Finally got another chance to play with the Ritehete pot. I needed to fill an order for a good friend in New York. I also had to refurbish a treadmill for my wife, so I decided to do both at the same time. I added 3 cups of plastisol, 15 drops X2 geen pumpkin green, 1 dash .040 black glitter, 1 dash.040 red glitter, and set the pot on 350°. While that was heating up I disassembled the treadmill in order to replace a cord that our old jack russell terrier destroyed trying to catch a mouse. The dog has since passed on. No...I didn't kill him, he was 18 years old, and decided that he had had enough. About 1/2 hour had passed before I checked on the plastic mix. Upon inspection, the mix was a funny looking mix of green and clear with a few specs of glitter floating around. I used my long handled stainless teaspoon to stir and it was glorious, just the color I was after with red and black glitter evenly dispersed throughout. I shot the first mold, a BT 7 1/2" Fat Treat Worm, which by the way takes around 2 1/2 oz. of plastic to fill, and let it cool while I went back to the treadmill. Ten minutes passed and I unmolded the worms. Perfect fill, perfect color. I went ahead and shot several more molds. McGrady newt, Flippin Hog, 3"Grub, 2" Grub, and BT 718 craw. Very good results with everything. A few dents and bubbles on some of the baits,(
still trying to get use to drawing out of the mix instead of pouring it into the injector) but they were easy to chop up and add back to the mix. I learned that when adding sprue pieces and injector left overs, they melt much quicker by cutting the into smaller pieces just like you would with microwave reheating. I also learned that trying to use a ladle to dip and pour into the injector will not happen. Not by me anyway. I'm too clumsy, and that plastic is too hot. After all was said and done, the treadmill is back in operation, ready for the city wide garage sale next month, about 80 perfect green pumpkin baits and cleanup time, this session was around 4 hours. No color change from start to finish. I don't know yet how long you can leave it in the pot before it does affect the color, but 4 hours is pretty darn impressive to me. Now I can honestly endorse the RiteHete pot. I am glad I bought the 1 quart size. It fits perfectly with the way I go about this hobby. I still have a lot to learn, and a lot of changes from microwaving, but I think this is my preferred method now. Hope this helps someone in the future.
http://custombaits.com/gallery/medium_1154-190317211237.jpegI borrowed a camera for this picture. How do you guys take such awesome photos?
? I need help.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I bought a new woodworking clamp to mount to the face of my bench to clamp molds. It will hold 4 at a time, but my injectors are only big enough for 3. That works very well.
