Bigbaitsatnight Posted December 19, 2020 Report Share Posted December 19, 2020 Love this build man! Congrats and thank you for all the inspiration. Please keep me in mind when you start selling them. danthefisherman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niki814 Posted December 22, 2020 Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 On 9/25/2020 at 12:30 AM, danthefisherman said: Dumped a big one on the red craw crankdown right at the net today. I thought it was a small fish from the way she bit until I brought her up and she shook the hooks. My mistake. Redeemed myself with this long and skinny one burning the shallow crank under a tree on the way back in. I can't put this bait down! I miss the crank gill Albooboo, danthefisherman and El_Weruso 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted January 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 Starting the first mold of my finalized medium crank Crusher Gill today. The master has all the upgrades that I implemented during the testing phase that seemed to increase the durabilty and functionality of the bait: cleaned up the joint a smidge, thickened the protruding fins, lengthened the tail slot, centered the ballast weights better, etc. If this mold produces baits to match my most recent prototypes I will be a happy man. I also found a different lip supplier with more styles to choose from including the standard lip I've been using for my 5-6' crankdown (numbered 8 in the photo). This opens up a ton of doors as I can now achieve different lip shapes and lengths that still fit my lip slot by cutting stock lips to size. I'll be testing wake, shallow crank, and deep crank variants tomorrow on the river. P.S. - I hate clay Mason, kaiboshi, japanesebassman and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japanesebassman Posted January 13, 2021 Report Share Posted January 13, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 8:48 PM, danthefisherman said: Starting the first mold of my finalized medium crank Crusher Gill today. The master has all the upgrades that I implemented during the testing phase that seemed to increase the durabilty and functionality of the bait: cleaned up the joint a smidge, thickened the protruding fins, lengthened the tail slot, centered the ballast weights better, etc. If this mold produces baits to match my most recent prototypes I will be a happy man. I also found a different lip supplier with more styles to choose from including the standard lip I've been using for my 5-6' crankdown (numbered 8 in the photo). This opens up a ton of doors as I can now achieve different lip shapes and lengths that still fit my lip slot by cutting stock lips to size. I'll be testing wake, shallow crank, and deep crank variants tomorrow on the river. P.S. - I hate clay love to see the progress, keep us updated!! danthefisherman and El_Weruso 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted January 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 So I finished my first, finalized medium crankdown mold today! It took me forever to get the clay form just right and situate it to proceed with a little experiment I'm doing. Regardless of whether this experiment is a success or not, at least I'll have one good-looking mold haha. It's got the best parting surface and alignment grooves that my fingers could manage, and I spent a few days just forming the clay. I treated myself to a 100% new silicone mix with no recycled material to minimize trapped air. The mold turned out pretty good and I just need to clean it up a bit. All that work finished, I ordered a 1/8" thick silicone sheet to use for the tail cavity. It just arrived and is too thick for my mold. Really?!? Time for some more creative thinking CG_Fishes, Thiskidlikes2fish, Chuch10 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiskidlikes2fish Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 1 hour ago, danthefisherman said: All that work finished, I ordered a 1/8" thick silicone sheet to use for the tail cavity. It just arrived and is too thick for my mold. Really?!? Time for some more creative thinking I bet you could get a small sheet of metal to use and just use some tin snips danthefisherman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted January 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Thiskidlikes2fish said: I bet you could get a small sheet of metal to use and just use some tin snips I've already tried 5000 series aluminum. It works great for a few pours but over time the resin starts reacting and sticking to the surface. It then binds so strongly I have to hammer the core out, and the resin always breaks first. Perhaps steel or some other alloy would work better but I don't have any tools other than a handsaw to cut it. Thiskidlikes2fish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted January 27, 2021 Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 Silicone cooking sheets come in different thickness and are at almost every store. danthefisherman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TootsMalone Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 Man that truly is a beautiful mold. Just like everything else in this build, the attention to detail is inspiring. danthefisherman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiskidlikes2fish Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 7:48 PM, danthefisherman said: P.S. - I hate clay If you use a heat gun on it it will soften the clay and make it way easier to move around. Found this out will making a mold today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted January 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 14 minutes ago, Thiskidlikes2fish said: If you use a heat gun on it it will soften the clay and make it way easier to move around. Found this out will making a mold today. That's what I don't want because then it gets messed up too easily haha. It's just a finicky, messy material that drives me nuts trying to make it look good. I have to take breaks forming it because it starts to get too soft and sticky. Thiskidlikes2fish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.