. $15.20 each TYD I will be unavailable from 10/30 through 11/03. With that said the last day prior to 10/30 that I will be able to ship is 10/28 until I get back on 11/04. I will have no IP (email, web) while I am away so if you try and contact me during this time period I will be unable to answer until 11/04. I will answer any queries I may receive during this period in the order I receive them. Thanks.
  7. I have a Jacobs Pro which I purchased used from another member of this site (Painter1). It is a small machine suitable for the hobbyist. http://stores.jacobsbaits.com/injection-machines/ This is the only 'smaller' injection machine I am aware of.
  8. Boy, do I hate putting eyes on swim baits and jerk baits. I hate it so much I refuse to do it! But it does look really cool! The worse part about it (for me) is heating small amounts of clear plastisol to dip he bait in to seal the eyes. So: 1.) Is there such a thing as stick on eyes that will stay on without applying a coating of clear? 2.) Has anyone tried clear Plasti-Dip? (https://plastidip.com/). If this works at least I would not need to continually heat up plastisol. BTW, I am off fishing the next 5 days or so (no internet) so do not think I am rude if I do not participate in any conversations that may occur on this thread for awhile.
  9. Hey Guys. Thanks for all of the ideas. I received my mold, shot some clusters, made my sacks and am now soaking them in Mikes Glo Scent Salmon Egg Oil.
  10. Thanks for all of the suggestion guys. I took 12 4" C-clamps (Jorgenson) to a local welding / machine shop. They are going to charge me $40.00 to: 1.) Cut the adjusting screws down to 3". 2.) Weld a 9/16 nut on to the end. This will work for me an I found it to be surprisingly cheap!
  11. I am a smallmouth fisherman. I have a place in Canada on a river that runs into lake Huron. Every fall I watch the salmon come up the river and spawn. Occasionally I see a SteeHead following them (I am told the SteelHead are eating the Salmon spawn). So, this year I have decided to catch a Steelhead! (I never have fished for them before). Before I go any further I am aware that I have a better chance of catching a Steelhead using real span bags, But what fun is that? I am looking at this mold: http://www.basstackle.com/Salmon_egg_cluster_mold_1_4_dia_eggs_p/407-kj-50.htm My question is what do I scent the spawn bags I will make with the Egg clusters from this mold? Is there such a thing as 'Salmon Egg' scent? Thanks
  12. Clarification: Though I mentioned the perceived issue of the clamp feet scratching the molds, it is not the issue I am trying to resolve. First of all thanks for all of the responses, Spring Clamps: I have tried these before. I have some larger molds (12 cavity) so I need to run my injection machine with about 20lbs of pressure in order for all of the cavities and appendages in the cavities to actually fill. The spring clamps (4 of them) do not have enough clamping pressure. When I did this it resulted in a whole lot of 'flashing; occurring so I had to spend a lot of time trimming baits. Standard C-clamps: These are all to long ('wide'), see below (If this existed it would solve my issue).. Wood working F-clamps (Jorgenson, Pony, Bessey): These are also to long ('wide'), see below (If this existed it would solve my issue).. The reason I like to use the pieces of wood (cauls) is that I have many molds with small / thin appendages in them. As we know some times the appendages will not fill when shooting, so one must vary the pressure of the clamps in order to get the appendages to fill correctly. When I use the pieces of wood I never have this issue. I simply put the pieces of wood in position, put the clamps on, tighten them up and shoot. This works very well for me. Now the real issue is the width of the pieces of wood, mold and clamp (specifically the length that the adjusting screw that ends up sticking out). The entire width is ~1" to wide to fit under my injection machine when I am trying to shoot dual color (i.e. 'laminates') baits. When I am shooting singe color baits I have no issues as I can simply cock the assembly at about 30 degrees. See: http://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/house/do-it-yourself/carpentry-gripping-tightening-tools/c-clamp.php for a listing of C-clamp parts. If this existed it would solve my issue: A 3" C-clamp where the adjusting screw is only 1 1/2" long. Meaning that if the adjusting screw was completely closed the 'Swivel Head' on the adjusting screw would be at least 1" from the 'Fixed Jaw'. I.e. it does not close all the way. I have been unable to find such a C-clamp. I believe such an animal does not exist. Thanks for all of the suggestions.
  13. That's a good idea, but I am using a Jacobs injection machine. A vice will not fit under the nozzle with a mold in it (I have some tall 12 cavity molds). Thanks
  14. I am looking for a way to clamp molds. I have a dual jacobs injection machine. I do not like to put the C-Clamps against the molds itself. I believe that this causes un-even pressure down the length of the mold. It also scratches / scars the outside of the molds. So as an example, here is what I do (example is for a single cavity mold): I use 2 peices of wood (The length of the mold, 2" wide, 3/4" thick) on the outsides of the molds as clamp pads. I use 2 C-clamps. I believe that the 2 peices of wood acting as clamp pads distributes the pressure from the clamps better than just using the clamps. It also prevents scratching the outside of the mold. My problem is that the adjusting screw (the end with the handle) then sticks out to far and I cannot center the mold perpindicular to the nozzle for dual injecting (it will be offset). This of course is not an issue when I am not using the peices of wood (just the C-clamps). I am using the smallest C-clamp possible So: - I am thinking of buying Aluminum bar to replace the peices of wood. - I would have the aluminum bars 2" longer than my mold. - I would drill holes at the ends of the bar. - Bolt, washer, washer, nut to clamp them together. This would solve my clearance problem. But these solution seems sort of expensive to me. As an example priced six 9" x 2" x 3/4" 6061-T6511 bars for my 3 senko molds. (Note, I am aware I could use the same 2 bars for all three molds but I would much rather have a pair for each mold, makes things go faster.) and came up with a price of $55.98 + $27.23 shipping. Ouch! I did not even bother to take the time to price out bars for the rest of my molds. Anyone have any ingenuise ideas to solve my clamping problem? Or maybe there is an industriouse tool & die type member here who would be willing to cut stock and drill holes for a better price? I have though of doind this with wood but I believe that the wood would just flex (bow) outward towards the center. Thanks.
  15. That a great idea. So Majic Man, how do you actually print your b/w labels? Again I am asking because I am going to modify my web site to print labels from a run. Do you use a roll type printer? Do you use a normal inkject printer with 8.5 x 11 papaer with the labels on it? Thanks.
  16. It seems there are several online services. You upload a file and they will print you x number of vinyl labels. The down side is that none of them seem to be able to print individual labels. Say I have a run with 100 bags. 20 Contain Worms, 20 Swimbaits, 20 Jerkbaits,.... These services cannot print the labels on a per-item basis. For instance one would want 20 labels that says 'Dazzle Worm' (your name for your worm), 'Grape' (the color of the worms in the package), and maybe a price and batch number. Another 20 that say 'Bassin-Fool Jerks', 'Baby Bass',.... and so on. It seems to be expensive. It looks like you can get a minimum of 25. So to get 25 2"x2" labels say "Bassin-Fool', "Baby Bass',... In color with a logo on them would cost it would cost 25.98 (with shipping) from Uprinting.com (http://www.uprinting.com/vinyl-label-printing.html). That's a little over $1.00 per label. On the other hand if you just want 1,000 2" x 2" labels that are colored with your logo on it (not on a individual package contents basis) you can get that done at Uprinting.com for 0.066 (6 1/2 cents each with shipping). I also spoke with two local 'sign making' shops. They also have he same limitations as on-line providers (meaning they are unable to print labels on a per label basis. they can print a lot of the same label). Note that both of these examples are for the 'cut your own', not a roll. This means you get sheets of the labels and you would need to cut them off the sheet yourself. Majic man suggested a laser printer. I found that one can get 100 sheets of polyester stock with 12 2" x 2" labels on each sheet for 54.90 (with shipping). That's 1200 labels @ 0.045 (4 1/2 cents) each. Of course one would need a color laser printer. I have no idea what the cost of toner would be. See http://www.onlinelabels.com/material_polyester_laser_labels.htm. There is also another option, an Inkjet printer with stock made for Inkjets (http://www.onlinelabels.com/material_weatherproof_matte_inkjet_labels.htm) but it seems the ink will smear a lot on these.
  17. Thanks for the information. Are you taking about 'Generic' labels that simply have a logo and no other information? Or Are you talking about labels that have a logo, the contents of the specific bag, and the price of the specific bag?
  18. I am finishing up my web application to manage my bait making. I have now decided that I need to print labels for my bagged baits. I arrived at this decision when I realized that I was not spending enough money on my hobby and need to spends wads of money on a label printer and rolls sticky backed thermal label paper! So, does any one here print labels for their bags? If so: What printer do you use? What paper do you use? I am assumming I am going to get a thermal printer? It seems like I can get one from an Office Depot type place for about $100.00 Thanks in advance.
  19. It's expensive. I cannot seem to copy the Amazon URL into this message (It is to long). Go to Amazon and search for: Arcuisine Borosilicate Glass Measuring Cup 4 Cup ​They make other sizes to. It is thicker than a chemistry beaker.
  20. It's probably microcracks forming. Liquid gets in the cracks, then boom! See: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/30227-pyrex-vs-borosilicate-lab-grade-pyrex/#39;pyrex Get borosilicate beakers.
  21. First of all I do not sell my baits. This question is due to the fact that I do not like to waste anything! I heat my plastisol in melting pots, not a microwave. My typical process is: 1.) Make some batch's in the melting pot's. The smallest batch size I work with is two batches of 16 Oz each. 2.) Inject as many molds as I can with 4 9.5oz injectors. 3.) After cooling take apart the molds and injectors. Cut up the scraps (sprues and such) and put them back in the pot. 4.) Spend some time being anal and laying out the baits on some cookie sheets for curing. 5.) Stir, Melt, Stir Melt until the mix is all liquid again. 6.) Go to #2. So I have three questions. 1.) Do I need to make sure that the re-melted scraps reach a temprature of 350 degrees again? I typically shoot around 325. Meaning do the re-melted scraps need to reach 350 degrees to 're-kick' or whatever? 2.) Heat stabilizer. I have always assumed that heat stabilizer is a microwave thing (to keep the plastisol from yellowing when re-heated). Am I correct or should I be using some heat stabilizer? 3) Finally, some other threads have talked about people selling their scraps, but I have never actually seen a post on this site from someone doing so. I am thinking that a trip to the post office would be less trouble-some for me then the time spent waiting for the scraps to re-melt. Thanks in advance fo any information.
  22. Mark: Mark said: 'Whether or not they will pay for it is another story' Of course they would not want to pay for it! I understand that this is just an (obsessive) hobby! As far as the cost goes, again I am not trying to make any money here. My gut feeling is that (though I would need to verify this) that the cost of the hosting and database services would be roughly $1000.00 to $1500.00 a year. This would mean: 1.) If I had 20 'takers' we would each pay $50.00 - $75.00 a year (that would be ~ $4.17 - $6.25 a month). 2.) If I had 40 'takers' we would each pay $25.00 - $37.50 a year. (that would be ~ $2.08 - $3.13 a month). 3.) If I had 50 'takers' we would each pay $20.00 - $30.00 a year. (that would be ~ $1.67 - $2.50 a month). DO NOT HOLD ME TO THIS THOUGH! In order to verify the cost though I would need to actually complete the system, put it up, and use it some to see what the cost structure would look like. Me personally (Being a fanatic about everything I do) would be more than happy to pay $50.00 a year to have a place on-line to just store my formulas! Ed-White: Yes Ed, you have put the whole issue into a nutshell very succinctly! Please do not inform my wife of these facts though (as she still thinks I am 'saving' money by making my own lures!).
  23. Hello! I (of course) make my own baits but I do not sell them. For fun I attempt to keep track of my costs, formulas, batches, runs and packaging materials. Being a programmer and being very anal I: 1.) Track my perishable materials (plastisol, glitter, colorant, softner,..). 2.) Track my 'formulas'. 3.) Track my costs on a 'batch' level (making a bunch of baits). 4.) Track my costs on a 'Run' level (say making to batches of formulas for laminating). 5.) Track my cost on a 'package' level (say 6 of the swimbaits from the Run in a bag with packaging costs). I initially did this on paper. - Being a programmer I eventually started using spreedsheets. - Being a programmer I converted by spreedsheets to a database driven desktop application. I am actually a C++ Win32 native programmer. I am not a 'Web' programmer, but I know I am perfectly capable of doing this. It looks like I am going to have a little time on my hands on and off over the next couple of months so I am now contemplating creating a web-based 'application' to do this. This 'web application' would simply be accessed via any web browser. Since I am planning to use this for myself I am planning on hosting it on my existing hosting site. On the other hand: Since it would be web-based I can make this multi-user (meaning I can create 'Accounts', different people with accounts can log in, all of their data would be private to them). I really have no idea how many of you actually are running cottage type custom bait small businesses. I also do not know how many of you are as crazy as I am! So I do not know if anyone would be interested in something like this as the paper work can of course be handled with pencil and paper. I am not attempting to make any money here (Kidding here): 1.) I am aware that you are all so poor that you have to make your own baits! 2.) Or another way to look at it is we have all spent all of our monies on very expensive molds that we have no more money left over! If enough people would be interested in using such a piece of software: 1.) I would do the additional work to make it multi-user. 2.) I would not be able to run it on my existing hosting site which is really for my real job, contract programmer. 3.) I would therefore need to host it under a different hosting account (which costs $$'s). So I am thinking if enough people are interested I can have them pay a 'Usage Fee' which would cover the cost of the hosting and database. I know the basic cost structures of hosting and database services. Hosting and database service pricing models have changed radically over the years. One used to be able to get a web site hosted with some amount of data base storage for a fixed price per-year. Now-adays most providors have moved to a pay-as-you-go methodology: 1.) You are billed for 'outbound' traffic. 2.) You are billed for database usage monthly. The amount here is based on how much database storage one requires and how many transactions per-second and user connections. This being the case I am not sure how much it would actually cost to get the site and database hosted. This would be dependant upon how many users the site has and how often they use it. In closing I am not sure when I will have this done but if anyone is interested chime in on this thread. Thanks.
  24. Though I do not sell my baits I was wondering if those who do use any sort of software to manage their materials and do costing / pricing on the lure batches they make?
  25. Thanks Bassinfool. I have spent some time and looked at Glass Bead Media and now my head is really hurting! Hopefully there are some mechanics here that can provide me with some answers. First I looked at Harbor Freight becuase some other threads here mentioned this as a source for glass bead media. The reviews though state that this is not really 'beads' but is more like crushed glass. I assume that this is not good for me so I have written this off. http://www.harborfreight.com/50-lbs-glass-bead-80-grit-abrasive-media-61874.html So now I am down to what 'grit' to use. Again, I am after weight only. I want my baits to remain as clear as possible. The options seem to be (I am ignoring 'Course'): 1.) 70/100 2.) 100/170 3.) 170/325 Which 'grit' do you use? Thanks.
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