easy molds

get you a tuperware container just larger than the baits your trying to make. glue your bait top side down to the bottom of the container, put in as many baits as you want but leave 1/4 inch between them. make SURE the in tire bait is glued down. Spray a light coat of pam over the baits and the bottom of the mold. Mix up some fiberglass bondo resin being careful not to put in to much hardner. when mixed well pour slowly around baits. Make sure you have at least 3/16 of an inch above the baits to give you a strong mold. give it a few hours to dry and pull your bait out. No sealing the mold id necessary.Wait a couple of more hours and your ready to pour in your plastic

you are the man!

The one piece molds aren't that attractive to me, for a pork/frog or craw chunk they're fine.. but for a round worm, grub, or minnow/shad pour... they leave something to be desired for me.

Here is a great how to page

ESOX HUNTER - Making Your Own Soft Plastic Lures

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Originally Posted by GCD

The one piece molds aren't that attractive to me, for a pork/frog or craw chunk they're fine.. but for a round worm, grub, or minnow/shad pour... they leave something to be desired for me.

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when the mold is made correctly you can get a 90% round mold made. I have a few I made but aluminum is better for higher production

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Originally Posted by crappieday

when the mold is made correctly you can get a 90% round mold made. I have a few I made but aluminum is better for higher production

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I guess if you're on a small budget and don't really care for perfection, the one piece molds are fine... but I notice all of your really good looking baits come out of aluminum molds for some reason... is that just a co-inky-dink?

.. and I know that a one piece mold bait will catch fish... even if it looks like refried rat crap, but I'd be embarrassed to say I caught a fish on something that looks sub-standard... because yanno what folks are gonna say or think when they see the bait the fish bit, was that fish retarded??? :D

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Originally Posted by crappieday

I have a few I made but aluminum is better for higher production

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all of my production molds are aluminum

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Originally Posted by crappieday

all of my production molds are aluminum

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... and your production baits that come out of them are perfect! Some really good looking plastics!

Perhaps I was too negative about the DIY molds yesterday, everybody has to start somewhere. It may be a good place to start for some folks to experiment with the cooking of the plastic and the mixing of the colors, salt, glitter, and scent.

I just feel that if I was going to go through the expense of buying all of the ingredients and the time to put them together, I would want my bait to look perfect!... even if it did come out the color and consistency of something the cat hocked up on the livingroom floor!:D

... at least I would know my mold is right.;)

lol i could care less what a bait looks like if its catching fish.... quick story, i was at a pond and i have bout every plastic you could have plus some, this kid bout 13 was fishing near me with a pos zebco and was taking a 7 inch bass worm and cutting it in bout 2 inch pieces putting it on a hook and was just slaying fish. i offered him some of my plastics, he said no and that this was only way he fished for crappie.
but if i was selling something i would want it to look perfect but if just fishing id cast a rats turd all day if it was catching fish.

crappieday do you think this would work for molds? Alley Goop - the Moldmaking silicone putty

it would work but generaly the faster the cure time the thicker it is so if its to thick you will get less detail in your bait

"""get you a tuperware container just larger than the baits your trying to make. glue your bait top side down to the bottom of the container, put in as many baits as you want but leave 1/4 inch between them. make SURE the in tire bait is glued down. """

What glue are you using to secure rubber to plastic, then easily released?
thanks in advance
NP64

I use super glue to hold down the bait then spray lightly with pam. your mold should pull out when ready and your baits will still be glued down. you can then make another of the same mold if you want

Thanks for this post Crappieday. I would like to try making my own jigs and this sounds like a good way to make some without having to spend lots of money just to play around making them. I will never make them to sale but on these cold winter days it looks interesting.

crappieday, I was wondering if you could make a plaster block and make an tube mold like the one I have made a drawing of here. You can have a slide bar that raises and lowers and you lower it down like it is in the picture and pour in or inject slowly around the insert rod and then raise the rod too pull them out when they are dry. Looks like it would be faster than horizontally dipping. Do you think this idea would work?

A few personal things about Plastic pouring.
1st Crappieseeker that looks like a good idea but Horiz Dipping as descriped by the expert Bojon is simple fast and does not have to have complicated expensive molds.
Check it out on TU when you get a chance .... I think your idea would work to a certain point.

About open pour molds .... the guys that can really hand pour an open mold are real experts and their work can be exceptional ( the looks of the lure and fish catching ability) .... FAR LESS SKILL is needed for pouring a closed 2 pc mold .. generaly speaking ... working with more than one color in a closed mold is where a little more skilled is required ... and in all of this you need to understand the properties of the plastisol you are working with .... With colors ... write down the formulas if you want them to be the same next time (unless you have a memory better than min ... what was I talking about ?? Oh plastic pouring).
Its all a lot of fun and you can get carried away to the extent of making your own molds and how you fish them.

Have Fun !!!!! Rememeber that Beauty is in the sight of the beholder (that is the way it goes I think ??? Memory again )

Later
JSC

This is true but another thing to consider is the size of the molds being hand poured, I have yet to see anyone pouring 1 to 2 inch crappie baits by hand. I have some hand pour molds for worms and they do fine. I like the fact I can pour 2 and 3 colors with them but for a full round bait that you need to pour more than a few at a time with injection is the way to go. Some injection molds you can open up and hand pour one side of the bait then close the mold and inject the rest of the bait. It all comes down to what your making and how much you want to spend.

A multi-core injection mold would be the way to go You could hand inject several at a time for standard size crappie tubes proably 20-30 at a time in a small 12 " mold.

"""Mix up some fiberglass bondo resin"""
WallyWorld has, BONDO lightweight body filler. Is this the same stuff or will it work? I picked up a large 7lb tub w/hardner.

it will work but put in as little hardner as possible. That will allow for better detail. The fiberglass resin is ideal because its more of a liquid and will capture every detail of the bait

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Originally Posted by crappieday

get you a tuperware container just larger than the baits your trying to make. glue your bait top side down to the bottom of the container, put in as many baits as you want but leave 1/4 inch between them. make SURE the in tire bait is glued down. Spray a light coat of pam over the baits and the bottom of the mold. Mix up some fiberglass bondo resin being careful not to put in to much hardner. when mixed well pour slowly around baits. Make sure you have at least 3/16 of an inch above the baits to give you a strong mold. give it a few hours to dry and pull your bait out. No sealing the mold id necessary.Wait a couple of more hours and your ready to pour in your plastic

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One would think to keep out air bubbles to lessen the inclusions in your mold"That you would want to pour resin slowly into one corner of said mold and allow the resin to cover slowly and one might use the bomber method of allowing the resin to pour in from about 2 to 3 feet from above again into one corner"this will allow the mold to be free of all bubble inclusions and make for a more professional finish.
just my $0.02:):):)

OMG grub you know how to type for real....first time i could under stand and read everything you said....lmao....j/k

I flyfish a lot for bream. I use a little 3" worm with a small two hook harness for the worm. I use to buy my plastic from Herter's. The only color I would use would be red. I would open te can of Playdo, spread it out with a roller til it would be about 1/4 to 1/2" thick. Get a little 3' worm, press it down into the Playdo til it would be flush to the top. Take the worm out and make another right next to it. I would make about 5 to 7 little molds , pour the plastic and the color. Let it set about 2 minutes. Take them out and pour another batch. I would have a dozen in no time. Roll the Playdo in a ball, put it back in the can till next time. Just for my use and no mess at all.