tubes? part 2

[crankbait2009]

I did not want to hi-jack the previous thread on tubes but i have been searching the past few months for a 3-4" tube making mold.   i know moldds are pretty expensive to begin with but was looking for one to get a rough estimate on price.

does anyone know where to get tube molds?

are they hard to make? i would imagine no different than worm plastics, right?

[Crestliner2008]

Try these folks:

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/

[crankbait2009]

thanks for the link..

now, unless im blind as a bat im not seeing any "tube" molds.

i do see some worm molds but no tubes.

am i wrong?

[bilgerat]

The crew over at Tackleunderground may be able to answer your question.

[grimlin]

Bearsbaits.com. Injection tube molds will run you $80+ a piece.

Otherwise you can do it the old fashion way and rod dip to make the tubes then cut to make the tentacles.

[crankbait2009]

im new to the whole do it your self soft plastic making

please explain "Otherwise you can do it the old fashion way and rod dip"

i looked into the website and they did have tube molds.  that can get VERY pricey!!!  especially if your not out to sell them to make your money back!! theres a lot that goes into making plastic lures....

WOW

[River Rat316]

If you just want to try and make your own tubes you can do it super cheap. Go by some lag bolts at your local hardware store, the kind that don't have threads for like 3-6" and cut the threads off the end. By some new plastic, or just get a bunch of old plastics,  and a pirex cup (do it ina  well ventilated area, like a garage that is open) heat the plastic, if you are reusing old plastics, don't use 3x or berkely powerbait, 3x won't work and powerbait plastic stinks like no other, chop the old plastics up into small pieces, put them in the pirex cup and heat them for like 2 minutes take out and stir, keep heating them up in 1 minute intervals until the plastic is hot, it should be pretty runny when its hot, be careful though you don't want to scorch the plastic, if you scorch it just throw it out and don't breathe the fumes. take the rod that you chopped the threads off and dip it into the pirex, I like 4" tubes, so I make sure I get the rods that would have 4" with the threads off. it might take 1 or 2 dips to get the thickness that you would want in the tails, and 1-2 dips more to thicken up the body. Now the only thing that is going to cost you money is the tail cutter, you can get the tail cutter at lurecraft.com, you could go all out and by the press one for like $100 or so, or a hand one for like $30, I have the hand one. When you cut the tails put the tube on a piece of wood, I use a old 2X4, and cut the tails, you have to press hard to get it to go through all the way.

I make it sound easier than it probably is, dipping will take a little to get used to, when you pull the rod out of the plastic you have to roll it around so the plastic doesn't form a drip and then cool so it looks all deformed, it can be done though so you get perfect tubes, I do it all the time.

[grimlin]

im new to the whole do it your self soft plastic making

please explain "Otherwise you can do it the old fashion way and rod dip"

i looked into the website and they did have tube molds. that can get VERY pricey!!! especially if your not out to sell them to make your money back!! theres a lot that goes into making plastic lures....

WOW

Yeah....It's cheaper to just buy the baits oppose to making them sometimes.I'm not kidding on this part. I do it just to have the satisfaction of catching something with what I made.I can't always afford to do so....

I want to be making my own 5" worms this year. Gonna cost me $200 just to get everything set up.  :-/ 

[crankbait2009]

i definitley agree on the whole "buy the tubes when you need them".

i mean, at 3-4 bucks a bag of 10, that lasts a good while and they are not that expensive.

just thought it would be fun to make my own...........

[grimlin]

Don't get me wrong it is fun,just don't do it to think you'll save money... ;D

Catching fish on something you make can be pretty good feeling.

Plus these harsh winters up here in the north we gotta keep our sanity a little bit.Tackle making helps pass the time till spring.