Laminates...

[MicroSpoons]

I do mine both ways, or should I say 2 different ways. For production I use the twin injector but for special order or some of the stuff that goes in my box I hand pour then inject. because all my grubs get dipped after I dont heat my molds as cold cracks is not an issue but I have found by holding pressure on the injector it helps with the bond. For my hand pour/inject like on the small fry I tilt the mold up if I want to get a throat color other wise it end up as a belly color on the bait. I tilt it one way and pour the throat then turn the mol and do the other half of the grubs. While I am doing that I have my back color heating up. Then I lay the mold flat and pout the back. When doing both half's of the mold make sure you dont over fill or you wont have room for the plastic to go when you inject it.  once the back is done I close them up and inject  the body color. Not as fast as the twin injector but once you get going you can reheat once while working with another and it can go fairly quick.

[Jason]

You amaze even more with every picture you post.  Beautiful baits!!!

[MicroSpoons]

Thanks Jason!!

[firetiger]

Cool baits.  I like the color combo! 

[Dave]

Jason's right, every time you post a bait it is phenomenal! Nice work MS....

[kipbass]

Gas grill... 

You should be okay just shooting it a couple times to knock the chill off and warm the mold some.  Maybe a heat gun or griddle if you don't want to make any solid baits first. 

The gas grill would scare me.  Besides being the most expensive, I would think it most likely to either tweak your mold, or cause a safety concern with the combo of open flame and plastic products.  I would also be concerned about any smoking of residual plastic ultimately ending up where I cook food.

Forgive me if I sound like a mother hen...

Jason

I should be getting a griddle soon..I work in my garage with a 16'x7' opening when the door is up. I have found 50 degree weather, molds cool off faster than I can shoot and demold. The grill only takes about 2 or 3 minutes to heat and I brush off any plastic before I use my molds. A cheap soft bristle tooth brush works great for cavities, and molds too! LOL

[ghostbaits]

Be careful Dave. Rapid heating of aluminum molds can potentially warp them. When I get back I will dig up the info posted previously on another tackle site.

 Hate for your molds to get affected.

Jim

[Dave]

Jim, right on for looking out!  That would be big time disappointing to have them warp  
Do you think it's better just to run some plastic in them a few times before beginning the process?

[pjmcla]

Referencing Microspoon's post.  I tried to hand pour a set of tops in a small fry mold.  There was more plastic outside the cavities  than inside.  I just don't have the muscle control ( also arthritis, tendonitis ) to pour a "clean mold" anymore.  That is a talented "dance" to work a three color small fry.   

[bribass]

Be careful Dave. Rapid heating of aluminum molds can potentially warp them. When I get back I will dig up the info posted previously on another tackle site.

 Hate for your molds to get affected.

Jim

Ive heard the phrase but what exactly is "warping?"

[Jason]

When the aluminum deforms and is no longer flat.  I have personally never experienced it doing this, but will see if I can find some technical information about this and try and post some guidelines.

Good topic.

Thanks,

Jason

[ctom]

I tried to hand pour a set of tops in a small fry mold.  There was more plastic outside the cavities  than inside.  I just don't have the muscle control ( also arthritis, tendonitis ) to pour a "clean mold" anymore. 

I made a ....you'll love this..."dip stick" to put small amounts of plastic in portions of the mold to get the orange throat. I took a 1/4" dowel and sharpened an "almost" point on it in the pencil sharpener. Its tapered to about 1/2 of the thickness of the dowel. I simply dip this stick in the hot plastic and touch it to the area I want the plastic to stay. Its not 100% but after dinking with this get-up I have gotten pretty accurate in the delivery and can move right along. If I have a miss, I just peel it out and hit that cavity again.

To fill the top or bottom halves, try using a regular old spoon you'd use to eat cereal. I heat my plastic up to about the 360 deghree point, then place the cup in a heavy towel with a pocket formed to nestle the cup in....stays hot for a looooong time. As I fill each cavity, I rub the drip off the bottom of the spoon on the cup's rim and this really cuts down on the over-runs. When I need to re-heat the plastic, I just peel that from the rim down into the still-liquid plastic in the cup and fire it up again.

[Dave]

When the aluminum deforms and is no longer flat.  I have personally never experienced it doing this, but will see if I can find some technical information about this and try and post some guidelines.

Good topic.

Thanks,

Jason

Thanks Jason, I would hate to give someone a tip about something that I do and cost them a loss in equipment. Plus I would personally hate to lose my molds as well. 

[ghostbaits]

Jason check on the aluminum "pitting" as well. Fast, high heat supposedly will do this also.

I was sent this info from another mold maker that had guys heating the molds to 350-400. After several months of use, they had the issues of mold warp and the cavities started pitting.

I have had my injectors for some time and never heat them but they take the brunt of the heat initially. Notice how they expand and get much easier to use after a few runs and the heat gets to them. Makes sense molds might get expanded easy from the high intense heat.

Wish I had better details from Del but that is all I got.

I never heat my molds with anything as the plastic seems to do it fine and soon I am waiting to long for the molds to cool and de-mold. 

Jim

[BareKnuckleJigs]

Great Info, Mr. Jim!  Thank You, Sir!  I've been pondering warming with a Heat Gun, haven't done it yet, but with the Info that's Coming To Light and Condensing on this Thread, if the Heat Gun IS used, maybe it should be used in moderation and maybe only to knock the chill off the mold...shooting and slowly bringing upto temp sounds most safe.

Does Del say if they use the same T6 6061 Aluminum as Jason does?  Or is it "lesser/inferior" 5056?  Not that it REALLY should matter, as there are obviously things we shouldn't do to our molds, but...