Large Alumisol Bait

[GMan]

I am thinking about making a large rubber bait, likle a 14 inch cisco shape, for muskie fishing. I think I will use High Strength 2 for a two part mold. Anyone have any tips, pitfalls to avoid, or other thoughts about this they could share? I haven't seen many big heavy rubber baits on this board or the LureMaking site. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[aka anglinarcher]

HS-2 should work fine, but make sure you have at least a half inch of material between the bait and the outside surface so that you have a little dimensional stability for the added weight of the fresh pour alumisol. Of course Larry or others might suggest differently.

If you follow the tutorial for the advanced Mr. Wiggley, using the eye system and the embeded nose wire, I see no reason why it would not work.

The only possible problem I can see is if you use an eye screw the weight of the lure might pull the eye screw out on the cast.

http://www.makelure.com/howtos.cfm

[dahlberg]

HighStrength 2 will work fine. You can mold an actual fish with it. The makelure site shows different options. Once you work out the basic design it's not difficult to mold in any type of harness or weight.
best.
L

[Mike - Alumilite]

For large molds, I would recommend using a splint ... as in two boards to support the mold in the closed position. A couple quick clamps on each end will hold the boards tight and keep the larger High Strength mold from flexing and leaking. Good locators also help. Big thin molds have more of a tendancy to flex due to the weight and size. The boards will just keep everything in place for you.

Post some pics of it on the Photo Gallery when you are done. Would love to see it!
Mike

[GMan]

Thanks for the tips all. I was planning to "splint" it with some plexiglass and clamps. Will post when have some progress...need to order more RTV for the size of this baby....

[GMan]

I'm getting close with this bait...still tweaking the rigging and weights. I was thinking about painting vs. alumidust; I'd prefer to use the later, but I don't want to have to dip this entire giant bait in another container full of hot clear alumisol...too difficult and costly given the size of the bait, etc. Is there any other way to seal the dust? Do you need to seal a bait that has been dusted? Any other product/spray one could use? Thanks.

[aka anglinarcher]

Sorry GMan, had to think about this one a little. As you know, I have not done a bait as large as you apparently are doing.

At least this will push it to the top.

I have done several soft baits, smaller of course, with Alumidust. I do not find that you need to seal the dust after you are done. Still, if you don't seal it, it will not be glossy and it will, on occasion, rub a little of the dust off if you had a thick layer to begin with. In short, if you don't want to paint, then you don't have to.

I cannot suggest any other coating, other then the Alumisol thinned with softener, to seal/gloss the bait. In fact, I was even told on another forum to coat my painted soft baits with Plastisol to keep the paint from coming off.

I can suggest that it may be possible to use less Alumisol, in the clear, then you think. I don't know the shape of your lure, but let's say the lure has a volume of 100 cc. If you get a tight enough fitting container that is only say 110 cc, then you could push your bait into the container with only 10 cc of clear material in it and still get a complete coat. You would not want to leave it in there, and you might want a cooling bath handy to toss the big bait into, but .............. I don't know if my explanation is good enough, of if your bait shape will work like this, but, well, at least I have tried.



Good luck, looking to see the lure pictures soon.

PS, you might want to start a new thread asking just that question......

[Mike - Alumilite]

There is one technique I plan on doing a short video of soon that does work. A good friend of our's in down in Tenn, who's name is Eric, has actually created and perfected this technique for some whiggley's he uses. After you dust your mold, pour it, and demold it, allow the lure to completely cool. Then take a hand held torch and wave the flame over the dusted surface you wish to gloss up and seal. This is one of those that takes some touch and learning. Its very obvious that you don't want to scorch the Alumisol or over do it! As soon as you see the Alumidust start to change ... stop. This is a great way to bring out the sheen of Alumisol and lock it in.

Basically what happens is you briefly, for a split second melt the skin of your lure which makes the skin molten and the skin then accepts all the Alumidust that was more of less laying on the surface and becomes a very high concentration of color. It also erases any minute detail from your mold. For instance if you had a matte finish texture in your mold from a Sculpey original, it smooths it our which makes it higher gloss. The down side is if you had some very fine scale pattern, you may lose some of it. However, by perfecting it as Eric has, you will more than likely love this process.

Strength of flame, time, and distance are all things you'll have to play with. Please let us know how it works for you ... before and afters.

Mike

[GMan]

Many thanks. I will.