Ogajiga

I can tell you that 2 part Component Systems epoxy is messy, requires toxic MEK thinner, doesn't suspend glitter evenly, working and set times are affected by weather, and I can no longer find color pigments for it. The finish is fairly even and glossy but at least two coats are needed for minimal chip resistance. Brush cleaning is tricky and I use a triple thinner rinse to get most of the pain out of the bristles.

Used good ol' American Rosco cranes in my trolling sinkers for many years until I discovered some Korean mfg. ones that were much smoother spinning. But that mfg. was moved to China and the last batch of swivels were of such poor quality I sent em back to the distributor. Anyone know a source of quality import probably crane swivels in lots of 5,000 to 10,000 ?

Do-it just came out with a bunch of screw lock shakey molds. See em on Barlows website http://www.barlowstackle.com/new-fishing-tackle.html

If you need the 1/32 & 1/16 with oversize hooks I've got molds set up for a few non-standard options.

I read that Coleman stove fuel burns much hotter than propane but haven't actually fired a camp stove to the 700+ degree temps needed to work with scrap lead. I use an inexpensive cast iron propane burner with a 3 qt. stainless steel cooking pot that was discarded at a rural dump site because it had a broken handle and works fine for melting 30# of scrap at a time - a 4 lb. pot sounds very inconvenient. I would suggest avoiding aluminum pots which can melt down and aluminum ingot molds with a handle that can break off.

Yes, I wonder if tungsten powder couldn't be integrated into a soft plastic lure? A little bit in the belly portion would give the lure a top-bottom orientation and provide casting & sinking weight? Oops, that might hurt my bizness.

Hey, you guys know a lot of outside the box supply tricks. No target range here - practice area is the forest or vacant lot next door. No mistaking the sound of a busted cap with a firecracker and New Years sounds more like a war than a holiday. Couple of metals market websites lists the current price of lead as $1,900 - $2,900 per ton(confusing) which is equivelant to $.95 - $1.45 per lb. at the industrial supply level and I don't see how metals dealers can continue to supply us at $1 per lb.? Our main Hawaii wholesale tackle distributor imports sinkers from Thailand and retail is now $.20 -.27 per oz. for banks.

According to the Tru-Tungsten website, their product is 97% metal. And from Google links, the melting point of tungsten is 6,192*F., a cast iron pot 2,795*F, and an aluminum(pure) mold 1,221*F. I actually melted an aluminum pot when first starting lead casting - good thing my work table had a sheet aluminum top. Still a big blob of aluminum welded on the table as a reminder.

For the past 10 years I've been getting decent scrap lead from our local junk yard for $.45 per lb. and tire shop used wheel weights for $30 per 100 lb. bucket. But now our junk yard closed down and only 1 of 5 tire shops still sells to the public so the only pick up supply is a metals recycler at $1 per lb. How are you guys doing with lead supply? I found some metals market info at this site but its a bit confusing. http://mineralprices.com/

Found this doing a Google of tungsten toxicity: "In the USSR since 1950, the toxicological and environmental effects of tungsten were investigated, including tungsten concentrations in natural and contaminated soils and water reservoirs; tungsten uptake by plants; and tungsten toxicity. Environmental regulations of tungsten pollution were then developed based on these studies: tungsten was assigned to the 3rd toxicity group (moderate dangerous chemical compounds) for air in the populated areas and soil, and to the 2nd toxicity group (higher dangerous chemical compounds) for water reservoirs."

If you're willing to pay around $20 per lb. bismuth metal has similar melting and pouring properties as lead. It's melting point at 520* is actually less than lead at 622*. Weighs about 85% as much as lead compared to tin at 63%. Bismuth is a bit brittle but not a problem as long as you don't bounce above the surface rocks or other hard objects. Alloying with tin will strengthen and impart a shinier finish to castings though the alloy will be lightened in proportion to the amount of tin. Bismuth/tin alloys will have lower melting points than the pure metals and heating to 350* for powder paint may not be possible. Both metals are considered environmentally friendly.

Shorty's Hook Sales has the 7/0 & 8/0 32786 BLN listed. Gotta buy by the 1,000 but best prices I know of. email: shortys@socket.net

Being a modest hand pour business here in Hawaii sinker orders far outweigh jig heads and I'd be sunk without blob castings for the locals. Website mail orders are just a little icing. Wondering how it is out your way?

Not meaning to waste your time but a PA bud set up a brown senko trailer on a jig and decided to call it a "bass-turd".

Thanks for the link Fish Devil - didn't know the FBI could get involved. Didn't expect any other solution possibilities - mostly just posting info about D&D Lures rip-off. Both the USA Better Business Bureau and Canadian RECOL were a waste of time. The Windsor(Canada) Chamber of Commerce website claimed they investigate local business malpractice but after spending a good bit of time filling out their form online it wouldn't submit - my guess is USA originated claims are auto-rejected.

Ain't taking me alive when I'm escaping out here. Anyways, even the Dog wouldn't hike out to this salty Puna lava coast spot. Mess up his metal and boots bad. Look at my jeans!

Never knew Mustad hooks are made in China now, until mentioned in TU posts. I had noticed years ago the boxes changed and had a "Key Brand Fish Hooks" logo added but thought that was just corporate restructuring. Oooh, now it makes sense why Mustad 34184 jig hook quality became bad enough that I switched entirely to lesser strength but better point EC 413. And now, EC 413 is made in China with an unacceptable amount of very strange hair thin point tips you could fold with finger pressure. With the exception of still decent Mustad Ultra Points here's a message to hook "manufacturers" Eagle Claw, Matzuo, & Mustad: I WON'T BUY ANY MORE OF YOUR CRAPPY CHINESE HOOKS!! OK, next.

The #2 Sickle reds I just got were back ordered for 6 months so maybe Shorty's got #4 as well. Main problem was twisted eyes so if your mold can take em like that you could probably get by with using em out of the box. Just keep an eye out for bad points and squeeze tight to compress the side bends in the point legs.

I've got a few friends who really like them so I keep a few inventoried. I expect to spend a few evenings per box sorting out the mangled and out bent throwaways and tweaking twisted eyes and repairable off bends. But I just got a box of #2 reds that only netted 900 useable even after substantial tweaks - seems this batch is brittle tempered so many of the twisted eyes snapped off when attempting to straighten. Sorry to seem like a complainer but I thought it would be of value to share product gripes.

About 4 years ago Dave Drouillard from D&D Lures in Canada emailed my website offering "like Gamakatsu" hooks & swivels at factory direct prices. Samples & prices looked good so I ordered huge. Samples were better than actual production batches so quality was mediocre but usable except for a batch of #7 roller swivels that turned out to be tiny Korean size 7s and #1 red & bronze jig hooks which had curiously 100% mixed up too long or too short offsized eye legs. Also #8 hooks invoiced & paid for in advance were missing & unavailable. After some huffing Mr. Drouillard agreed to a return for credit which led to a year of runaround not receiving my credit value items. Finally requested his "90 day money back guarantee" and never got it. Filed complaints with RECOL(Canada) and I forget which USA gov agency and got no replies from either. My attorney father-in-law advised that $800 was too small an amount to litigate. Any comments or suggestions?

I respect and appreciate every opinion - keep em coming. Speaking of China, I just finished sorting out 250 or so bad point throwaways from a box of EC 635SR 1/0 which was a replacement sent by EC for 250 rejects returned to em from the last box. Also just returned EC 413 1/0 & 2/0 to Shortys unsorted when I pulled a few and saw the same problem. Heads up on EC O'Shaughnessys in the new blue eagle on white boxes without "made in USA" or "American made" labels.

I hear ya - not into blind dates. Might take awhile to research the site & figure out how to pic post.

Howdo, new guy here. Been holding at 32746 Ultra Points as my top end but noticed on this site that Gami jig hooks are the preferred premium with Owners close behind. So now I'm seriously considering upgrading and wondering if Gamakatsus are worth over 2x the price of Ultras, both as a user and commercial caster? Any opinions will be appreciated - Thank you.

Cadman mentioned that he uses 50-50 hard(wheel weights) mixed with soft(flashing). If thats still too hard for complete fill out in your mold you can try 75(soft)-25(hard). Last resort would be 100% soft flashing.