More ideas for the 1 1/2" Thump

[ctom]

I did a marathon shoot earlier this afternoon with the 1 1/2" Thump-It mold and have a couple more things to share.

The mold likes plastic in the 330-340 range. Hotter does ok but you have to slow down the injection speed quite a bit.

When I say marathon I meant it. I did over 250 baits [5 per shot, you do the math] for tail stock. The shooting was repetitive to the max. I was only at it for an hour and a half. Yup, the mold was HOT when I wrapped it up.

I couldn't see any difference in the baits between a super hot mold or a cold one. Jerry was right about using two clamps. Right at the end I did find a couple baits with some shrinkage dimples in them but since they were going into the tail pile I paid no mind to the spots. Had I been shooting them for fishing I'd have still strung them on a jig, if that tells you how insignificant they were.

All in all I have yet to find anything of consequence in the two Thump It molds. I need to shoot another 800 or so small baits to have enough tails on hand for box filling and then it'll be on to the 2 1/2" version to do the same power shooting for tails.

[Muskygary]

How many times did you reheat? The reason I ask is because after shooting  twice I have to reheat. I keep the pyrex on a heating grill at 250 degrees.

[ctom]

I did an initial 3/4 cup of plastic and got about 15 molds from it re-heating once. I mixed a second 3/4 cup just like the first and got an identical number of molds. Then a third. I finished by combining all of the remaining plastic of all three batches together as a re-melt. Between injector fillings I set a pyrex custard cup atop of the bowl of hot plastic to keep heat in it and set the plastic in the cup inside the microwave cabinet and out of any drafts. I'm shooting in the garage and have a fan running the whole while

[Muskygary]

Now I know when you use those tails, you slice a small piece off of the tail; so that it's fresh plastic to bind with the new pour? No way could I get that many pours before reheating. I'm looking at Jacobs new Econ machine ($1000) Maybe next spring.

[Thump Huntin]

So that was roughly 7.5 shoots per heat?  Wow!

[ctom]

"Now I know when you use those tails, you slice a small piece off of the tail; so that it's fresh plastic to bind with the new pour?".....per Gary

Yessir. I cut my tail stock for storage long. When I need tails they have natural oil on them and I want the oil for aiding in getting the buttons re-seated in the cavities but I don't want the oil at the weld. By nipping off the trimmed end to a consistent length my baits all come out the same but the welds on the fresh cuts are beyond strong. I could wash the tails in alcohol before putting them back in the mold to shoot but then I'd have to lube the tail cavities.