Soft plastic lure manufacturing happens on varying scales. From hand-pouring, hand-injection, or mass production, we have the in-house capabilities to design a product for its appropriate manufacturing process.

Whether this is a new concept being brought to life, or a proven concept without a supporting 3D model suitable for mold development, we have a proven process.

Please Note: It’s not as simple as whipping up a 3D model and machining a mold. There is a product development process behind custom production tooling.

*Custom tooling is much different than purchasing generic retail molds, and are typically 5-10x the cost.*

Phase 1 begins with assessing a prospective client’s design needs. Aside from discussing the overall design implementations surrounding the product itself. We also assess their manufacturing capabilities. Will this be a simple open pour silicone mold? Or will this be a more costly hand-injected aluminum mold? Maybe you have plans for mass-production? The end manufacturing process is kept in mind from the start.

Once the needs are assessed, we provide a quote. If a client wishes to proceed, a simple contract outlining the project is supplied. A down payment is required to lock down the project on our schedule at the time of signing the contract.

Every soft bait project varies in terms of an appropriate process. The options listed below are not concrete. These are a general outline of how the most common scenarios are addressed.

The most important part of bringing a new soft plastic to market, aside from its performance, is planning for how this product will be manufactured from the start. There aren’t too many rules surrounding silicone molds, but certain geometrical rules apply when 3-axis CNC machining comes into play.

A new concept typically starts with either a client supplied, or Row driven sketch. Through ideation sketching, a direction is selected, and we dive into the 3D modeling phase. Once a 3D model is created, several options for prototyping are available.

3D printed models: a simple prototype can be supplied for the client to inspect/create a test mold.

High-temp 3D printed injection “Protomolds”: We have developed a resin blend suitable for printing prototype injection molds. These are not intended for production purposes. However, they last thousands of shots and are an affordable method for producing samples to conduct on the water R&D. This step, along with CAD revisions, can be repeated as needed before final tooling is developed.

Many times, a client will have a proven fish catching concept developed via their own means. The hard part has been completed. Now it’s time to bring that concept to a manufacturable level by creating a supporting 3D model…

3D scanning a handmade sample does not produce a 3D file suitable for 3-axis CNC milling operations. However, it provides us with reference geometry to create a new model that is suitable for milling.

In some scenarios where a CNC’d mold is not the intended final deliverable, a rehabbed 3D scan can be used to produce silicone molds.

Although it is not always necessary, 3D printed “Protomolds” can be produced to insure that the newly created model will shoot/pour properly before moving on to final tooling.