Originally Posted by
Jamesdean
Ok, when both halves of the mold are dry it’s time to get them separated. The plaster should come out of the container easy enough. Turn it upside down and maybe with a little twist of the container it will usually pop right out. Getting the two halve separated will depend a lot on how well the mold release worked. Usually a knife around the edge to loosen any overlap seepage, or take a scrappers flat edge and scrape the edges to expose the line separating the two halves. Take a screw driver or like instrument and Carefully insert between the halves and they will separate. Sometimes it might take a light tap with a hammer to insert your tool. Use extreme caution so as not to injure yourself most importantly and secondly, not break the mold...
Once separated you must remove the masters, and spruce. The soft plastics is the easy part. Just pull them out. The spruce or glue stick may take some persuasion. IF you must pry it out DO NOT use the edge of the mold next to the glue stick or whatever you used to make the spruce, it will crumble away. I suggest and use a piece of scrap wood and place it over the mold to spread any pressure over a greater area so as not to damage the mold.
Now is the time to inspect the mold for any areas that might need cleaning up a bit. Just remember the edges around the lure cavity need to match up or the will leak, and hot plastic under pressure shoots pretty far when released from that pressure. You will need to open the hole for the sprue opening a bit to fit your injector. Remember this needs a tight fit also, or at least a snug one.
you will also need to make small air escape route from the tail tips to the edge of the mold so trapped air from the plastic entering the cavity has an escape and the plastic can fill the hole cavity. This needs no more thane a heavy scratch in the mold. Remember we want air to escape, not the hot plastic to run out.
once it’s cleaned, and the air passage is made, we get to seal the mold. No tot seal it shut but seal the pours of the mold. This accomplishes a couple of things. It ads strength to the mold, as well as provides a smooth surface for the hot plastic and makes the baits shinnie. In the water our eyes can’t tell a difference, but they just look better.
tell a difference, but out of the water they’re more appealing to use humans being shiny. This can be accomplished several ways. One is a 50/50 mixture of Elmer’s school glue and water. I usually put 5 or six coats on with about 20 minutes between coats to dry. I am told another way is to use a high heat engine paint and spray it with a few coats to seal the mold. I have also heard of thinned down polyethylene being used. I can only attest to the first method as that’s the way I was taught to do it. I have seen a video or two where Madge pod get was used. There again, I personally have never used it. Now I seal the hole mold. Also when sealing the cavity itself up do not let what ever your using dry in a puddle, because it will change the shape of your finished product. Once the finale coat of sealer is dry, you are ready to use your mold. I suggest using a couple of clothes pin type clamps that are spring loaded or maybe the pistol grip type barre clamps. Both are available at any home improvement store or harbor freight. WHEN CLAMPING the mold, it only needs to stay together, not squeezed so hard they try to become one part. It’s plaster, not steel or aluminum and will break easily...so use caution.
I hope this helped any one wanting to make their own molds. Again I stress use caution when clamping as it can break. Enjoy and good luck. Eric, AKA Jamesdean.
