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Everything posted by Kasilofchrisn
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You might be on to something there! I'm out of town for work but when I get home I'll try out some of the swivels I have or pick some up at the local tackle shop. If nothing else I could cut a barrel swivel in half and have two eyelets from each one.
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I didn't see anything on the O'Hare website that was close enough for me to make work. Also the price they want is a bit much. I really don't want to spend $150 or more for inserts for a mold that cost me $32. I don't need a thousand of them. At least not at this point anyway.
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I don't think that's going to work very well. Quite likely I would destroy some of the cavities in the mold attempting to do this with my dremel. Or at least modifying this mold would be one of my last resorts.
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So I ordered a couple mold from Bug molds off of eBay. The molds come from Ukraine and he does not offer inserts for these molds. The mold are nice and I think they will work well, but I'm having trouble finding a sinker eye to fit them. Even a number 0 sinker eye is to big. I've tried making my own using nesting pliers, round nose pliers, etc and all of that but it's kind of a pain and hard to get it exactly right every time. I have thought about building a wire bending jig and tool like the ones made on the Engineered Anglers channel on YouTube. But that is some extra work and even then I'm not sure it will work the way I need it to. I tried my little blue Bender, my Hagen's wire former and my Twistech and they all make an eye that is too big. I mistakenly assumed these molds would be made to accommodate a standard size 0 sinker eye or another standard sinker eye that I could purchase here in the US. I thought maybe someone here might know of a source of a smaller sinker eye. Maybe something in metric from over in Europe that could be purchased online? Or if you have any other ideas that might be helpful let me know.
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does anyone powder coat lead bullet WORM weights for inline spinners?
Kasilofchrisn replied to flymoron's topic in Wire Baits
Yes, this is pretty common. At least for me it is. I'm sure others do it as well. After dipping I space them out on a piece of stiff wire. I have hooks hanging in my oven and the wire just rests on that while they cure. -
No problem! That's why tyvek is often used as a vapor barrier in home construction. It is designed to allow moisture to escape but not come in.
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I guess you just have to be smarter than your average bear to work with lead. Probably the reason most of us on this forum who haveworked with lead for years are not dead yet. When you talk about grinding, sanding, and carving here's my take: I have never used any electric tools with my lead. I don't use an electric grinder of any kind I've never sanded on the lead and I dare say my arms aren't strong enough nor my knives sharp enough to carve the stuff! What needs cleaned up is done with knippers and a hand file only. The filing is usually done over an old cookie sheet and is then dumped in the pot for reuse. As far as fumes go that is mitigated in a few different ways. 1) opening a window and cracking a door to get the proper cross flow ventilation. Sometimes a box fan is used if needed. 2) I use a lead thermometer to keep my temperatures down below the point at which lead throws off toxic fumes. 3) all scrap lead is melted outside where all the dirt and gunk can cook off before the dross is skimmed and then triple fluxed before being made into clean ingots. Only clean ingots are allowed to be melted in my workshop (garage). Since I know that I'm smart enough to safely work with lead and I trust myself to follow the proper procedures in doing so as well as annual blood test to verify that I'm not poisoning myself for me the benefits definitely outweigh the risks. It's a very fun and rewarding hobby that makes custom tackle that works better than anything you can buy at the store. But if I was not smart enough to properly handle this or I did not trust myself to follow proper safety procedures then I would agree with you. I have to wonder why you don't trust yourself to follow basic lead safety precautions? Why Is it that you feel that you cannot safely accomplish this task? It seems to me that that's what you are saying is that you don't feel that you can safely work with lead. Which sounds to me like you don't trust yourself to follow basic safety precautions and/or that you don't have an appropriate place to safely do this. Thank God I know how to follow safety precautions or I'd have been dead a very long time ago. Of all the things I do on a regular basis there are a lot of things that I consider more dangerous than working with lead!
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I thought about this and felt I should add to what I said above. And that is that not everyone should work with lead. For instance if you live in an apartment or someplace where it isn't safe to work with lead then you shouldn't. If you have young children and you cannot separate them from your lead casting area then you probably shouldn't work with lead. If the only area available to you to work with lead is on your kitchen stove then I recommend you don't work with lead The ability to safely work with lead means you have an area you can work in that is free of pets, young children, etc. One that you can properly ventilate. For me it is my garage. Others may have a dedicated space in their shop, a work shed, or what have you. So having a proper place to work with lead should also be a consideration on whether it is safe for you to work with or not.
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I've been casting lead for 15 plus years. During part of that time I also worked in a lead mine. I cleaned lead tanks that were coated in 18 in thick lead concentrate on all the walls and floor. We also shoveled literal tons of lead dust out of the concentrate storage building that had accumulated in areas it was not supposed to. I literally ended many days covered head to toe in lead Yes I wore a respirator while doing this as well as other PPE. We also showered in the locker room before heading back to camp and took various other safety precautions. Our blood lead levels were tested every 3 months. My lead level currently sits at 3.5 mcdl as it is part of my current job to get a full physical every year including lead testing. 3.5 mcdl is not very high. Back in the 1970s the average Americans lead level was over 17 mcgl. That of course was due to the use of Tetraethyl gasoline particularly in our major cities. If you take basic lead safety precautions while working with it at home you are not at serious risk of lead poisoning. Personally I'm more worried about burning my fingers while loading hooks into a hot mold or splashing lead on myself then I'm worried about getting lead poisoning. Obviously you are too scared to work with lead and should not do so because of that. If you cannot trust yourself to work with lead you certainly shouldn't be working with it. But a person can safely work with lead a fact many of us have proven. I know that I am smart enough to safely work with lead and that's why I continue to do so. But I understand not everybody can trust themselves or be smart enough to safely work with lead. We have had members of this forum whose lead levels became seriously elevated because they did not take proper safety precautions. As I recall one gentleman was smoking with lead coated fingers and that was the cause of his elevated lead levels. When I've let kids make jigs in my workshop I do all of the casting and all they do is paint them. So long story short some of us continue to work with lead because we're smart enough to do so safely in a manner that produces some amazing tackle unavailable anywhere else. Lead casting isn't for everyone though. And if you don't feel comfortable or can't trust yourself to do it then don't!
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It looks to be a standard "swing" blade. This lure should easily be made on any wireformer. https://barlowstackle.com/Swing-Blades-Nickel-Finish-P2530/
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For me it depends on the pot and the mold. For instance if I'm using a do-it mold and one of my bottom pour pots I'll usually just stick the mold on top of the pot while the lead heats up. But if I'm using my large 50 lb lead pot on my turkey fryer burner to do some rather large jigs such as my saltwater jigs/sinkers that could weigh up to a few pounds each here's what I do. My turkey fryer burner has extra space around the outside of the lead pot. So I can place three molds around the pot preheating. That way if I'm switching molds and only making a few of each jig I always have one that's preheated. For keeping the hooks warm I have a 20 lb cast iron lead pot and I use my plumbers torch to heat it up and I just stick the hooks in there. The cast iron holds the heat for a bit. I do have a heated garage but sometimes the hooks are a little cool so after sticking them in the pot I'll wave the torch over them for a few seconds just to get them warmed up a bit. I do use dropout in all of my lead molds and that helps pouring as well.
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I certainly wouldn't use my flush cut nippers for tiles. Not sure what you're referring to there. I have a pair of flush cutters that I bought from Barlow's they call them gate cutters. https://barlowstackle.com/gate-cutter-575-p2681/ But I also bought a pair of these from my local hardware store. They're similar to a pair of regular wire cutters except they cut flush to whatever you're cutting such as a jig head. Any halfway decent hardware store should have a pair of one brand or another. https://channellock.com/product/758/
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I use flush cut nippers. And if needed hit them with a little file. I bought a hobby file set from The hobby and Craft store that has four different files and a handle. Works great even on the small jigs.
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The Twistech Magnum is designed for up to .051 wire. And should easily make spreader rigs or bottom bouncers. From watching videos on the Boggs I just can't see how it would be any easier to make an umbrella rig on one of them. I don't think it would be easy to modify the Boggs either. So I can see why you stuck with the Hagens especially since you made it work for you. Good luck and good fishing to you!
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It would be interesting to hear what you didn't like about the Twistech. I find mine to be an excellent wire former and I'm quite pleased with it. I even like it better than my Hagens. I've watched a few YouTube videos on the Boggs and I think the Hagens and twistech are just far superior machines. I seriously doubt the Boggs would work at all for an umbrella rig. But I'm glad you worked it out with your Hagens!
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I use holographic foil or a similar plain gold foil to get a decent gold look. Also gets a decent silver or Chrome look by switching colors. Lots of shiny foil colors available from red, green,blue, etc. and some of the holographic ones really pop. And the foil is pretty inexpensive to buy.
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I use an airbrush compressor with mine. I have two guns hooked up using a tee fitting. I keep the pressure real low. As in less than 2 PSI iirc. You really don't need much air pressure.
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I doubt your umbrella rig will fit in a Boggs. It limits your length too much. I would buy a Twistech if I were you. No length limit on a Twistech! I have a Twistech and a Twistech Magnum. They are my favorite wire former at the moment. I have a Hagens as well and I do like it but I just like the Twistech a little better.
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the red lettering from the envelope should be facing down. They are designed to let moisture out but not in so that would give you the best air flow.
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You might try Bob lalonde at cNc molds N stuff. http://www.cncmolds.com/webstore/ He's made a couple molds for me and I'm quite happy with them.
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I would bet it's easier to dig it out and start over. Cured silicone like that is hard to shape or cut precisely.
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I buy a lot of eagle claw hooks and I only get a bad one every few hundred hooks. To be honest I don't remember the last time I got a bad one. I mostly order from Barlow's but I don't know that that makes a difference. I'm sure if you call LPO they'll make it right with you somehow.
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jig heads melting while curing powder coat
Kasilofchrisn replied to mark poulson's topic in Wire Baits
Being as tin retails for $20 lb and lead at $2 or less(my last batch was $.95 locally) I doubt they did it to save money. Most likely for the weight as tin weighs 1/3 less than lead. -
I have a corded DeWalt heat gun and I really like it. Especially like the infinite temperature adjustment on the back. When I make jigs out of tin or when I make bladed ice jigs that are made with solder it is so nice to be able to turn down the heat so it can't melt my jigs but heats them up hot enough to powder paint. It still has a high and low fan setting but infinite adjustment on the back. I don't think I will ever go back to a standard heat gun with only high and low settings. I've owned mine for several years so I'm not sure on the price but I think they retail for around $80
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jig heads melting while curing powder coat
Kasilofchrisn replied to mark poulson's topic in Wire Baits
Even at 400°f that wouldn't melt your lead. In fact many of the powder paints I use actually recommend curing at 400° f. But a toaster oven being off 50° wouldn't be strange at all either.