What’s causing this!

[Les Young]

  Brand new mold & makes no difference whether single color or laminate.

[4n2t0]

What is the temperature of your plastic? How cold is the mold? Are you holding pressure?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqN06pM0w8A&t=911s

[Les Young]

On these I cook the plastic just  long enough for the plastic to turn clear before adding any colorant. Held pressure for 10 seconds.  Same when I done a laminate except holding pressure longer with the same  results.

[21xdc]

Try shooting hotter/faster and hold pressure. Plastic could be setting before air escapes. Possibly a venting issue. That's my bet.

[Les Young]

Mike I tried shooting faster & I cooked it until plastic became clear before adding colorant & glitter  & warming back up a little but I may need to get it hotter.  I usually don’t have an issue with  that part. It’s the same baits doing it too. The onLole closest to the injector does a fine job.

[21xdc]

You don't know what temp you shoot at?  Just being clear won't help you diagnose. Closer to the injector is hotter.

[4n2t0]

I'm just throwing darts here, but it looks like your plastisol might be cooling at the gate before the bait is fully formed. The first three look pinched, but the top bait looks more full (although it's hard to tell). Have you tried shooting the mold twice, very quickly to warm it up, then a third time (with re-warmed plastisol) to see if they come out properly? Besides plastisol temperature, I wonder if the mold is too cold, causing the plastisol to prematurely cool at the gate when injected. If all else fails, you can try to enlarge the gate.

Just some ideas...

[Les Young]

You don't know what temp you shoot at?  Just being clear won't help you diagnose. Closer to the injector is hotter.

Mine it was three hundred & some degrees but I don’t remember the exact number.  I’ve been doing this a long time & have never had this happen though.

[ctom]

On these I cook the plastic just  long enough for the plastic to turn clear 

That's a whole mess of degrees short of the 350 needed to fully convert the plastic and probably way too cool to inject and get decent results. A cold mold, a cold injector in addition to the too cool of plastic can hand you baits like you show. Use a thermometer.

[olsarge]

I also think that your plastisol is cooling before your baits are completely formed.  I have done the following with modest success and encourage you to give it a shot.   I shoot my difficult molds directly on my heated griddle and I get them plenty warm.  I heat my plastisol to the required 350 then add my colorants.  I dont shoot it until it gets to around 320 or so.  Hot mold-cool plastic.  I turn the griddle off and wait until the mold has cooled enough to handle.  See if that works.

[Les Young]

That's a whole mess of degrees short of the 350 needed to fully convert the plastic and probably way too cool to inject and get decent results. A cold mold, a cold injector in addition to the too cool of plastic can hand you baits like you show. Use a thermometer.

I tried it at 365 & almost same results but  with 2 baits fully forming  also had color mixing at that temp so I definitely don’t think anything’s cold because I heated injector, blending block & mold with a torch to be sure. Any other suggestions? Thanks

[Lines]

Hi Les,
Warmed mold, warmed injector, warmed plastic all seems right. I had that trouble and realized I was trying to suck up the plastic too fast, creating air pockets in the injector. Maybe? Are you purging the air from your injector before shooting?

[Fishermanbt]

I have that mold and run into similar issues occasionally. Here’s how I fixed it…I have no idea. I will list things I did to lessen it though. I started using a hot plate I bought at Walmart. I heat my molds up on it then use it to keep my injector hot. Usually let the molds get hot enough that I can still handle them without a glove as I’m making the color(s). After drawing up plastic in the 320° or so range I’ll hold the injector as upright as possible and after a two count I’ll purge out most of the air and some plastic back into the cup. Put the injector in the mold and after another two count (gives any remaining trapped air time to rise upwards I inject slowly and hold slight pressure for a three to five count. As I’m removing the injector I continue to feed plastic so I’m not creating a vacuum pulling plastic away from the cavities.

The mold is not broken, it’s just the dynamics of the plastic having to follow the paths.  I’ve gotten away with slamming plastic in this mold a few times. But inevitably you’re going to get incomplete or dented baits. I hope this helps in some fashion.

[Les Young]

Heated injector & mold got plastic hot & let cool some & shot at 345 holding pressure to a 20 count same issue hot or cold. I also purge any air out of my injector every time I get ready to shoot so it’s not air in the injector. I’ve tried it at different temps several times.

[anyfish]

I haven't had this issue, so not really sure.

Could it be related to your injector? Bad O ring or something similar?