Making your own plastics - advice/tips for starting

[jsnyd86]

Im posting for a little advice. I've been curious about this for a while and just recently started looking at prices for molds and starter kits to make my own soft plastics. It's just at that price point for me to say it's too much money, but then again it seems as it may be worth the money in the long run. Has anyone got into pouring their own plastics? Do you think it's worth it or at least fun enough to justify the cost? Do you sell them to help with the cost?
I can go back and forth with myself all day on this. All around the Potomac soft plastics work very well, year round. If I do pull the trigger I hope it's something I can get into and not something that I'll end up forgetting about in a few months. I really enjoy tinkering so I'm sure I'd like it. I just want to make sure its worth doing.
Any advice or links to affordable molds/websites would be greatly appreciated. .

[Memory Maker]

Unless you are planning to make a ton of lures, it does NOT pay to make your own. The cost of the molds and the Plastic and the stuff to make them will cost you a minimum of 50 - 100 for a microwave to cook the plastic, pyrex measuring cups to pour, either bying a mold of making it from Plaster of Paris, the plastic itself, the space to store all the stuff etc etc etc.

You pour your own usually because you want specific colors or to float or sink better, or a design that's not available or because you just like catching fish on things you made or you want to go into the business ............ don't do it to save mone because it won't happen.

Besides, it is dangerous. You are dealing with 350 degree plastic that will explode with just a drop of water or if you set the cup on somethng colder or sometimes just when you take it out of the microwave. This 350 degree plastic will keep burning through your flesh causing severe second and third degree burns where ever it touches until it cools enough. It can kill. Also, the fumes from the plastisol can also be deadly. People many times get chemical pneumonia from breathing the fumes. If you leave the stuff in the microwave too long and it burns, you can't breath the smoke and it will settle on everything in the room/house. Believe me ........ just a couple of seconds too long and it will smoke like crazy ......... happened to me once and I coughed a bunch for 3 weeks ........ luckily I had a breathing mask that I put on quickly as I went to turn off the microwave and put the plastic outside ....... only a couple of breaths of the stuff ...... basement had a bunch of smoke and smelled for awhile. I don't do it in the house anymore. Many people have a hood and powerful fan to draw the fumes out .......... Dr Irv has a nice set up like this.

Bottom line ......... don't try to save money by making your own ........... it won't work. Make them or the other reasons but be aware of the risks.

You can usually save some money casting lead though but that can be just as dangerous.

If you want to pour ....... let me know ....... I have plastic and a bunch of molds ..... it's not hard to do ..... Dr Irv would even be better since he does it professionally but he's pretty busy lately.

Same with Rod making ..........

[jsnyd86]

Ok, great. Thanks for the reply. So I take it I shouldn't be doing this in the kitchen, haha. I have a space in my garage I would be doing this in and am comfortable with the dangers. Since it's not cost effective, I guess I'll have to decide if I want to make a ton of them and figure out how to set something up. Thanks again!

[Memory Maker]

Well ........ depends on what you mean by cost effective. I have spent the last 4 years buying stuff to make lures because I want to make everything I can that I fish with ......... the lures and the rods. Obviously, I can't easily make the reels but I can look for deals on the best ones (or should I say the best 1's for me) available. I bought the stuff so I could use different formulations of the plastics to perform the way I would want them to perform and learning about them. For example, most soft plastic lures are made with a medium formula that gives a decent trade off between durability and action. However, if you want the best action ........ you need to make the plastic softer ....... that's what the guys in California that fish for the giant bass do ........ that's how Larry Dahlberg gets all of that action into Mr Wiggly. However, the softer the plastic the less durability. On the other side of the coin, Yamamoto adds a lot of salt to the Senko's to make them sink ....... it also stiffens the plastic that gives the shimmering action that drives the bass crazy. I've spent a small fortune in the lure/rod making stuff and haven't made many rods or lures ........ cause I'm still learning and I want to go into business when I retire ......... and besides ....... I've had a BALL buying all this stuff and finding the deals ........ and I do find the deals ......... I also have a bunch of stuff to make the molds for lures so I can make a lure when I get an idea to try something ......... and airbrushes and injectors etc ........

Bottom line ....... It depends on whether you measure the cost effectivenes on the cost per lure or the cost per fish. It should be the cost per fish ......... I could never understand the guy that spends thousands on boats, rods, gas and upkeep but get cheap when it comes to bait. It would be better if they spent more on bait and less on the other because it's the bait that puts the fish in the boat and that's what you are there for.

[bignose]

As a former Shop Teacher (now called Tech ED lol), I have experience with molding the Plastisol plastics as well as lead, and other fishing materials.

Plastisol was downright nasty stuff to work with as mentioned above. Terrible fumes, terrible smell. Not worth it, IMO. You'd be much better off saving your money and just buying premade stuff. I was sick for days from the stench.

Lead is a different deal as long as adequate safety precautions are taken. Yes, it's hot (600 degrees) and you don't want to get any water near your molding area (steam explosions), and yes, you need a lot of ventilation and should wear rubber gloves, and need to keep the splash and tiny particles under control, but it's much more doable, as you won't stink your neighborhood up, just burn your house down.
Just kidding.
I do a good bit of lead pouring from 4 oz. jig heads to 1/32 oz shad darts, in my house. Tochterman's in Baltimore has a tremendous variety of molds, in their upstairs.

[HJS]

All good things listed above that you need to watch out for. But heck, I could come up with a fairly long list of dangers associated with the sport of fishing from a kayak, to include the drive to and from the launch. That being said, I make almost all of my own saltwater soft plastics and a few freshwater soft-plastics. Also make my own 1 & 2 piece molds using Durhams Water Putty (very similar to plaster of Paris). In addition, I have used nothing but recycled old, beat-up plastics I collect from a couple of guys who do a lot of trolling with 9” & 12” sassy shads. I have yet to buy a mold and have never used virgin plastic. So it can be done cheaply as long as you don’t count your time and as long as you are having fun doing it.

Google tackleunderground, it’s all about making your own tackle and lures. Go to the forums and click on soft plastics. You should register just like you do for MKF and other fishing forums. Registered members are allowed access to a lot more very useful information. Read the soft plastics forum as far back as you can stand. I read back over 2 years worth of posts until my eyes glossed over and I fell off my computer chair. I learned a boatload of stuff about making your own lures.

Here's a pic of the some of the lures I have made from molds I crafted using nothing but recycled soft plastics.

saltwater lures.JPG

[J.A. Veil]

Those are nice looking lures. Have you ever tried mixing colors on a lure (different body vs. tail) or melting several colors together to make a new shade or a swirled blend?

I vaguely remember a guy on Tidalfish years ago who would use a lighter to melt together two broken soft plastics into a new abstract concoction -- he called these lures "Big Rubba"

[Memory Maker]

Been on Tackleunderground for about 6 years as well as makelure and stripers on line and a few others.

Glad you were able to do it ....it is fun .... but there are other costs .......... you still need something to melt it .... usually a microwave and not the 1 you cook food in and it probably smokes a bit especially if you are not using some heat stabilizer or a little fresh plastic so you should have a ton of ventilation and some kind of mask .......... and you need Pyrex or Bascilicate beakers ....... hot gloves etc ....... you can do it cheaply but you still have between $50 and $100 in equipment even for a basic setup.

Also, you must have seen the scars and write up about the burns from different people, Since you are on tackleunderground ....... the last was from Carolinamike who is a big time professional lure maker. Ask any of them ........ if you haven't been burned .... well it's just a matter of time ........ I was pouring some and bumped something and spilled a little that splashed a couple of drops ....... 2 drops hit my hand and burned like hell ......... I was stupid and wasn't wearing gloves ....I was able to put the pyrex down but if it was a big spill, I would have dropped it and been burned worse .... I still have 2 white dots on my hand ....... doesn't take much to send you to the hospital ....... Ask Carolinamike.

It can be alot of fun to catch fish on something you made and it opens a whole new world because you are not limited to the manufacturers lures. You can design and build stuff that is not commercially available. You have to be very careful because it can be very dangerous if you are not very careful.

[HJS]

John – I try to keep pouring soft plastics as simple and fast as possible. I’ve tried pour 2-colored lures but the end result was disappointing and took a more time than I like to spend on bulk pouring. So I stick with one color only, it makes life easier, and I don’t think the stripers care one bit. Many of my plaster molds have 3 & 4 cavities, so I need to keep it simple so pouring move along quickly.

MM – Jeez… just what I need, another lure making site (makelure) that will kill another day of sitting at the computer. But that site is a good one with great pictorials and videos showing how it’s all done. The quality of the presentations is very good and move along at a good clip. There's nothing like good quality pics & videos to clear-up how pouring is done. That Alumi-dust looks like a good solution to painting soft plastic. Also, I have not yet tried making a silicone mold. I gotta give it a try. Have you ever used the off-the-shelf silicone sold in caulking-type tubes at hardware stores??? Looks like making silicone molds is a little easier than Durhams Water Putty.

[Memory Maker]

Silicone is very easy but much more expensive if you use the RTV. It also picks up every detail. The silicone in the tubes is good also but you have to add water to get it right and there are guys doing it. THe Durhams makes a more durable mold than the POP and you can actually make it injectable if you want to but be careful not to put too much pressure so it doesn't crack and blow out plastic.

You might want to get Larrt Dahlberg's video ........ it will REALLY expand your thinking about making lures and molds.

[HJS]

MM - I did check the price of the pourable silicone from "make lure". It's too expensive for my wallet. Shame though, it looks like a very easy to use material for making molds. Guess I'll stick with DWP.

[Memory Maker]

Alumilite is good stuff but it is usually more expensive ........... the stuff I get for plastic and foam is $84 delivered for a gallon which will make alot of molds. You might also check out Lurecraft ........they have just about any mold you want made of silicone with alot of them around $10 bucks .........

[CB kayak 02]

MM - I did check the price of the pourable silicone from "make lure". It's too expensive for my wallet. Shame though, it looks like a very easy to use material for making molds. Guess I'll stick with DWP.

They Sponsored our CBKA Tournament last year and we gave away a soft lure kit and a hard lure kit. Pinch and Grilled won them. Pinch has made some sick top water poppers!!!

[jsnyd86]

Thanks for all the info guys. I've checked other websites and other forums (caneycreekmolds, lurecraft, bearbaits) and purchased a starter kit with a few various colors and glitters. Soft plastics are usually solid performers for me in waters around Pohick, Leesylvania and Occoquan so I'm going to concentrate on what I like to use and how I can improve that. I used to reload my own rifle cartridges and can already notice the similarities factory ammo has with factory baits. Meaning, I'm pretty much stuck with what's on the shelves or what that company says is the best colors. I've been brain storming over the last day or so and have a few pretty good ideas, hopefully my pouring and mixing skills can keep up. I was fortunate enough to have been raised by a mother who was big into arts and crafts and I also had one of those creepy crawler machines as a little kid so I should be in good shape, haha.

[jsnyd86]

worm.jpg

Results from my first attempt last night. All in all I'd say it was a successful start. I used some basic open pour molds to start out with and tried to match my favorite stick bait, a Yum Dinger in a dark watermelon. I missed a little on the color (added to much) and need to play around with other additives, but for the most part I learned a lot, didn't piss off my wife and didn't go to the hospital.