cadman

Sdsaw, I have the smaller version of this mold PHC-4-A. I have poured and sold several hundred of these. I have never had any complaints. Although I don

Try Mustang Wire

Brad, the easiest and fastest way to get green pumpkin powder paint is to buy it from Welcome to TJ's Tackle Unlike liquid paints you can not get a true solid pigment by combining powder paints, since the powder are granules and will not fully mix into a solid. However if you do not like that color of green pumpkin, then by all means mix powder paints and experiment. Make sure to write down your ratios so you can duplicate it later.

Sagacious, You hit it dead on, as I did an experiment with real hard lead. I got several hundred pound of printers lead. I don't know the alloy, but it pours fine for me. I did notice, that when I was pouring this one mold, that I could not get my finished pours out of the cavity. Well like you said, the lead was expanding while cooling , and I wasn't able to get the pours out without using pliers. Then it dawnd on me, that Do-it mentioned also that some really hard lead will expand. I didn't want to believe it until I tried it and was I surprised. You are definitely correct and confirmed that really hard lead does expand when it cools. Again, your knowledge on all of this is very informative and should help many if they just read the threads and posts.....Thanks

sdsaw, just my worth to your dilemma. I don't believe that too much soot is the problem. I will have to agree with JSC. It is lead composition. Too hard of lead and you will have problems, I have never heard of anyone having problems with really pure soft lead. However your experiment is very interesting, maybe others have more insight on this.

Plating will plate to anything that's metal. There is a process for it, which I do not fully know, but it isn't cheap. If you have thousands of jigs, then maybe yes but to the average guys like us, it still is costly.

No it's not necessary, but I personally wouldn't make any jig or spinnerbait that way. Don't cut corners and you won't be sorry. Let's face it Devcon will wear off after repeatedly throwing a jig or a spinnerbait in the water. There are rocks and debris along the shoreline and in deeper water. Once your Devcon is compromised, your paint won't last without baking it to cure it. So do it right the first time. Just my worth.

I've not been able to get through yet. I'll keep trying. However both of my heat guns work, and I don't have a problem with them. The first one is going on almost 2 years, and still no problem. So I'm wondering if I should just keep it or send them both back. JSC how long is the turn around on the replacement. Do you have any idea? Thanks for the info.

I hate to tell you this, but if you want gold plated jigs, you will have to have them gold plated. Lot charge by me is $75.00. You can try gold leaf, didn't work for me, or you can try gold metallic paint. It must be clearcoated for durability. When you clearcoat it, it dulls the gold metallic paint. Or you can do what I did, and buy shiny lead jigs, and powder paint them with candy gold and yellow candy mix. Here is a link to a pic of mine http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/wire-baits/17171-blades-not-spinning-frustration-3.html post #30 this is about as good as it gets, other then true plating. The candy gold actually looks better in real life than in the pic...............Hope this helps.

I may be wrong on this, but you are going to have to have that mold custom made. Do-It used to sell it way back when, but do to patents and copywrite laws, it is no longer available to the public. You might find one on e-bay, or someone here may have one of the old molds. I will tell you one thing, if you find it or have it custom made, if I were you I would not sell any, as you will have lawyers knocking on your door. Just my worth.

Thanks for the info JSC, I have (2) of them, and I will definitely call.

dannyp, You will get a lot of answers here on this subject. All though I

Well I'm glad you used the search function and it helped you out. There is a lot of info on pouring in this forum, from many knowledgeable guys. That's what's great about this site if someone doesn't have an answer someone else does and they are willing to share information. Just think where we would all be without the i-net.

dannyp, Every mold is different. On my Snootie mold I tilt it nose down (similar to what you are saying), and I also put the sprue hole into the pour spout(if you have a Lee IV bottom pour pot), this acts as an injector. You should try this and see. It does work very well. If you do, be careful, since the mold is not straight, you may get some lead to squirt out of the sprue hole and splash you. You can also try doing this with the mold straight, that may work for you as well . Always wear gloves. I have some molds that have to be tilted a little to the right, so the lead fills faster in the sprue holes. It's weird, but once you find what works, write it on a piece of paper, or write it on the mold with a marker. It helps with a lot of trial and error. I have about 40 molds, so I have to write it down. As far as help goes, I have no problem helping anyone, just ask and myself and others will reply and come to the rescue to help anyone out.

dannyp, what cz75b stated is correct a really hot mold is the ticket. Put your mold on top of your pot when heating it up. When everything is melted make some blank test pours without hooks. You should do this until all your cavities pour full. Once that happens, now you’re set to go. You should not have to pre-heat your hooks, unless you are working in extreme cold conditions. You can if you want; you can put them on a hot plate, or put them on a piece of wood and let a 100 watt bulb shine on them. Like cz75b mentioned don’t overheat the hooks because they will lose their temper, especially the thin aberdeen hooks. As far as which hooks pour more completely, I would say aberdeen, because they are the thinnest, and heat the quickest. You mentioned you have the Snootie jig mold. I have both of them and they are the easiest to pour, because they have very little detail. The Snootie mold has a ball collar and no barb. Jigs with a barb are the most troublesome, because the lead doesn’t want to fill the barb area. I will tell you that every mold that is made is not identical. If you and I bought the same mold on the same day, I may get one that pours perfectly, and you may get one that has problems with it. All the molds from Do-It are cast, and then the faces are machined for flatness. I also got this other information from them, which may be helpful. All of their molds are tested so they only pour soft lead. If you use anything else you may have problems. Also soft lead shrinks when it cools and hard lead expands when cools according to them. So if you use soft lead your jigs should pour full and release from the mold easier. Here again all of this is based on perfect conditions. I too have problems from time to time so you’re not the only one out there frustrated. Just some more food for thought.

Timbotide, PM me your e-mail address, and I'll get it out to you.

Soonyee, Everyone that I know on this forum is more than willing to help newbies out. You come in heart in hand and these guys will give you all the info you need. As far as the powder paint Yankee Jigger used that he got from me, here is the info on it. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/classified-ads/15083-free-textured-powder-paint.html. This powder is free except for the shipping. This link is from the Classified adds Forum on TU page 3. If you want some sign up and PM me. We can discuss the details

anglerinsider, I am glad you got everything working. You received some of the best info from all of the above posts and guys on this forum. As you pour more and more, you will get better at it, and you will find easier methods and quick tips that will save you time. I among others thank you for sharing all your problems, and then replying with a solution. This will help many newbies into learning how to pour. The nicest thing to see is newbies reading posts and threads, and then asking direct questions. Since you have this dilemma behind you now and learned a big learning curve, you will have fewer if any problems on your other molds you want to purchase. You then can experiment with hard and soft lead ratios if you choose. FYI, I have been pouring for about 10 years, and there are days that things just don't go well and pours don't pour well. On those days you have to walk away and wait for tomorrow. I'm sure you will have some questions down the road. All you have to do is ask, and everyone here will help you out.

anglerinsider First of all I have to give you credit for reading the threads and posts here, you seem to have done your homework. Now for your problem. First of all you mentioned a Lee 10 lb pot. Is that the Lee IV bottom pour? If it isn't and you are using a ladle, then I would personally get away from ladle pouring (Just my opinion). If it is, then I would leave your temp setting on no lower than 7-1/2 on the dial. It sounds exactly like Tim mentioned. Your lead is too hard. Get some soft lead and mix it in, or just pour pure soft lead. I use lead on the harder side but not pure hard lead, and I get excellent pours except on my spinner bait mold I use soft lead. Couple of other things to try. If you have a bottom pour pot, stick the mold sprue opening onto the spout of the pot. This will act as a type of injection system. This does work believe it or not. If that doesn't work, take a business card and tape it onto one half of the inside of the mold. This will give you space between the two halves. What this will do is give you some flash and it should fill the whole cavity. If you are not getting this to fill, then either your lead is too cold, or you are pouring it in too slow, and the lead is not flowing to the bottom of your mold. Another thing make sure you always have a full pot of lead, the Lee IV pot if that's what you have is gravity feed. In another words, the more lead you have in the pot, the faster it will flow. Finally like Tim, I rarely preheat my hooks, once that mold is hot, the hook will get hot once you put it inside the mold. I'm not saying that preheating the hooks doesn't work, because I do, do this sometimes in winter when I'm pouring in my garage. I don't have all the answers, but check all of these options again. I have both of these molds, and they pour fine for me. Remember everything has to be hot, not warm but hot. Good luck and let us know if you solve your problem, and what you did to solve it.........Oh yeah, BTW I think Tim is referring to me. I'm Ted

Bassgrabber, Yes you can get rid of them if they aren't excessively large (wrong choice of words). First of all if you baked them, I'm going to say that it will be tougher to do. If you have not baked them, then you can take a pair of forceps, and grab the hook shank. Now hold the jig with the head up. Now you will take a heat gun, and slowly heat up the jig, so the paint evens out. You will see when this happens. Do not burn the paint, otherwise it will be junk. Naturally this is a last resort to a problem that happens. I would not do this to a hundred jigs. BTW what Fatman said is correct. Way too much paint on the jig, that's why you have drip marks. Good luck remember less paint is better. You can alays add more

I store all my skirt tabs in ziplock baggies, and label the bag with the color number and th manufacturer. This way when I'm running low, I know exactly what color and where to get it from.

Coosaking, all of the suggestions above are good things to try. I will tell you one thing about the Ultra-Minnow Spinnerbait mold, it's that it will not pour with all hard lead. You can do a mix of soft and hard which will work better, but when you get up to the 5/8 oz and up, it will not fill. My 2 spinnerbait molds have vent holes everywhere, and it still did not pour with hard lead. I should know better, but one day I was pouring 3/4 oz spinnerbaits, and I could not get it to pour. Needless to say I have 3 Lee IV pots and the one I was using was hard lead. To my rescue was Basseducer, which reminded me about the soft lead. Once I looked at my pot I figured it out. When I switched to the soft lead, everyone of them poured perfectly. Also heating the hook and the wireform definitely helps.

Yankee jigger, For those that don

Rob, I have done business with Benjamin, and yes definitely great customer service.

Smalljaw, that is exactly what I tried to explain, and didn't do a very good job of it. Tim, when I re-read your post, it look like you are saying the same thing as smalljaw. I would like to apologize to anyone who was confused by what I was trying to say. The picture I posted should have been another thread to avoid this mass of confusion. Smalljaws answer should resolve the question on this thread.