making lures

[parker]

how do i make resin head marlin lures? how do i make a mold off a old head?
looking for an article by jim rizzuto titled "making big game lures". it ran in the apr/may '05 edition. anyone who could forward it would be appreciated!

[Oliver]

Parker,
Here's for a start.......sillicone mold making rubber to make the mould, have a hunt round the internet for how best to make rubber moulds for casting. I use polyester casting resin, again best look on the internet for suppliers. You will need to remember that resin shrinks quite a bit as it sets so the cast lure will be smaller than the original. Also resin can distort in shape if it sets to quick, both the above setting issues can be resolved by using the minimum ammount of catalist in the resin to make it go off.
I have taken to casting my lures as a cylinder, using a piece of poly pipe, I can then shape them in a lathe to get a truely centered and round product. A lathe is a big investment to the hobby lure maker, but I find sillicone rubber very expensive, and unless you want to make a load of the same head the cost of making a mould soon adds a lot onto how much the lure has cost you to produce.
Let me know how you get on.

Ollie.