tricks to pouring plastic tails

[basscat73]

I am working on making my own plastic bait. It's my first attempt at doing and I'm not starting out with a super simple mold. It will be a custom mold that I made. It's similar to a plastic lure called the Salad Spoon. Anyhow, it has a fat body and then tapers into a large grub-type tail. The lure is flat on one side, so theoretically I only need a one-part mold to pour into. I haven't recieved my order of plastisol, so I did a trial pour by melting down a bunch of old worms. My problem was that the liquid was not thin enough and didn't fill the tail cavity very well. That might've been because of the abundance of glitter in it. My question how do I get the liquid plastic to fill nicely into the very thin grub tail cavity?  Are there any tricks to this? Thanks in advance for any tips.

[cedar1]

When you get your new plastic it will pour much easier. If brought up to the right temp. it will fill your one sided mold, no problem. Temp.? About 350deg. Here and elsewhere there are great, easy to follow isntructions on everything from mold making to pouring. Be carefull, it can become another hobby!!

[WCCT]

I know a lot a guys use a toothpick to drag the plastic into the small hard to fill areas of the mold.  You need to get your plastic as hot as possible, this is probably the most important part of it.  Good luck.

[basscat73]

Great thanks. Would it be wise to have some type of thermometer? As you guys said, the plastic needs to be hot, which will make it thinner and prevent it from cooling so quickly and allowing the material to have more time to spread. I was thinking about that more. I'm using plaster molds, I wonder if I heat the mold up in the oven just before puring the plastic. Pouring into a warm mold would slow the cooling even more, which would give me more time to work the material into the tail. Thoughts??

[earthworm77]

I pour about 500 to 1000 bags of baits a month for my business. I don't heat my molds ever. Some guys swear by it, I don't do it. If you think about it, if it has any bearing on pouring, it will only be beneficial for your first pour. Then the mold will naturally be hot. I don't see how pouring into a warm mold would allow the bait to cool faster. I always thought about pouring on a cold pack to make the mold cool faster.

[SENKOSAM]

Thin tails or paddles are accomplished with hot plastic, but not too hot to avoid changing the color of the pastisol (yellowing) or adversely affect glitter (curling or bleed). A good temp is around 280-300 which can be tested with a candy thermometer or with a metal butter knife. Take the metal knife that you stir the plastic with and pull it out of the hot plastic. If it runs from the knife like thin syrup, it's thin enough to fill in the cavities. (If the plastic is smoking and smells strong, it's much too hot.)

For curly tails, start at the pointed tip and pour towards the body, tilting the mold to allow gravity to quicky move the plastic into the largest cavity. The cavity of the tail should be shallow and overpouring is not a problem if you use scissors to cut the excess off.

To get a curl tail that doesn't collapse upon itself, yet has good action, you might need more hardener or better yet, use M-F saltwater plastic. No one says you can't pour the tail with harder plastic and then the body with regular-soft plastic.

Again, thin hot plastic, pour tail-first using gravity to thin the plastic and a shallow cavity for tail or appendage. Note the the shallow tail cavities on these plaster molds:

[basscat73]

Thanks all for the help. Made my first pour tonight and it worked out okay. I'll try and post a picture. Not very pretty to the human eye, but I know I'll find a bass among the slop and pads that will love it! Getting the plastic to the right temp was key. It was fairly easy after that. I used a hairdryer to heat the tail part of the mold and it helped to give me a little more time to work the plastic. Probably won't be necessary when I get better at pouring, but it did make a difference for me.

One question. I noticed I had little air bubbles rising to the top after I poured. Does this mean the plastic was a little too hot or?? How do I prevent this?

Cedar1, it's definitely going to become a hobby.  

[SENKOSAM]

Not very pretty to the human eye, but I know I'll find a bass among the slop and pads that will love it!

Bass don't care about pretty. They strike because of profile, color (at times) and action. That bait is probably beautiful to a bass or pick. Nice job.

[basscat73]

Thanks. This mold was fairly simple since it was just one tail. I'm looking at the pictures of the molds posted above and I'm wondering how do you go about pouring into a mold that has multiple appendages or fork tail and such? I'd be worried about the first part I poured into cooling too quickly.

And the bubbles after the pouring is finished, what's the trick to getting rid of them?

This is an awesome site and set of forums, by the way. I'm looking forward to coming back again and again!

[SENKOSAM]

Always pour tails and appendages first and make sure the attachments are thick enough to avoid being too fragile. To avoid bubbles, make sure the plastic isn't too hot because moisture in the cavity will be just enough to cause sudsing, the bane of hot plastic. People also pour certain lures in two steps, especially to produce laminates.  There is no problem of the second pour not permenantly atttaching itself to the first layer.

[nwgabassmaster]

Senko, that's one question that I have asked, and a friend said that there IS a problem with two sides attatching to one another.

I am looking at the Lure Craft or Del-Mart 2 piece Senko molds.  Naturally, there are several colors that I want, that can only be done by pouring one side at a time.  

If I did pour one side, attatch the mold together, and pour the second side............will it, for sure, be a complete and whole lure, and I won't have to worry about the plastic pulling apart?

[cedar1]

It's a matter of timing when your pouring two colors or pouring molds that have thin and thick areas. I can say though that you are not "building watches" with a litlle practice you'll figure out how to pour each mold the most effectively" and most important, don't doubt what guys like SenkoSam are telling you. they're talking from experience and trying to help you

[SENKOSAM]

The above is a two pour laminate using clear plastic and florescent glitter colors. The coachdog pattern was applied with Spike It soft plastic paint (bottom picture). I laid one mold down flat, poured one color near half full and the put the mold upright after the half cooled. I heated up the second plastic to 325 degrees (285 won't work) and carefully poured the second half through the pour hole.

Guys on tackleunderground.com have a gallery full of laminated baits and all of the favorites:

red shad, tequilla sunrise, blue shad, copper head, frog and bass. It takes a little practice, but timing is not a big part of making laminates. Heck, if I get a bubble in a stick, I cut the plastic down to the stick, place the bait back into the mold and pour it to the top. Looks like it was poured for the first time!

Also, tell me how the two part Lurecraft molds are. I'm very interested in saving some money on a stick mold because when I make 50 at a time for customers, it's a pain to have to wait for the baits to cool before the next pour. I can't see buying another metal mold for $118.

[nwgabassmaster]

SenkoSam, I just sent you an e-mail with the specific information that you requested.

Hope to hear back from ya, bud.