"THE BEST" fin casting material

[Pescado]

  I have been molding and casting fins for over fifteen  years and have used many products. Several people that frequent this site have seen my fins and know the quality I strive for and achieve. I have been using the same product now for almost ten years and nothing else has come even close to my finished product, especially in strength. The problem was it was not user friendly and was quite costly. That is the main reason I never really bragged it up. Well the company, Innovative Polymers of St.Johns, Michigan, has introduced some great new material that is very user friendly and friendly to your pocket book as well. The product is IE 3025 Polyurethane, it is clear  and  a pleasure to work with. It has a gel time of about three minutes and can be demolded in a bit over fifteen minutes with great green strength. This stuff is awesome! I have made several sets of fins since getting my hands on the IE 3025 and can not believe how simple it has made my process. In the past (with I-P's other product)  I would have to make several sets and then go through and pick and choose to get the best set. The others were still OK , but not competition quality. All of the fins I have made so far with the  3025 have been  good enough for a competition fish. I haven't even got out the injection/static mix gun out of it's holster yet, that gives the best results. I can't wait to play with that.
   The material cost is around $30.00 for a two quart kit , which will make a huge amount of fins. They have a white product as well (IE 3030) that is great for casting heads and probably anything else taxidermy related. I have molded several heads and they are very nice. Give the stuff a try, I know you will love it.
   The people at Innovative Polymers Inc. are a pleasure to deal with and have great tech support for their products. They also sell Silicone Incs. line of molding rubbers. 800 340 4563  is their number.

 Here are a couple pictures of a couple fins from a nice stream brown, straight out of the mold.

  Paul B           

[joe simmons]

look good, i'll stick with epo-grips fin magic as i make way to big of a mess with the liquids. i was using smooth cast 325 until fin magic came out. i guess i am just a messy caster.

[Monty Artrip]

Thanks for sharing that with us and I will definately give it a try

[Perca]

Hey Paul. Thanks for that information. How about you doing a few fish fins for your seminar at the MTA show next month? Molding and casting fish fins would surely qualify for "something on fish"...eh? (LOL)

[Pescado]

 
  I will do some casting Doug, not enough time for molding unless I use the ultra fast catalyst. I will be painting a hog walleye too, I guess we'll see what we can fit in.


 Joe, at 1/4 of the cost of "fin magic" you can afford to spill a little. Here's the cured properties of the IE 3025, how does that measure up?

[GBRUCH]

I prefer smooth cast 325----I do not have the stats in front of me but is probably very similar to what Paul uses.  It is a bit messy but place a sheet of plastic such as a garbage bag under your molds and when set simply throw the bag away or shake off catalyzed urethane.  I have tried fin Magic and it does produce a decent fin but I can more quickly achieve better results with the urethanes. 

[Rick Krane]

Always good to learn new things with new products Paul brings us product he uses and shares with all of us.
This is what allows us to all be better at what we love to do!
Thank you so much Paul!
See ya in Soon!
Rick

[joe simmons]

what is the website where i can buy from ,maybe i'll try it
thanks Joe

[Pescado]

 Joe,
        The toll free number is posted above, www.innovative-polymers.com is their site. I do not think the new products are on it yet. All the contact info is there along with some of there other products.

 
  Gary,
          The finished product is stronger than what you are using. It does have s bit of flex as well. I took a brown trout dorsal , with a fairly thin trailing edge and was able to bend it to a 90 degree angle without it breaking. I will see if I can get a photo of it. No heat was applied during that test and the fin had been made 48 hour earlier.

[JL]

Paul...how about putting dramatic shape in the fins. Will they take heat and set? Also when you paint that "Hog" walleye...have Brenda hold it and send me the pix. That one I'll keep in my archive. Also put your shoes on for this one. LOL  JL

[Pescado]

 Will do JL!   Yes you can reshape the fins with a hair dryer. They also sand and grind very nicely for alterations or for correcting molding flaws. I haven't painted any up yet, but I don't anticipate any issues there at all. The other product of there's that I used, and I think you may have used some too JL, would paint up great. I would shape the fins after they were painted and attached to the fish and never had any separation. I did once heat up a pec fin on a brookie and the heat caused the form to expand and some of my epoxie work cracked. That was a lesson learned. That fish was totally done and on the base. My father once told me "don't be afraid to make a mistake, just don't make the same mistake twice".

 Paul B

[Dave Smith]

I have tried all kinds of epoxies and urethanes- many are fairly strong and some are crystal clear, not milky, some are inexpensive and some are ridiculously expensive. I have come to the conclusion that you cannot cast a solid resin fin and have it strong enough, while being crystal clear and flexible (and bubble free!). Some are a little stronger than others, but you will break fins sooner or later if you cast thin fins. I just finished doing a fin repair job for a fellow fish guy and I get quite a few of them on resin-only fins- I have never had a fin break on my own fish and I have had some of my fish get dropped or dinged at trade shows- one was even in a car wreck- yikes! I still do the old and slow method of laying up every fin with fiberglass and isopthalic resin. You can put all the curve you want, they are nice and clear and I control the thickness or thinness- and good luck breaking one! I would love to find a crystal clear elastomer that could replace this method, though!     Dave

[TrailsEnd]

Paul, check your email
Chuck

[Pescado]

 Dave (bigun),
                      This material is very strong and if clarity is a big issue to me I would have had my dehumidifier running a day or two prior to casting (I work in my basement), I wouldn't have used wooden stir sticks and I also would have used my manual injection gun. The gun mixes the material through a static mix tube, therefore no air is introduced during the mixing. I have also noticed that polyurethanes seem to cure clearer when I use a platinum silicone mold to cast them in. I prefer a bit of milkyness over water clear myself. Strength is my main concern and this material has that covered.

  PB

[GBRUCH]

I think the shore hardness is bit higher(less flex) on the 325 that I use.  I agree that clear in most cases isn't necessary-translucent is generally ok espec. on the coldwater species.  I can't bend 325 to 90 degrees but if the customer does that they deserve a broken fin--lol. 


pect fin bent (abused)




pect fin after bending (abuse)

 

I like that injection idea --may need to give that a try on my next bass pects