Ogajiga

Thanks for the reply Dave, think that worked fine. By the way mods, 500 kb total limit won't even fit 1 pic from modern cams.

"If you need to contact a moderator, or simply wish to view the complete administration team, you can click the link 'The moderating team' found at the bottom of the main board page." Can't find it - need to extend my attachment upload capacity to post pic.

The proprietor of this website emailed me today offering custom molds. www.grandpabobscustomjigs.com

"cadman", yes, I was upset enuf to research revenge options - figured the $ was gone but I could still initiate criminal investigation for larceny in-state and wire fraud at the fed level. Was about ready to go, but while pouring one of the mold maker's masterpieces realized how fortunate I was to have it, and reading online he was recuperating from back surgery decided to chill and let it go. Glad I did.

Luckily, a forum member informed me that the Virginia mold maker was apparently back in bizness and answering emails. To the point, finally got my molds delivered last week. Quality is the usual extraordinary, up a notch maybe - no doubting the mold makers talent & skill, hope the customer service remains reasonable. Thanks to "CHAMPION-206" for the heads up!!

Thats a good one!

"Stick", I learned about identifying and avoiding zinc wheel weight contamination on this board thanks to "sagacious". Here's the post thread. Zinc Wheel Weights x2 - "kelly", what is the drop test?

I consider stick on wheel weights a good source of 99+% soft lead, but it is a tedious cleanup that requires soaking in paint thinner till plastic adhesive strip detaches, then separating plastic trash from useable metal. Thinner also remove most of the grease & grime crud which eventually settles to the bottom and the clear portion can be poured off for re-use. I prefer to break longer WW strips into smaller straight segments for soaking in a plastic bucket with lid.

CG, since you mentioned obtaining pure lead as a starting point, thought you might be interested in creating specific compostion alloys, which Lyman #2 allows - for example mixing equal parts L2 with pure = Pb95 Sn2.5 Sb2.5 which would be approx. the hardness of wheel weights with a higher tin content. You might already know that antimony is a hardener and 2-5%tin generally improves pourability and corrosion resistance. But, as BBK mentions, clip wheel weight lead is a more economical hard lead solution. My best guess is that clip wheel weight batches will vary between 2-3% antimony and .5-.7% tin.

CG, make sure the eBay vendors are knowledgeable about avoiding zinc contamination in recycling wheel weight lead. You takes your chances on eBay - I just bought what looked like wire solder that instead appears to be an odd high antimony alloy estimated by weight at 21%. PM me if you'd like to try some Lyman #2(Pb90-Sn5-Sb5) for more controllable hard lead alloy tinkering. You probably already know - Pb=lead, Sn=tin, Sb=antimony.

The link "dlaery" posted about lead casting alloys was the best I've ever seen, almost as good as info posted by "sagacious". Particularly useful was the mention of 6% antimonial lead for sheathing & pipe, which explains the hardness of some scrap I had that is usually soft.

Some of my molds will only pour with pure or very soft lead.

Yes, the Bi95 Sn5 alloy is probably close to pure bismuth expansion. I thought the physical obstruction features in the mold cavity + adding draft angle were addressed by grinding & smoothing, but apparently not enuf. I'm wondering if brass adheres bismuth more than aluminum at a molecular or atomic level, considering that the hotter the brass mold gets the greater the locking problem? Think I'm done modifying - the formerly flat bottom jig head is starting to look keeled.

Don't know if this info is useful to anyone, since most don't pour bismuth alloys or use brass molds, but...the "fixed" mold which released a few test castings OK previously locked up jig heads again when hot, just as bad as before. I have no idea why, since lead releases butter smooth and all the Do-its I use to pour bismuth don't stick enuf to be a problem. The small 1/4 oz. jig head design is simple, no features that I can see that would grab enuf to lock in a casting.

GD, here's a multi-cav custom mold maker. Check his stock mold list - might have what you want. I haven't tried him yet, but one of our FL members says he's a nice guy in person. Ace Hand Molds

GD, modifying a mold for heavier hooks is a fairly common Do-it yourself project. Quite a few TU members post that they use a Dremel, I prefer a drill press, and a surprising # of posters have access to machine shop tools including CNC mills. Mostly just enlarging eye slots and hook shank channels to fit. Another option, which I haven't tried since I don't fish weedless, would be to cut a Round Head mold slot to fit a weedguard - a single wire guard mod could probably be scribed with an awl or hand held Dremel bit in soft aluminum.

In case anyone is wondering how a custom machined mold could need repair, it actually wasn't being a melt cast brass mold. The cavity face had irregularities from the cooling metal which didn't significantly affect lead pouring other than cosmetically, but the little bumps & ridges had to be smoothed out to mitigate bismuth alloy sticking.

Coincidentally, I just ran into a sticking problem when I switched from pouring lead to bismuth/tin alloy in a custom brass mold. Unlike shrinking lead, bismuth expands when cooling, & the sprue would break off leaving the 1/4 oz. jig head so stuck only a hammered awl on the break scar could release the casting. Candle smoking didn't help. Finally spent many hours leveling out high spots with Dremel cutters(manually like GL Man)& finish polishing with rubbing compound & a wooden matchstick, and Voila, problem solved, today in fact. Well actually, it took about four attempts & a lot of 4 letter words... So, I would conclude that sticking castings, especially lead, are the result of mold cavity defects which should be repaired. Think of freezing water in it's plastic bottle, no way the ice can be removed with the ridges and necked down opening. Do-its generally don't have serious design or production defects problems, but I've gotten a few with excessive "orange peel" ruff textured cavities that needed smoothing & polishing to release castings smoothly, mostly bismuth alloy, tho a really ruff one can grip lead pretty good too.

Not wanting to sound like a know it all wise ass, but it seems everything worth copying eventually gets knocked off. Even the notoriously defended RoadRunner & Chatterbait can only retain trade name rights, as modified clones have popped up like mushrooms on cow patty. But thats life, more copiers than creators, and big money usually wins.

I once ruined a mold by Dremeling out a bit too much metal - resulted in the deeper part of the mold cavity being wider than the top face. You can figure the result.

Here's some dated info on swivels: until 2 years ago I was using about 10,000 #7 nickel cranes annually for trolling sinkers. But, the quality of the Chinese mfg. crashed below acceptable & I was unable to find a reasonably priced replacement. Worth at $65 per 1,000 was more than I wanted to pay. Ordered, & sent back 10,000 USA mfg. Rosco cranes which were too ruff spinning. Lakeland swivels(imported) were also a bit pricey, tho the samples I got were marginally acceptable. Being closer to Asia than the USA, perhaps you can select & source imported in AU? In their prime, the China swivels I was getting were superb quality. I just got today some Rosco distributed China mfg. Romar line lock swivels which quality appears to have slipped some but still usable to my standards.

Got a High Tech custom 1/4 oz. simple design no collar jig head mold & it pours an almost exact replica of my model. Wasn't a "high quality aluminum CNC machined mold" like the one "jdr418" got but was old school functional & I'm pleased. Waiting time was 3-1/2 months & price was reasonable.

BLT, have you considered modifying your Bullet Jig mold for heavier hooks? 635s work way better than light wire for SW in my 1/8 & 1/4 Do-it Walleye jigs.

PJ, brass is OK, but I've switched to stainless steel eyelets for SW trolling sinkers. Based on a few years experience shaping surfboards, I know that compared to flat surfaces, concaves increase water pressure on wetted surfaces, & channels directionally relieve it. So, I would speculate that a top concave would complement a keel resisting spin, and would resist vertical rise when the slab is running horizontally. Probably, the reduced mass of a concave vs. flat top slab would liven the action, and possibly(stretching here) create extra running turbulence which may or may not be attractive. Great improvements - must get your share! BLT, was that a custom shad head mold?

The intricate hydrodynamics of the slab bottom(?) are beyond my understanding. Are those lift indents in the front and is the split front keel designed to minimize spin? Are you pouring with pure tin or an alloy? Any problem with the brass eyes deforming? Lotsa questions, thank you for sharing.