Laminates; At My Wits End

I have just about had it. I have just got done with my fifth attempt at completing one successful (Bait, not mold shot!!!) With the Bass tackle Twinjector. I am doing nothing but screwing up plastic. I just tried electric chicken. Most of the bait turned the bottom green color with a little pink swirled in and then when I opened up my blending block to clean it out, the green had run up the pink side and up into the pink plastic totally corrupting that color.

I went to the twin injector because I could not get around cold cracks. I have dipped and done everything I can think of to make this work but just can't get a handle on it. Screwing up batches of color You just made will make You mad as he77. Dipping in clear helps but is not the answer. The bait will still split on the seam inside the clear coat. I just don't understand why I can't seem to get this right.CF

Ok...lets take this a step at a time.

With a twin injector the plastics have to be within a degree or two of each other and the plunger seals have to be avbsolutely free to move. If you need to, take the twins apart, wash with alcohol and then lube well with worm oil when re-assembling. On your next shoot with it try heating the plastics at the same time in a microwave making sure the quanities are the same and maybe try heating the plastics to just under the 350 degree mark...330 or 340. Do not make one plastic a soft and the other a firm or medium until you get things ironed out. Take all of the variables away and start over. Something is the hang-up and everything has to be on the same playing field to find the problem. I'd start with the injector system. Then I'd move to the plastic. If one color is blowing back into the other its telling me that the pressure isn't equal. Take a serious look at the block to see if there is something in there you are missing too.

On a hand pour, try adding a touch of softener to the injected color and make sure you heat it to around 360-365 and hold pressure on the plunger when it stops after the cavities are filled. Try injecting a hair slower too so no air has a chance to slide in between the colors. Having one or the other color softer allows it to melt at the seam way easier and the pressure at the end is obvious.

CF. First thing what temp are you shooting at. I would recommend lower than 330. A big problem most ppl run into is worrying about keeping temps the same. The big picture is keeping the flow or viscosity of the plastic the same. If you have pearl in one of the colors it thickens it meaning that color needs to be hotter than the other.

All this said i actually think that an o ring is bad in on of te injectors. Letting it suck air.

Thanks for the replies Guys. Yall have thrown quite a few things at me to check on and I'll let You know as I check them out. I will say that I do not have a thermometer and have been going by trying to keep the thickness the same. It could be an O ring because It sure felt funny when I was pushing down on the injectors and it went down like I had not sucked up enough plastic when I had pulled up enough for two shots. I'll take it apart and do some single shots to see if there is any by passing going on in one of them. Thanks again for pointing me in some directions.CF

It would be a good idea to get a thermometer especially when you are just starting out with the twin. I dont use mine a whole lot any more but that comes with a lot of time. I can usually guess within 5 degrees. I would get the thermometer before worrying about the o rings.

I aint buying no twin injectors.... i only make baits for myself so i shoot a bunch of one color then cut bellys off reinsert and shoot a second color holding the pressure for a min. and i never go over 350.. works for me but hey these guys (Ctom rondon and snake ) are the Pros....id do as they say Mr. Ed

They have to be close in temp. I was doing the same thing. When colors mix like there doing one is way hotter than the other one. I heat both cups at the same tim in 1 single microwave. It helped alot for me!

Hey CF also go over to caneycreekmolds.net to there forum it will you out alot!!

Great site. Thanks for the heads up.CF

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Originally Posted by Percidae_Papermouth

I aint buying no twin injectors.... i only make baits for myself so i shoot a bunch of one color then cut bellys off reinsert and shoot a second color holding the pressure for a min. and i never go over 350.. works for me but hey these guys (Ctom rondon and snake ) are the Pros....id do as they say Mr. Ed

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I can relate to this because it is what my technique is also. I am not a Pro like Bob Hinkle is. Heck I an not even a PR. I am just the letter P which stands for potential.....doing what I have learned from others on this site. I can make two color baits but not with dual injectors.

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you may want to warm up your duel injectors with the torch remember you are sucking hot plastic into a cold injector in the time that you shooting it will definitely be cool so use it torch and warm up the injectors and see if this does not help you make sure that both your Pyrex dishes are about the same temperature put them side-by-side and suck them up at the same time I and fortunately have a dual injector by Bass tackle I do not like it I used dividing plates for all my work and 2 colors we are going to work on something a little bit different coming up we're going to try to have a three color shot Using dividing plates .

use a gridle like we do.. or a hot plate

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Originally Posted by CrappieStalker1

use a gridle like we do.. or a hot plate

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What kind of griddle do You have? I have a presto with temp control up to 400 but it won't keep the plastic melted. It prolongs the cooling for about 5 min but it eventually cools.CF

I use a electric skillet myself with sand in it. It holds the heat very well. Just have to stir it alot to keep if from scorching. The gridle is good for warming our twin injector and molds.

Can you help explain the sand......How much and why

I tried twinn injectors . not for me . saved no time at all . I use a laminate plate to shot half a body . Then I shoot the other half . Before I do that I use a heat gun to warm the plastic in the mold . Shoot the second half . Cured the crack problem that way .