Thread: What am I doing wrong?

Try pouring your plastic into the injector. Also try injecting really slow. Some molds or just a pain. I would use some scrap plastic till you get the hang of it.

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Post a photo of the lure with air bubble. With stick type baits that pour from the top, many of the older molds always produced air bubbles at the front of the lure. I found a way to prevent them by using a socket from a socket wrench kit laid over the hole and poured or injected though it. Only one company I know of has a well above the cavity that does the same thing.

The bubbles like this can come from two directions. One is that you are not topping off the injection port with plastic. Some baits will suck plastic out of the sprue as they cool and if no extra plastic is there to take in the action will pull in air, hence the bubble. The sprue extender that's mentioned can help here by providing a little extra column of plastic but I'd try leaving the injector right in the port with some steady, but light pressure for ten seconds and then adding a small pile atop the port when the injector is removed. If you are adding sufficient plastic to the mold and know that air is not getting pulled into the cavities as they cool, chances are that you are getting air into the injector during the filling.

If you are pouring your plastic into the injector tube with the nozzle off, you need to keep the injector straight up after putting the nozzle back on and slowly pushing out a small amount of plastic to vent any air as it will be immediately under the nozzle. If you tip the injector down to squeeze that plastic back into a cup the air inside simply goes up to the plunger end of the plastic inside and will come out last and in the ends of the baits.

I fill my injector by putting the nozzle about 1/2" down into the plastic, pull up the rod about 1/8", then squirt that tiny bit of plastic right back in the cup keeping the nozzle submerged then pull up the plastic I need to fill the mold[s]. By doing it this way I can keep the injector straight up and down from cup to mold[s]. Any air that might be in the injector gets blow out when I push the small amount of plastic taken up before I actually fill the injector. Doing this leaves a tiny plug of plastic on the end of the plunger taking up the small air space found in there when the injector is empty so no air can re-enter when I pull up plastic to fill the injector for injecting. Filling this way also leaves a ring of plastic ON the nozzle where it fits the mold and this acts as a seal so air cannot enter or get sucked in when I do the actual injection into the mold.

I've been doing it this way since day one and I have very few issues with air getting into the baits.

Several things to account for, If sucking out of the cup. draw it up push it back in a few times, this will purge the air.
Drawdown as Ctom Mentioned.
And then there is the lovely molds that the venting sux on, If you can get air out, It will stay in the bait.
Pictures for sure.

Ok guys will try to post pictures probably be next week as I'm leaving town to do some crappie fishing...I sure appreciate the advice...will post some when I get back

Will try to add some pictures but I might be on the track of figuring it out. Started pushing plunger in til I got nothing but solid liquid coming out. Thinking I wasn't getting as much liquid into injector as I thought. Hoping that's all it was. The last three batches I shot have all pretty much been good. Got couple that the body had a small dimple on one side. Goes to show I am a slow learner...

Well with all your advice I think I have solved my bubble problems. Have done several batches and all have been good. Thank you.
A issue that has come about on the large and small stingers is when I use a lami plate using blue then inject chartreuse to make the rest of the bait the chartreuse is turning the blue pieces green. Do you all have a secret to stop this?

If you're getting small dents or dimples along the body anywhere just top off the sprue with a small shot of extra plastic. When some baits cool in the mold they pull plastic from the stringer and if the stringer doesn't have that little extra the baits will pull together making the dimple. Sometimes its a cooling issue too. Try topping off the sprue with a tiny shot of extra plastic before you clean or clear the plastic from the injector.