Diy Tubes

for those interested in making tubes here is a easy way. I am using a 1/16 inch rod for a hollow body but you can use as small as you want to almost get a solid body tube. I bend my rod so I can horizontal dip but you can also do this for vertical type tubes. ( head one color tail another ) heat your plastic and slowly dip the rod into the plastic, remove for a few seconds and do it again. repeat till you get the thickness you want on the tail. I then heated up my second color and dipped the tube in half way. Next I put on eyes. ( because I like em ) and then heated up a third cup of plastic and vertically dipped the tube so I could seal the eyes on. After it cooled I removed it from the rod and cut the tail with a scalpel or razorblade. You can make the tails as long as you want. HAPPY DIPPING:D
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Excellent pictures, thanks crappieday.

no problem, its one of the easiest and cheapest baits to make, no molds or injectors. just plastic and a rod

crappieday, I sure appreciate all this info you have given, but my wallet is going to be telling me you are a bad bad guy.

dont hate me later, you wanted to know. lol

Thanks for the tube tutorial crappieday. Very nice of you to share this processes. I for one am going to give it a try.

That's a great lookin' tube!!!

Crappie day do you have a tail cutter you can show them. if not i think i might have pics of one and how to make laying around somewhere.

JJ

no I sure dont, I use a razor blade when I make some but I dont make them much. Kinda time consuming to make em compared to injecting a mold

Does it just slide off the rod?

Does rod have to be stainless?

How do ya warm up the plastic, microwave?

Can the unused plastic be easily removed from Pyrex when it cools?

Do ya ever mix scent in?

yes to all the above except for the rod. you can use an aluminum rod or even a coat hanger if you wish. once plastic cools it comes right our of the cup. you can mix scent in or just put it in the bag with your baits. when mixing it in make sure IT IS NOT WATER BASED. water and plastic is dangerous. only use oil based scents

hey gone fishin

If your dipping tubes just spray the rods a bit with pam cooking spray and then start dippping them then when cool they come off fairly good

I usually use aluminum rods they seem to work the best

You can heat the plastic on a hot plate or in microwave but if you use a microwave I would get an old junker and dont use the one you use to eat out of because heating plastics puts off some really nasty fumes and arent good to breathe

i dont use scent much but you can mix scent in if its NOT WATER BASED if its water based scent it will start to explode like hitting hot grease with water WOW its not pretty. if you want scent in them you can just add some to the baits you are making in the bag or boxwhen you are finished

Oh and Yes plastic comes out of pyrex cups pretty easy when it cools off

All right guys, thanks for the info. Gonna give it a whirl now that the weather has turned poor.

what about an old set of alan wrenches, looks like they would work well. I know they are not totally round but seems they would work fine and they are already bent. Whatcha think?

Yeah i dont see why not just make a handle on the short end and walla should work

JJ

That almost looks TOO easy. Lakes will be icy here soon and I don't do any ice fishing. I might have to give some a shot. I like a more solid body tube that holds the jig head better. Does it take a lot longer to make one thicker, given you have to use a smaller rod? Also, Jiggin Joe, if you could post that pic of how to make a tail cutter that would be awesome. Thanks guys. Good info.

i wonder if the juice the berkley gulp alive stuff comes in is water based or oil based, i have about 3 gallons of it in empty containers, would be a good use for it i think


nevermind i looked and its water based... crap, guess ill just load the stuff in a spray bottle to use

just soak your baits in it after your done. If you add salt to your baits the salt will help it soak in the scent you store it in

Very cool. Thanks.

Where can you get different sized aluminum rods at. Can you just find those at a local hardware store? Also, after you have your tube the color you want it, could you glue on some small sequins for eyes and then just dip once back into clear plastic to seal the eyes or will the sequins work?

yes to all of the above, you can even use a coat hanger for smaller tubes

Hey guys if your making tube jigs I buy alum rods at home depot and then cut them down and bend them at the length I want the tube to be. So if you want a 3" tube i cut the alum rod about 6" that way you can bend the rod and have a handle to dip the tubes. if you want a thicker tube you just dip it more times. the more you dip it the thicker it gets. Just make sure when you are making any plastic baits to have some hot gloves that will keep your hands safe from burns and make sure you have your area with a vented hood or in a very well venilated area as all plastics have fumes and are like anything you use you dont want to breathe the fumes. You only have one set of lungs. hope this info helps and have fun.

forgot its like someone mentioned above you can use just about anything you want thats metal. rods, wire, etc. make sure to spray your rods with some pam cooking spray lightly or some worm oil or your tube will tear and its a pain getting them off of the rod.