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I've found that different types of plastics don't work well together, when you try to re-melt them.
I pour my own baits with Lure Crafter's formula 500 liquid plastic, with hardener added in a 16 parts liquid to 1 part hardener blend (8 oz of hardener per gallon of liquid). They re-melt fine together, but if I throw in pieces of old Sluggos, I get a mess.
A gallon of that stuff costs ~ $50. M&Ds sells it pre-mixed in that 16:1 ratio. 8 oz of liquid dye costs about $10, but it lasts for years. You only need a few drops per pour. Then there's the molds. Commercially made silicon molds cost $15 to $20, depending on the bait style, for a two cavity mold. You can get 6-8 10" baits out of an 8 oz pour, so you really need 3-4 two cavity molds for that many baits per pour. The more cost-effective way is to make your own, even though those commercially made silicon molds last forever. You can make a decent mold out of a few pennies worth of plaster of Paris. You need to seal a POP mold. Two coats of Elmer's glue makes a workable one. But POP doesn't last forever, and heat wears it down. Or you can invest in some RTV silicon and make a mold, or buy the commercially made ones.
And I'll second Bob on this---once you start pouring baits, you get hooked. You can't stop. I 'm already on my fourth gallon of liquid plastic, and I only started pouring my own baits last April. I have almost a hundred downstairs, on top of the ones I've used, lost to snags, and given away during the season.
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