Peterjay

When I was digging around for tin sources, I found some lead-free solder that was 95/5 tin/antimony at a plumbing supply place. A friend of mine used it to cast some jigs for an article he was writing and it worked fine, but the price was brutal. (I think you can find some online that's more reasonable) Now, I buy pure tin ingots from Rotometals in 10-pound batches to get the free shipping. I use a Do-It mold to cast flutter jigs, and like Pete says, it works great with tin.

All this is starting to remind me of the Great Toilet Paper Shortage that struck the United States back in 1973. Of course, the shortage was nothing more than a baseless rumor, but that didn't stop panicked consumers from storming the supermarkets and stripping the shelves of every last roll. I actually saw a guy in a large pickup truck drive past with the entire truck bed piled high with cases of toilet paper. His unfortunate wife was riding back there as well, holding down the cargo. Folks who refused to take part in the stampede often found themselves in the unenviable position of being forced to make do with old newspapers and leftover fast food wrappers. Guess you could say they were wiped out in the panic. Nobody knows who started the rumor, but if the balsa situation reaches the point where desperate lure builders start donning masks and snatching balsa gliders from kids in the park, we can probably trace this one back to Pete.

Like Diemai said, tin is probably your best option if you want to stick to metal. The price has been up lately (U.S. $12/pound) but if you're just making crappie jigs for personal use, a pound will go a very long way. I can make a fully rigged 2 ounce striper jig for a little over $2 worth of materials; a crappie jig would be a small fraction of that. It weighs about 2/3 what lead weighs and has a lower melting point. It's eco-friendly, and unlike lead, there are few or no health risks associated with the casting process. (unless you try to drink it LOL) Another benefit is that it doesn't require painting - tin has a beautiful luster that pretty much stays put over time. It's nice stuff to work with.

I've been using molded eyes on flies for years and they rarely fall off. My system consists of wrapping the end of a toothpick or skewer or flat coffee stirrer with double sided tape. I use it to pick up the eye on the rounded side and put a small dab of GOOP on the flat side. Press the eye firmly into place and roll the toothpick gently off the eye. Be sure to use only a small dab, as you don't want it coming out around the edges of the eyes. I've just started casting tins, but the ones I've tested have stayed on so far. I've been doing this with flies for close to 20 years, and I've found that GOOP holds much better that the superglues I've tried.

Thanks for posting Geppa; very nice work.

If you can't find the 2T, the Flex-coat that rod builders use is pretty good stuff with a similar working time. Not everybody carries 2T - in New England, you can get it at Benny's Home and Auto. I think some guys in another thread mentioned getting it at Ace Hardware. Thinning it a bit with alcohol like JSC mentioned will extend your working time. The 5 minute stuff will turn yellow very quickly anyway, especially if it's exposed to daylight. That stuff's only good if you're in a hurry.

Whatever you do, don't drop it in the snow. I have a similar problem with my Samoyed. The only way I can find him in a snowstorm is to watch the shrubbery for a yellow stream and pounce on him before he's finished.

I've used the "dab" method occasionally when I've missed a spot on an epoxy fly. Seems to work fine, but just be careful not to overdo it or you'll wind up with a bump. (not that the fish would care) The dab seems to adhere to the epoxy it comes into contact with. I don't have any experience with epoxying plugs, but I suppose epoxy is epoxy.

Check out the cosmetics department at Walmart. They have some wild colors, some with glitter, some pearl, in various brands. Only a couple of bucks apiece. Put two or three coats of clear Hard As Nails over the colors and it adds a nice professional touch. Back in the 1940's and 50's a lot of surfcasters in our area made their own tin jigs; they often dressed the hook and used red nail polish on the heads. They used to say it made the lure look like a wounded baitfish, but I suspect a lot of them were secretly painting their toenails. Guess we'll never know for sure.

Gary, I'd probably save the green tea and diamond powder for brown trout. Bass and pike are much less snooty, and are more apt to settle for something less sophisticated. I think I'll go "assemble" myself a cup of coffee. I believe it was "formulated" in Columbia, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, what John said. "Sally Hansen Hard As Nails With Nylon" nail polish is probably the best head cement on the planet. I use multiple coats of clear when I don't feel like messing with epoxy. I wrap all my my saltwater fly heads with Krystal Flash under Sally Hansen or epoxy, and it makes for a nice iridescent effect. All the saltwater guys I know use Sally Hansen, and judging from what I see on flytying forums, it's used extensively in other parts of the country as well. Very tough stuff. BTW, coloring epoxy is also very easy if you'd want to try that.

The only thing I'd add is that regular old rubbing alcohol does a nice job of cleaning up, especially if you get the epoxy on your hands.

Hammy, there's still plenty of time before May to prepare a strategy if your fishing/lure making life is to continue. The following advice comes from one who has been there more times than I'd like to admit. 1) Tell your lovely bride that you earn about 75% of what you really make. If she already knows, come home some night crying about the 25% pay cut you were forced to take to keep the company in business. The economy being what it is, it's entirely plausible. If she happens to work where you work, you're already screwed, so don't waste your time reading the rest of this. 2) Take the 25% and establish yourself a secret slush fund. Keep it in cash and leave no Gander Mountain receipts or other incriminating documents lying around, especially in your wallet or pockets, which wives love to secretly examine at every opportunity. 3) Safe deposit boxes require keys, which would require an explanation if discovered, so your best bet would be to find an impenetrable hiding place around the house in a spot where no modern woman ever goes. I would suggest the kitchen. 4) When your wife becomes suspicious (as she surely will) as to where all this stuff is coming from, tell her about the amazing "90% off" sales that companies like Netcraft, Cabelas, etc. have on a weekly basis. If she asks how they stay in business, tell her they make it up in volume. Then immediately change the subject before she has a chance to think about it. 5) If the aforementioned plan is to work, you must never; I repeat, NEVER, let your wife see a paycheck. If the worst happens and she stumbles onto one, tell her about all the overtime you put in last week while she was shopping for shoes and getting her hair done. A nice touch here would be to feign anger and stomp out of the room muttering about how the OT was a one-time deal and the boss's son gets it all when it's available anyway. Learning to think on your feet is a vital skill for any married man. 6) Never let your guard down. Should your wife ever trick you into absentmindedly agreeing to let her sign your checks and deposit them in the bank, you might as well sell your fishing stuff and buy a cribbage board, because that's what your recreation will consist of from that point on. Hammy, I wish you luck. The above information should at least give you a fighting chance. I wish somebody had been around to tell me this stuff before I bit the bullet. Most of us learn these lessons after it's too late. Way too late.

You might want to put it toward one of those plastic rainproof dog houses, since that's where you'll be living when your wife finally figures out that you've spent $1,000 to make a few $5 lures. (if you aren't married, give yourself a pat on the back) Seriously, I haven't been in a Gander Mountain for a while, but I used to buy a lot of hooks from them. You can't have too many hooks, as long as they're the kind you'll end up using. Don't forget to check out the fly tying department - there might be something there that catches your eye and could prove useful. Have fun shopping.

All of the above. We were discussing the same issue in another recent thread - if you aren't already heating your hooks before putting them in the mold, (and the mold itself) that would almost certainly improve your results and maybe solve your problem. Any step you can take to keep the metal hot for as long as possible will help. I've been pouring 2-3 ounce tin lures, and a Hot Pot 2 works very well for me as long as I keep the mold and inserts hot. I think it holds 4 pounds of lead and goes for about $40-$50. I'm usually ready to quit before the ladle is empty, and I never fill it to the max.

Great idea - that's one way to get nice even stripes. I tie mostly for salt water, so I've gotten into the habit of using epoxy on just about everything except for woolly buggers. The hackles get ripped up after a few fish anyway, so it's not worth the effort to epoxy the heads. Another source I've found for popper material is the buoys they use on lobster pots. I like to prowl the beaches after big storms and occasionally, a buoy will break loose and wash up. Of course, it helps to live near the ocean.

I was poking around in Michael's yesterday and in the kiddie craft section I happened to notice some big block letters made of the same type of closed cell foam that is used to make popper heads. They go for $1 apiece and come in blue, light green/chartreuse and pink. It occurred to me that all you'd have to do is take some copper tubing and sharpen the ends a bit and you could punch out a bunch of panfish/bass poppers at very little cost. This stuff takes acrylic craft paint very well and with an epoxy topcoat, you'd be all set.

Sorry Cadman - didn't mean to step on you. I've gotta learn to type a little faster. (LOL)

I doubt it was the soot - next time, just heat up the hook in a way that doesn't produce soot and see what happens. I suspect you've been using cold hooks and the metal has been cooling and "grabbing" before it has a chance to reach the collar. The closer you can get the temperature of your mold and inserts to the temperature of the metal, the more time the metal will have to fill the mold before it solidifies.

Don't know if this is relevant or not, but I've been hand-pouring tin jigs using thru-wire forms, and I was having a somewhat similar problem: there were holes in the tin where the form was showing through. I started heating the forms before I put them in the mold and the problem went away. I suppose you could try the same with your hooks. I use a Hot Pot 2, so it was a simple matter of putting the forms on the metal stand that holds the ladle and letting them heat up while the tin was melting.

GT, you could certainly make a mold and cast yourself some king-sized spoons from tin, but you're still looking at a steep learning curve and considerable expense. Tin goes for about $12 U.S./pound and silicone rubber mold material goes for $25/$30 per pound, depending on what kind you use. (and you'd most likely go through plenty of it) You could have a metal mold cast or machined from your prototype, but you'd be talking about a pretty substantial outlay. If it were my problem to solve, I'd definitely try the tin route, but fashioning them from sheet metal like RG suggested probably makes a lot more sense.

I'm not really sure what you're looking for either, but as far as I know, spoons are usually stamped out of sheet brass or steel. I work with tin a bit, and it would certainly be suitable for big spoons, but it would involve making a mold and casting the metal. I'll guarantee you'd be the only guy on the block with a few 24 ounce tin spoons in his bag.

Google Rotometals and check out what they have. I buy my tin from them, and the service has been very good.

Ooops. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the maximum size on this site is 600 pixels. My mistake.

Robbor, I know this is an old thread, but if you still haven't figured it out, just click on the image, pull down under "file" and select "export." From the menu, select JPG. You'll see "no larger than." Type in whatever size you want for the largest dimension and go on from there. Anything between 800 - 1000 pixels is fine for posting. The app will constrain proportions for you.