Hi, I thought I’d share my weekend project with ya’ll.  My painter Stan and I were talking about how the complex geometry of my bait makes using traditional stencils less than ideal.  We wanted something quicker and easier to use.  I had an idea, so off to the drawing board I went.  My idea was to make a rigid 3D stencil using what is commonly known as vacuum forming.  I spent about $20 bucks at the hardware store and did the following:

Photo (1) – The vacuum box- I was finally able to utilize my 7^th grade birdhouse building skills, size the hole per your shop vac hose size.  Use glue when constructing to get a good air seal around the box.

Photo (2) - Former plate- This tops off the vacuum box and forms the shape you want.  I mounted half of a lure on it for forming around.  Drill holes through this plate and through the lure to draw the sheet material down when the vacuum is on.  I decided to have interchangeable plates with mine.  You could just have one plate with holes in it for something more universal.

Photo (3) – Vacuum forming – Heat a sheet of plastic on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 F for a few minutes.  I used PETG or co-polyester – the same stuff used for blister packs and stuff.  Place the hot sheet on the form and turn on the vacuum, use a heat gun to soften and mold the plastic around the form, allow for stencil to cool.

Photo (4) – Use a hot knife or stencil burner to cut out your desired pattern.

Photo (5) – Stencil- Pop a bait in the form and spray away

Photo (6) - Finished bait

If you have any questions please let me know.  It may not be necessary for all baits, but for some it can make things easier and faster.

Mike

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Hey Stan, not hard at all, just let the heat of the knife do the work.  You will need a hot knife or stencil burner though.  I have a little more experimenting to do yet, but at the end of the week I’ll send you these firetiger stencils and some blank ones so you can cut in your own patterns. Maybe we want to cut in some perch bars in on a set– up to you.  I did kind of a clown pattern to send to your buddy Jay down there (it was not nearly as nice as the one you did for Jim though), I formed and cut a belly stencil to protect and mask the pearl white from the chartreuse sides he wanted.  That worked well, I’ll send some of those too.

I’m going to build some small wooden frames around them so you can stack them and stuff without damaging them.

I have one like this, many craft or hobby stores have them http://www.hobbytown.com/Shop/knives/hot-knife

Laser cutter? Wow, I’d like one too.  I’ll put that on my list just after molding machine and CNC machine.

Cool, that’s great, I’m glad it worked out for you.  I was making some more over the weekend too and learned a few more things.  The .020 is the best thickness; I tried some thinner .010 and it would tear or melt through on deeper draw areas.  When I was able to get some really tight fitting forms I started to have a hard time getting them off, Pam cooking spray applied on the form before forming solved that problem. I also came across some shrinkage problems when I pulled them off the form too soon, when I left in on the form for a good 5-10 minutes it helped.

  My son spent the whole afternoon helping me; it was cool to see him showing such interest in learning about all that stuff. 

PS. Your new “Freak” topwater looks really interesting, let’s see your new stencil applied on that J

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It's an old thread, but I saw some guys talking about this over the weekend and I thought I’d bring it to the top again to maybe help some new guys out.