Plastic cast needle
 

I have been wanting to do this for a while and finally took the leap to buy the stuff needed to do it. I thought I would start with something straight forward and easy to mold like a needle. I made several molds from RTV and found the last one I did the most usable. I made a master for the mold from maple and then poured a mold with RTV. The easiest part is actually pouring the baits. It's quite simple. The mold is the tough part and I still would like to find a more user friendly way of doing it.

The baits come out nice and I only have to do one small step to make them ready for primer. I have it set up so that I am pouring the bait with an 1/8" rod already in place and I can place weights anywhere along the rod. I just pull the rod after the plastic sets and I have a through hole for my wire.

Here is the master alonside of one of the plastic baits.
http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...its/fst001.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...lneedle004.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...lneedle005.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...lneedle006.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...lneedle009.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...lneedle003.jpg

That is really cool.

you and Sandman should compare notes. I have a few of his that are some sweet. darters,needles a some that are very new ideas. Ron

Very sharp. Nice and clean.

oh also a good idea for weight experiments is the flat lead sheets for fly tying. You can cut it to size and wrap it around your center tube. Works very nice

What material is the needle .. Foam ? plastic ? ... You said you didn't like the mold .. How would Bondo be ? ... I think they came out sweet .. Only took Bob Pond until 1948 to go to the consistency of plastic .. We're all gluttens for punishment .. nice work .. very interested ..

looks great Ted. Thats definitely been something I've wanted to try.

could you put some more info up on the process, they look great!

very nice job. Look perfect

I used Alumilite. This stuff is by far the easiest stuff to use. Two part equal mix by volume or weight. Part A has consistency of say olive oil and part B is much thinner like water. Mix and pour. I have used the foam and HATED it. I also have the microballoons that can be added to make the plastic float. I liked the sink on the plastic as is for needles. I don't nessessarily dislike the mold just would like a two piece that I could use a bent wire harness in and not have to do anything but prime and paint. I could not get the wire to line up right on my two part even with using a jig for the harness to make it same everytime. So I opted for the build on the rod thingy. I get a needle that all I have to do is wire and I can move weighting around on the rod wherever I want.

I made this mold from RTV and it is not as user friendly as some other stuff. I have made some real nice two piece molds from a pourable urethane that has the consistency of a car tire. I really like the way they came out and were a little easier to use. May try another with that sometime. In my very limited opinion and from what I have read and tried I would stick with a pliable or soft mold for hard plastic. Bondo would work fine with something like a needle but you have trouble getting the piece out of the mold. The rtv needs no release agent like the urethane molds do. I found that out the hard way when I forgot to spray it on one of my old molds.

I feel like I am rambling on here. If you have anymore questions shoot. I will bring the stuff with me to plugfest so you can check it out.

Greek... If you make a new mold that has a pouring area on the back of the needle and not the tail, you avoid the need for a jig to hold the through wire ;)
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Great idea Ted :btu:
that may be a perfect way to make handcarves faster, just mold them

Ala Dahlberg? Looking good Ted.:buds:

I had to add one on the back of this one. I wish I didn't set this up to pour throught the tail as it did not want to pour that way at all. I had some air bubbles in my other mold pouring in the top of the back. I thought that pouring through the tail with a large sprue I would get bubbles only in the sprue. Didn't go so well. So I modified the mold a bit with a gate on top and things are going pretty good now. Thanks for the heads up.

Ted

mold putty is great for making 2 part molds,it's a little pricey $ 30 for 1 pound , very easy to work with, when i get my camera back i will post pictures of the mold i made, you can use lead, resin, aluminite,foam etc.
i also used sculpey clay to make my master, (ala darlberg)

Very cool stuff Ted. I saw Dahlberg's show doing similar stuff and have wanted to try it for a long time.

http://www.alumilite.com/ProdDetail....tegory=Casting Resins&Name=Alumilite White

good video .. no respirator ? .. Lets see $36.00 for 28 ounces = ? lures ... or $36.00 for 6) 6' 1.5 x 1.5 ayc = 36 lures min . wood is labor intensive and dusty ..

I used the regular not the white. The regular is stronger and has a shorter demold time. Also 6 bucks cheaper. I will get 25 usable needles from the 28 oz size. You also need to premeasure how much material you need to fill the mold or you will be throwing alot out either mixing too much or too little. I would like to make some swimmers but don't know if I really want to put the time and $ out to do it. I am real glad I tried it and it was fun and I learned alot but kinda takes the whole reason why I like doing this out of it. I like building whatever pops into my head and I get kind of uninterested in doing more than a few of any one thing. I had visions never having to turn another plug again. Lasted about 1 day.

Ted

Keep turning and carving plugs Ted as i don't have nearly as many of your plugs as i need.:)

grats dude, i dont read %$%$%$%$ on here but, u pulled me outa the woodwerk on them needles

I still need to get you another one of these. I fished next to you on the beach in Rhody when you lost one of the ones in the pic. I will put one of the needles aside for you too. Hope you might stop by the plugfest I need to pick your brain about something.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../newcam003.jpg

ok np,, the horror that plug looked so sexy to bad it got cut off :gh: