Wax Wiggler woes

[2XL]

Decided to shoot some Wax Wigglers this aft and am having issues the cavities not filling out completely. Actually, it's more bubbles from trapped air in the mold. I tried shooting hot and cooler plastic. Light and heavy clamping and shooting fast and slow but can't seem to get away from the bubble issue. It's not every cavity but I would say %25 of the baits are coming out with trapped bubbles in them.

Would a hotter mold do any good ? 

Thanks for any advice.

[MT204]

May have an o-ring in your injector going bad and your drawing air into the injector.
I have had very good luck with my wigglers.

[2XL]

I pour my plastic into my injector, purge then shoot my mold. I don't think it's bubbles in my plastic, just tiny voids in some of the baits where it seems the air got trapped in the mold. The tiny voids seem to always be on the same side of the baits.  Maybe I need to open the vents a tiny bit ? Dunno

[andrewlamberson]

I have noticed that when I pour plastic into the injector...short of the full line where the nozzle ends...I can get bubbles in my baits unless I purge that air gap immediately.

If you don't,  the bubble of air starts to rise to the top of the injector when you turn it over to inject, and probably gets injected into the mold.

I addition to being a potential safety hazzard:
Squirting hot plastic when you connect the nozzle.
Pouring hot plastic on my hand while filling.

So, I have returned to sucking the plastic into the injector vs. pouring it in.

[WALLEYE WACKER]

I suck plastic in and purge a couple times. I don't have a issue with the wiggler mold I have.

[Lines]

Is this the first time you've used that mold?

[2XL]

I always fill my injector to the point where I can still put the nozzle on without forcing any plastic out. I then purge my injector immediately after I fill it. As I said before, I don't think this is a bubble in the plastic issue ( Although there always seem to be a few ) as I would have bubbles in all of the baits I shoot if it were. I have the same issue with the thump grub and ring it molds sometimes. Those two molds I shoot a little cooler and slower and that solves the void issue for me. I tried that with the WW mold yesterday but still couldn't get away from the little voids in some of the baits. I have shot many good baits with the WW mold before but just couldn't get away from the voids the last few times I have shot that mold. Since I work a ton of hours come summer my opportunities to shoot baits are very limited = I was frustrated dude yesterday. LOL

Andrew, When I first started messing with plastic baits I did suck the plastic out of my cup. To me it was a cumbersome process and I never got comfortable going that route. Then I saw a video where Jerry V poured his plastic into the injector so I tried that and have never looked back. Have I spilled plastic on my hands going that route ? Yes but not very often and I wear the appropriate clothing/gloves/apron etc so it's not a big deal to me on the odd occasion that a spill happens.

To be clear, I am not advocating filling ones injector either way. It's just that pouring plastic into my injector just seems to work best for me.

I don't think there is an issue but I will inspect my mold and give it a good cleaning just to make sure there aren't any potential debris issues that may be inhibiting venting/plastic flow.

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.

[2XL]

No Lines, I got this mold when it first came out and have shot hundreds of baits through through it. Yesterday was the first time I shot it since early spring and I had a few void issues with it then too but not as bad as yesterday.

[ctom]

Try letting up on the clamp pressure. And keep both clamps high on the mold, over the bait cavities and not so low as to block the large cavity that the tails all bent into. I had a couple injections that muffed up and clamp placement changed everything for the Breyer.

[Bob]

I have this mold (several of them actually), it's an issue with the vents, i.e. not enough. This particular bait (85% of the hand injection molds on the market have inadequate vents and or gates) needs a hell of a lot more venting than one channel out the tail of the bait. It has nothing to do with your injector or how you fill it.

[2XL]

I tried less pressure on the clamps to the point that the baits flashed. I will have to mess around with clamp placement next. The WW is proving to be a pretty fussy mold for me of late. LOL  I agree with Bob and think it's a venting issue. Since I originally posted this thread, I have heard from one other person who was having the same issues as I am having.

[Thump Huntin]

Sounds like poor ventilation to me.  My 2.5” carrot use to do this to me until I vented it more. I don’t understand why do-it molds don’t have adequate ventilation.  I’d try less clamp pressure. If this doesn’t work cut vents in mold with a razor knife or better bet break out the Dremel.

[Bob]

I don’t understand why do-it molds don’t have adequate ventilation.

Like I said, it's 85% of the hand pour molds on the market aren't properly vented. Had a chat with Ray Guess at Zorn Molds (Largest equipment/mold supplier to the large scale production side) once, told me there was no way you could vent a soft plastic mold too much. No reason in my opinion should a hand injection mold only be vented out the tail, especially a small bait that has segments that can trap air.

[Lines]

No Lines, I got this mold when it first came out and have shot hundreds of baits through through it. Yesterday was the first time I shot it since early spring and I had a few void issues with it then too but not as bad as yesterday.

The reason I asked is because I had similar problems with a couple of my molds. Turned out it was my plastic that went south. Try some fresh plastisol to see if it cures your problems before you modify the vents of your mold. Worked for me! I also learned much more about storing and handling my plastic. Good luck!

[2XL]

Thanks Lines. I used fresh and reheated plastic the last time on that mold Saturday and still had issues. I'm far from being a plastics expert but I would like to think I know enough to figure this thing out. It bugs me that I haven't.