Making your own plastics - advice/tips for starting

[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.

[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]

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]

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. .