A match plate made in heaven - My first 3d printer related "casting".

[Tom S]

To bad about you not getting out. I got out a handful of times, but we didn't have a ton of success. Had to grow a new set of fingerprints after a trip near Frontenac during what turned out to be the coldest weekend of the year.

Your technique has got me thinking. I do some trolling for walleye on the big lakes, and being able to play with some of the characteristics of a bait could be interesting.

[Dan Dubeau]

I haven't trolled for walleye in years, but used to like using the erie deary a lot. It's actually one of the lures I plan on cloning in the next little while. Is it still one of the go-to lures for walleye?

I have a few more lure making tools I want to build like a drying rack, and a wire jig for inline spinners. Also some stamping dies for my favourite spoons and spinner blades. I think I'm going to stop at drawing out my own wire though.....It's a slippery slope.....be warned....

Seems kind of silly for a guy that only gets out 5-10 times a year if that anymore, but I have just as much fun making them as I do using them.

[Dan Dubeau]

One of the reasons I designed this mold to be modular the way i did is to be able to shoot different tail designs. I modeled this one up this morning, and 3d printed the insert. Just about the time it finished printing, an amazon package showed up with my probe thermometer so I quickly headed out to the shop and fired up the microwave, while I assembled the mold and preheated it with the torch.




While it was pretty amazing seeing an idea take shape that quickly, I wasn't happy with it at all, so I headed back to cad, and made some changes. I widened the base of the tail, where it attaches to the body, and added tentacles to fill the remaining voids. Warmed up the printer again, and waited.....had to get the kids from the bus, but it finished just as we got back. They still get a kick out of watching the printer make things, and were pretty excited to go make a tail, so I peeled it off the bed, did some filing to break the edges, and smooth the sides to prevent some flash, and heated up some plastic again. I really like this tail design, and think it'll be a fish catcher. I can't wait to try it out.






Overall I'm pretty happy with the modular mold design. I have a couple more tail designs in mind and this has proved pretty easy to prototype something out quickly. I'm going to make a single cavity one, so that I don't always have to shoot 3. While it's nice to build up a stock pile of regular tube tails in the process, It's pretty wasteful. I'm gonna head over to the neighbors pond and give it a swim test to see how it does, then maybe cut one out of aluminum.




I also need to work on my injecting skills, as I'm a bit rough at the moment with it. This is only the 3rd time. The plastic picks up every piece of dirt and grime, and I have to make sure my hands and mold are 100% clean. Shooting them in the garage on the welding bench probably isn't the best spot lol.

[Dan Dubeau]

Took it down to the little creek by the road and gave it a swim test. I almost ate it myself.
https://i.imgur.com/ncauaeQ.mp4