Glitter

[BrynM31]

What size glitter flakes do you guys use the most?

[ctom]

I make mostly smaller baits and favor the .015 size. Larger baits and more opaque colors can handle the .030 easily and it actually stands out better in the big baits. I have some .004 micro glitter that I use in ice baits that really fires up a 1.75" small fry in a transparent plastic.

Glitter is something that you'll develope a feel for. Its kind of on the same page as hi lite vs. pearl powder. You have to work with it hands on to decide what trips your trigger. This is one of the uniquenesses of shooting your own plastic....you settle on what YOU want. You're in the drivers seat the whole distance in this game. In the end, it truely is YOURS. Play with the glitter in a couple sizes and several colors. And on color.....try using glitter of entirely the opposite of the color of your plastic....ie red glitter in a green plastic, green glitter in purple plastic. Don't ask why, just try and you'll see first hand.

[BrynM31]

Yea I know what you mean about adding the glitter. I ordered all .40 flakes and wasn't sure if I got the correct size or not or if it really mattered much.

[pjmcla]

Ctom is spot on.  I use the larger glitter on baits that have a larger size, and "fill in" with smaller glitter.  .008 almost does not show up in a lager bait.   Size .062 is when you really want the glitter to show up. 

[kipbass]

A popular color is watermelon red; I use .40 or .35 black, and .15 red. for my batches.. Search the cook book section all the way to the beginning. There's some nice recipes in there long forgotten.

[gone2long]

I use .35 and .15 for most applications as it's 100% size difference but do use .008 never really used .40

[BrynM31]

where do you get the other sizes? I only seen .08 , .15 and .40 on the website.

[ctom]

I get my .004 glitter locally. I use it more in paint actually than I do in plastic and in plastic it can be a dog to work with.

I'll offer a suggestion here. Order a few colors in the .015 to go with your .040 flake and focus on using those until you get a feel for glitter use itself. I call this taking baby steps. Plastic has so many little qwirks to it that things can slip past you and get you in a mire in a hurry. Go slow and keep an accurate record of every addition to your plastic recipes...how much of whatever.

I say get the .015 even if you are shooting mostly larger baits and using larger glitters [.035 or .040]. You'll find that a finer secondary color [.015] of glitter can be used to accent the larger glitter in that recipe or it can help draw out some unique color perspectives that would get lost in larger flake. Think of the two sizes of glitter like using hi lite and pearl in the same recipe. The pearl works from within the plastic in a bait while the hi lite works at the surface.

[Botanophilia]

Glitter color will make a difference to.  Silver holo .015 shows up great even in small amounts in 4" frogs, whereas .015 black would probably be not real noticeable in the same quantity.  I agree with Tom: Get a couple colors to start with, and in .015 and .040 sizes.  Get used to working with what you have before going all out.  Especially if you only have a couple of molds.  It's great to have 1 or 2 of your fav baits in a wide range of colors, but even better to have a wide range of baits in 2 or 3 of your most successful colors.

[BrynM31]

I plan on getting different size glitters when I can. I only ordered a few to start with and get the feel for it. This stuff is so expensive that you cant really help but start small even though you still end up spending a few hundred bucks lol.

[pjmcla]

You don't use that much glitter per "batch".  I measure my usages in 1/8 Tsp. per 6 oz. size plastic batches.  Glitter, colors, & hi-lites go a long way when making baits.  As said;  pick a few favorites and add more as time goes along. 

[wilks19]

I use .015 and .040.  I would say for our customers, we use .015 the most.  They are starting to ask for the larger flake which is good.  For the "brighter" colors like transparent purples, pinks, and chartreuses; I like using both or at least a little of the .040.  That is just my personal feeling on that though.  Others may not like it, but I like the flash and the sparkle.