How to make a mold?

[Edutton]

I am looking for any good suggestions on how to make a mold from an existing bait. I have a stock of plastic craws that have not been made in years and it is starting to get low. I am wanting to try and make a mold so that I can pour about half a dozen at a time. Is there a good way that I can use some of the existing craws and pour some sort of epoxy or similar to make a two piece mold. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Kal-Kevin]

     One way I heard of long ago was a guy said he mix plaster of parris. Then push in the item he wanted to copy and let dry. Then he took out the plastic bait and and poured in new plastic in to the opening.
     I think if you took it one more step you could make a two part mold the same way, just by cutting it with a small blade in half. This way you could set it up for a six at one time pour, and get it so it is printed on both sides.
     I do not know if this will help you but it is just what I heard long ago. 

[jesse1378]

your best bet is to sign up for tackleunderground.com  they have how-to's with pics step by step. you can make molds with plaster of paris (sealed of course), rtv silicon, durham's water putty (sealed), one guy even made one with the cheap silicon in a tube from walmart. i have several durham's water putty but will start making RTV silicon molds soon. as far as how-to's that place has them all.

[Edutton]

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll check that link out. 

[easternshore]

I've come across making a 2-piece mold using fiberglass resin. haven't quite yet figured out how to get the 2nd piece of the mold to not bond with the 1st. The resin however makes a really strong durable half, suitable for hand pours. I'll get it figured out, and when i do...

[WvGitzit]

I am a newbie when it comes to make baits and molds.  I recently tried making a mold out of plaster of paris and it worked very well.  I just tried making a power worm mold and you can read the word power worm in the mold.  So the detail worked out real well.  It was very easy to do.  If you have any issues and have a question.  I would be glad to help if I can. 

[BigBassMan]

Here is a few links off of TU on mold making, Hope those help you out.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/18833-pop-mold-tutorial-part-ii/

http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/18832-pop-mold-tutorial-part-i/

http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/5364-kb-mold-making-123-4567-etc/

[jesse1378]

making  2 piece with fiberglass resin sucks. due to the variation of shrinkage..i believe 7-10% for the chep stuff. it will be hard to get them just right. plus unless you have the sprue and everything else perfect that are hard to work with and any work you do, any plastic that touches that area will not be as shiney as the rest and it wasnt to stick.

[bmgibson27]

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I've come across making a 2-piece mold using fiberglass resin. haven't quite yet figured out how to get the 2nd piece of the mold to not bond with the 1st. The resin however makes a really strong durable half, suitable for hand pours. I'll get it figured out, and when i do... 

try coating the set side with a thin layer of vaseline it will keep the two sides from bonding, also coat the plastic that your wanting to make the mold of hope this helps good luck and good fishing

[biggun]

When I make a 2pc fiberglass resin mold after the first side has cured I sand it flat put the lure im molding back in spray with pam and pour the second half. Then just open up the spru holes with a drimel.

[bmgibson27]

thats a very good idea biggun i bet pam works alot better than vaseline, due to the caking that vaseline tends to make imperfections if you dont get a very thin layer on thanks for the tip im going to try it on my next molds thanks and good fishing

[SenkoSam]

I wrote a few how-to articles for bassresource.com with pictures. Step by step.

In short, plaster is the easiest and quickest.
Plaster must be coated after the plaster hardens with a gloss coat wall sealer.

Briefly, two part molds require pouring the bottom half, laying greased up aluminum foil around the edges and then pouring the second half.

Certain designs cannot be duplicated in plaster, resin or anything else. Aluminum injection molds are able to copy difficult designs but they have to be lazer cut by one of a few companies that custom make molds.

Lurecraft.com has hundreds of silicone molds that may fit your needs for less than 15 bucks each.

Frank