TheCulprit
01-25-2009, 08:41 AM
Just got my 1st stik kit on Friday afternoon & was pouring within an hour thanks to weeks of reading the forum. As with most newbies I'm sure, I botched the first pour due to inexperience with the heat. After the second pour I think I have the hang of it and have produced several nice pours since.
Question for Del: I bought a 4 cavity (5-1/4) and a 10 cavity (5-1/4) and I was having trouble pouring the 4 cavity until I really concentrated on hitting the center of the hole. After clean-up I noticed that the 4 cavity mold has a smaller opening at the very top of the worm where the plastic enters. The opening is just over a 1/4", but probably at least .062 smaller in diameter than the 10 cavity entry hole, just over 5/16". If I concentrate and pour at the plastic at it's hottest, the small hole is a none issue but I'm wondering if I should try to open the 4 holes up a little? Is this normal for the two different molds? Is the 10 cavity designed for better production speed with larger hole?
Some different things that I use include; a heat gun ($9 at Harbor Freight) to Pre-Heat the molds and work surface. I use two pieces of Micarta sheet to pour and work on and also to lay the finished worms on to cool. The Micarta is very resistant to heat and the finish is so polished that virtually no plastic will adhere to it. Any overflow or drops of plastic can be easily balled up and placed in the cup for re-melt as opposed to being thrown away.
1-1/2 cups of plastic melted thus far has yielded 40 worms and I still have about a 1/4 cup of remelt left. Does this sound normal?
Thanks for all your help!
Question for Del: I bought a 4 cavity (5-1/4) and a 10 cavity (5-1/4) and I was having trouble pouring the 4 cavity until I really concentrated on hitting the center of the hole. After clean-up I noticed that the 4 cavity mold has a smaller opening at the very top of the worm where the plastic enters. The opening is just over a 1/4", but probably at least .062 smaller in diameter than the 10 cavity entry hole, just over 5/16". If I concentrate and pour at the plastic at it's hottest, the small hole is a none issue but I'm wondering if I should try to open the 4 holes up a little? Is this normal for the two different molds? Is the 10 cavity designed for better production speed with larger hole?
Some different things that I use include; a heat gun ($9 at Harbor Freight) to Pre-Heat the molds and work surface. I use two pieces of Micarta sheet to pour and work on and also to lay the finished worms on to cool. The Micarta is very resistant to heat and the finish is so polished that virtually no plastic will adhere to it. Any overflow or drops of plastic can be easily balled up and placed in the cup for re-melt as opposed to being thrown away.
1-1/2 cups of plastic melted thus far has yielded 40 worms and I still have about a 1/4 cup of remelt left. Does this sound normal?
Thanks for all your help!