[Star1pup]

It must be me as I still have trouble getting the mold cavities filled when I make jigs or sinkers. I have tried candle soot and even Drop Out stuff that is supposed to help. I put my mold on top of my melting furnace to warm up. Right now I am trying to make some keel sinkers and not having much luck. These should be easy. I would think that once the lead is melted it should be hot enough.

What is really frustrating is that my dad owned a pottery and I have poured millions of pottery molds with liquid clay.

 

[Flathead76]

Have the pot only half full and get the lead really hot. Place the mold on top of the melting pot to get it warm. When ready pour a few pratice shots into the mold to get it hotter. When you start getting full pours go to town pouring lead.

 

[revpilot]

If I'm making jigs I always run some blanks thru without hooks to really heat it up good . Is the spigot on your pot not letting a good flow out ??


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[Cajunsaugeye]

Or buy some sinkers/jigs! Sorry just having a little fun.No offense intended.Question,though,do you really save any money making these things when you factor time and expense involved? I'm actually curious,not being a smarta$$.

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[sonar]

Just my experience,,,,,But to make your own lures,,,IS UNBELIEVABLE payoff when you land a fish,,on your homemade setup...... IT IS WORTH EVERY SECOND invested!! Try it,,you may find out........I have endless gratification for my efforts!! I have not bought a "Blade Bait" in a VERY long while..However,,,I have caught MANY 'eyes!! ----->>>>>sonar<<<<<-----

 

[Weekender#1]

My first thought is that the lead you are using has to many alloy in it such as tin. Does the lead look like little balls coming out ? Any alloys in the lead does not wreck it but just harder to work with, the two biggest problem lead I have used is old lead print and wheel weights only a little lead in those.

 

[Star1pup]

Or buy some sinkers/jigs! Sorry just having a little fun.No offense intended.Question,though,do you really save any money making these things when you factor time and expense involved? I'm actually curious,not being a smarta$$.

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I do it because I like to do it not to save money, although I think I do save a little. It's fun to catch a fish on something I made. I also like shooting game with something I loaded from .410 to 30-06.

 

[Cajunsaugeye]

Again,no disrespect at all intended here.I can easily see making soft plastics or hard baits.That would be awesome to have the freedom with design,colors,etc.If I didn't have 3 jobs,a family and a fishing/
hunting addiction,I'd dive right into that.I was asking more about weights and jig heads as they're so readily available and relatively cheap anyways.
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[Star1pup]

Cajun, I understand when you are an old fart like me and retired you can enjoy making your own stuff. I know the sinkers are inexpensive, but this will give me something to do during the winter when I'm not hunting.

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice. I'll probably give most of them a try within the next couple of days and let you know how I make out. I think the main problem will be solved when I pour some practice stuff without hooks, etc.

 

[jaws01]

I had the same issues when I started to make weights took me awhile to get down I had to learn on my own trial and error I have used wheel weights -leveling block from eye glass chairs ect. I found that making a few runs thur the mold will heat it up enough to let it do what u need do don't let the pot run empty all the junk u don't want will float to the top of the lead I use a old spoon to skim the top if u runn all the lead

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[jaws01]

Out of the pot the junk will get n the spout and lead will not come out right good luck

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[yakfish]

What sizes are the weights your pouring? If they are too large the lead may cool before the cavity it completely filled. You could try using a ladle to pour the lead if your pot doesn't flow lead fast enough. You could also try pouring with a full pot. The more lead you have in the pot the faster it will pour. When I start pouring and my mold is cold I will pour lead directly on the outside of the mold and leave it on there for at least 30 seconds. This heats the mold much quicker than just pouring a few rounds before getting started.

Good luck

 

[slimdaddy45]

Sounds like your lead is not hot enough and I use a propane torch to heat the mold up

 

[sherman51]

you are starting out right by placing the mold on top of the pot and letting it get hot. but once the lead melts doesn't mean its hot enough to work with. let it get good and hot with the mold sitting on top then try a few practice runs before actually making good weights.

it doesn't take as much heat when using good lead but if your using a poor grade of lead like tire weights or something with a lot of zink in it you will need a hotter working temp. I worked in a factory that worked with lead and zink. so I have made jigs from 1/8 oz to 5 oz,s for saltwater fishing. and have made a few hundred barrel sinkers from lead and zink. to get the zink to work good I always got it hotter than I did my lead.

just don't get your mold so hot that it will warp. let it cool down every so often and its good to keep the hinges oiled.

I don't know just how much money I saved but I got scrap lead and zink so it was free and I really enjoyed pouring my own gear. I used an old spoon to clean the top of my pot but I always left a little skim on top to help hold the heat in. and I always refilled my pot when it got down about half way.

I had a 10 lb pour spout pot then I had a smaller ladle pot that I kept melted lead in. then when my pour pot got low I would pour the melted lead in my big pot and fill up the little pot to be melting while I used the big pot to pour my sinkers. I only did this when making large weights or large jigs. my barrel sinker mold has a 1-2-3-4-5 oz sinker spots, so one pour was almost a pound. it didn't take long to empty my pot.

my 10 lb pot got busted out in the pole barn when something fell off a shelf so I replaced it with a 20 lb pot I bought off ebay but I haven't needed to use it since I got the bigger pot. im planning to make a trip to ft pierce florida this feb so a little later in the yr I plan on making up a bunch of 2 and 3 oz barrel sinkers for fishing the intercoastel bridges.

just stay with it you'll learn the best way to pour. sometimes it just takes trial and error until you get it right. I don't pour much anymore but at one time all my jigs and barrel sinkers were home made. sorry for such a long post, LOL.
sherman

 

[Star1pup]

I love getting on the OGF forums since I get such good info. I'm not making big sinkers; just the keel chain sinkers for trolling. I think 1 oz. is the biggest in the mold. I also make Road Runner jigs, plain jigs and some other sinkers. Many years ago I actually made some slingshot ammo. If the price of other ammo keeps going up I might have to dust off the slingshot for hunting.

I have had trouble with all of the above, but I think once I incorporate all of this in my lead casting I will do a lot better. Thanks, guys!

 

[Star1pup]

Thanks to all of the help on OGF, my latest efforts at pouring lead have been fantastic. I just used all of what you guys told me on this thread and it worked great. Thanks again!