heating questions "?"

[reservoir dog]

Hey guys, new to making my own plastic worms but I think it will make a great hobby.

My question is: Can I use a laboratory hot plate (A stirrer hot plate) for heating my plastisol. And if so, could I use a glass beaker or will glass primarilly only work with microwaves.

Also I did stumble accross this site after purchasing plastisol from M-F. It sounds like the plastic sold here has heat stabilizer in it, is that true of the plastisol I purchased?

Lastly, to melt old plastic worms back down, do I need to add anything to them or just heat them up?

Thanks for any help. With such a community discussion board I'll definately make further purchases here.

[reservoir dog]

One last thing, since i planned on starting with a Senko mold, I bought hardener. I didn't buy softener. Dose that sound about right? I don't hear much about hardener, only softener.

[Delw]

Try not to melt down old worms, Manufactured works are injected by a different type of plastic and has alot of impurities in it.

I dont know anything about lab equipment

Calhoun has alot of heat stabilizer in it, so it can be heated longer and hotter with out burning, bear in mind that heat stablizer is what burns off first .

Delw

[Delw]

you dont need hardener, you will probally need softener if you use salt.

Delw

[reservoir dog]

thanks, guess softener will be my first purchase from you guys.

[reservoir dog]

just bought some softener and went ahead and bought some of the calhoun plastic. It is plastsol right?
On Ebay there are some plastics for sale in a thickened jello-like state. I'm assuming those can be melted down but I can't find much info about them so I figure the liquid plastic must be the way to go.
Can't wait to get some stuff in the mail and get started!:D

[Fisher_of_One]

i have seen those plastic samples on ebay too...the thing is they are a rip off....for a fraction of the price you can make your own, any color you want....and color is a small investment considering how far the color goes....only a few drops usually does the trick anyways. So don't spend the $15.99 on those cheap samples because they are only one cup each and one cup does't go very far, besides you don't know how hard or soft , or how much salt is in it....best thing to do is start from scratch and make your own colors from liquid plastic.....as far as using old worms.....they are great for practice in pouring but i notice they have a foul odor that the fish don't like. you may get a bite or a roll on them but the fish is not likely to hang on for long.
Fisher Mike
"rippin drag"

[reservoir dog]

thanks, I've bought some more plastic from here to compare the calhoun with what I get from M-F. I'm gonna steer clear of the ebay plastic stuff.
I can't wait to get started experimenting.