Fern

I hand dip tubes. maybe I can help you out. You can checkout my work at Id Eat that Baits

That’s what these are. Rotary cutter blades. They work pretty good for this.

I purchased a replacement pack of rotary cutter blades on Amazon. Spaced out with washers. The blades are 45mm.

They are rotary blades (45mm). I got a replacement pack of 10 on Amazon.

best of luck on your tournament. What color are you going with?

Thanks. This was definitely a more convenient way to cut the tails (for me).

Saw an old video here from an old user “bojon” regarding his tail cutter. With the little information I was able to acquire I think I did a decent job replicating the basic function of it. While I do own the block tail cutter that lurecraft (I think) sells. I sort of prefer the ease of this one which does not involve a good hammering. Pretty easy to make although I think I’m going to add a few more blades to widen it a bit more.

I have 3 of them that i use to keep remelt plastic hot. I typically hand dip tubes and I am left with a lot of scrap after I cut the tails so i have a ton of plastic i remelt in the microwave, place into the presto and keep re-melting until i fill it up. I then shoot the re-melt into swimbait molds. I will say that it does keep the plastic from burning. I have not had any issues with the plastic burning, please note though that i don't typically separate the plastic by color when i re-melt so it usually turns into a greening brown color. I have attempted to separate all the chartreuse i had at one point and the time i did that, the chartreuse started out really bright and as i got towards the bottom, the green started getting kind of dull. I am sure i could've prevented this by adding heat stabilizer, however when it comes to burning the plastic, i have not had that issue.

They sell it on their website for cheaper.

Im gonna give it a shot. They sell dried shrimp at a local mexican market, im gonna pulverize it into a powder and give it a whirl. I wonder if the fish will like it.

Has anyone ever tried crushing up dehydrated shrimp and mixing it into bait plastic before shooting? or even garlic salt?

They stuff feathers into the tail ends of the molds. Open pour molds make this easy do do with a little modification. Some make their own molds with the cavities for it.

Id like to know how this turns out. Keep us posted.

stupid question cuz i am over thinking this. Are you saying hand sanitizer that is 60% or 80% alcohol? or is that the ratio to water?

Each of those companies have product line-ups in regards to density starting from super soft plastic (think ned worms and stuff you want to have a lot of wiggle) to hard soft plastic (think saltwater soft plastics that can handle the bite). using super soft will give you a lot of action but they will be ripped up easily while a harder density plastic will have less action but will be more dense and not get ripped up as easy. all plastic manufacturers will have a soft, medium and hard grade plastic. The plastic formulation is what varies from company to company. some companies like MF provide really clear plastic, however you pay for that in cost per gallon while other companies like dead-on offer the gallon at a cheaper rate but some might say the quality isnt there, however some like that it is phthalate free. I personally use MF and Bait plastics Saltwater blend as I need a more durable plastic. Bait plastics has been an all around great plastic to work with but some might say that the odor/fumes while cooking it is too strong and the plastic when creating a clear bait tends to fog up some while it cures. I would recommend you try bait plastics medium or saltwater blend to start with and as you have time and money, get a gallon or two here of the other guys stuff and see what qualities you like best of each plastic. You can see my experience with dead on in one of my previous posts about my tubes ripping up constantly.

Thanks! This is exactly what I have been doing. up until now I have been brushing the mica on in both wet and dry form using a traditional brush and then sealing them in with a final dip (as seen in the pic above). I got my airbrush a while back ago but just started using it recently but have been using clear 3000 which is just way too expensive so looking for an alternative cheaper solvent to use. I did try the acetone and mica mix and while it worked, I found that it was clogging my air brush way more than using the clear 3000, not exactly sure why yet but i think maybe it is drying up too fast so maybe a retarder should work to sort this issue out, right?

They are hand dipped. When using clear 3000, the paint dries quickly and I am happy with drying time (just a few seconds). If I use acetone will it dry just as quickly? Is there something I can add to the acetone to make it dry quicker, like the opposite of a retarder? Thanks for your input

So I finally decided to give airbrushing my soft plastic baits a try. I just kinda jumped into it not really knowing much about air brushing. Let me be clear that I know nothing about air brush paint, solvent, and retarders, I only know these are words that often come up when reading about air brushing. I do understand that a retarder is some sort of thinner and slows down the drying time of the solvent (in this case (clear 3000). For safety, I wore the exact M3 mask with the organic vapor filter while spraying and had an exhaust fan next to the baits as I painted, do I need glasses when spraying? A few things that I am looking for assistance with, the first being the spider web like strands that are produced while air brushing. I am currently using Lureworks Clear 3000 and mixing some mica powder in it. I didn't use any type of ratio, I just filled a tiny 1 ounce glass jar half way with clear 3000 and then scooped about 1 tsp of mica powder in, shook it and poured it into the airbrush's color cup and sprayed it on my baits. The color came out great but I noticed that a web like material started to form as i sprayed and it would get sucked into the exhaust fan and eventually the exhaust fan's protective cage would get completely covered in it like a spider web. I read somewhere that this might be caused by the solvent used and that I might need some thinner (retarder)? does this sound correct? If using sb 3000, what is the recommended thinner? Lastly, any tips on air brushing would be greatly welcomed and appreciated. Is there a cheaper alternative solvent to mix mica powder with for air brushing? Should I be using some sort of ratio of solvent to Mica powder? for cleaning the color cup and the air brush parts,I used 100% acetone nail polish remover, is there any warning against this practice? is there a cheaper alternative solution for cleaning? These are some of the baits I made yesterday, I think they came out ok for it being the first time air brushing, what do you guys think? Blue Mackerel and Green Mackerel.

Has anyone successfully recreated the recipe for the SB clear 3000. I believe someone mentioned it was PVC glue (tangit) and MEK. I would love to hear if anyone has had success with this formulation.

I saw someone mentioned that eye make up works, I will also add that any Mica powders will work. It is what i use mainly. Im sure you can find mica powder suppliers in africa. I heat the plastic and add then mix in the powder.

Wow. I just got a X-carve Pro and know nothing about it. Do you think it would be powerful enough for something like this? How difficult is it to go from design to product? Are you using fusion 360?

cool man, bill me. mydefpony@aol.com

Is it ready to use or does it need any parts? I am interested. Thanks

Still available?

worm oil rubbed on all the rods is my method. I add a bit of scent to the worm oil sometimes as well.