ominousone
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I have made numerous soft plastics, lead jigs, spinnerbaits, and fly's. I will caution all as it is very addictive and if you get into this to save money on lures you will probably never do it. A few tips.
Make your own molds. Durham's water putty will make you a mold for literally pennies. T.U. has a great tutorial on how to do it. You can make lead molds or soft plastic molds the same way. I'm no artist and I have made some great molds.
Pick one area and stick to it. If you are a senko thrower like me, then go with soft plastics. Jig guy, then pick lead based stuff. If your a crankbait guy and your artistically inclined then learn to make cranks (and send one my way
hehehee).
A few soft plastic tips... four to two to one. Four parts plastic two parts salt one part softener. Makes great salted baits. Del at Delmart molds is an awesome guy and so is Bob at his company. Lurecraft is much better than they used to be, they are under new management. Del's starter kits are an amazing way to get started, you get an aluminum mold, salt, softener, color, basically you order and then you pour. Hot plates are almost as expensive as a cheapy microwave, and can burn plastic much easier; get a low powered cheap microwave with a pyrex cup and you are in business.
For wire baits... You really have to love the art of doing it yourself to get into these. See above for molds or use ebay and shop around because thirty bucks plus for a do it mold adds up real quick. I have found that I have a better quality spinnerbait if I make it myself but I spend a lot more than an on sale spinnerbait. I do however recommend learning to zip tie your skirts on, or to get some fly tying wire to attach skirts. Lead is a pain to access but I put a short tutorial under a recent thread in this forum on how I would get lead and make it usable. Please, please remember to use caution in all areas of tacklemaking but especially with lead. Molten lead is seven hundred degrees, a little slip up and you are burnt BAD.
For an exhaust fan (soft plastics, lead, or even paint fumes) there is a type of fan that I bought that is real cheap and will pull the air out of your lungs if you leave your mouth open. I can't remember what type right now but a friend of mine who is a glassblower uses this type and i will get back on it. It comes with only a metal circular cover that goes around the blades and I think it runs 220 current, I built a box around it with a cover and built it right over my work area into the window.
That's all I can think of right now... It's almost midnight.
Make your own molds. Durham's water putty will make you a mold for literally pennies. T.U. has a great tutorial on how to do it. You can make lead molds or soft plastic molds the same way. I'm no artist and I have made some great molds.
Pick one area and stick to it. If you are a senko thrower like me, then go with soft plastics. Jig guy, then pick lead based stuff. If your a crankbait guy and your artistically inclined then learn to make cranks (and send one my way
hehehee).A few soft plastic tips... four to two to one. Four parts plastic two parts salt one part softener. Makes great salted baits. Del at Delmart molds is an awesome guy and so is Bob at his company. Lurecraft is much better than they used to be, they are under new management. Del's starter kits are an amazing way to get started, you get an aluminum mold, salt, softener, color, basically you order and then you pour. Hot plates are almost as expensive as a cheapy microwave, and can burn plastic much easier; get a low powered cheap microwave with a pyrex cup and you are in business.
For wire baits... You really have to love the art of doing it yourself to get into these. See above for molds or use ebay and shop around because thirty bucks plus for a do it mold adds up real quick. I have found that I have a better quality spinnerbait if I make it myself but I spend a lot more than an on sale spinnerbait. I do however recommend learning to zip tie your skirts on, or to get some fly tying wire to attach skirts. Lead is a pain to access but I put a short tutorial under a recent thread in this forum on how I would get lead and make it usable. Please, please remember to use caution in all areas of tacklemaking but especially with lead. Molten lead is seven hundred degrees, a little slip up and you are burnt BAD.
For an exhaust fan (soft plastics, lead, or even paint fumes) there is a type of fan that I bought that is real cheap and will pull the air out of your lungs if you leave your mouth open. I can't remember what type right now but a friend of mine who is a glassblower uses this type and i will get back on it. It comes with only a metal circular cover that goes around the blades and I think it runs 220 current, I built a box around it with a cover and built it right over my work area into the window.
That's all I can think of right now... It's almost midnight.
