Search the Community

Hi all, I am very new to pouring my own sinkers. I have read through some of the other threads regarding oxidation layers rising to the top of my lead pool. I am using the small Palmer Hot Pot Melter 2 to make sinkers. There is a significant amount of orange colored oxide forming at the base of my melting pot. It looks like Iron Oxide (Regular rust), but could it be oxidized lead? I am worried that I am going to corrode out the bottom of my pot and have a lead spill... I notice that at a certain point in heating, the oxidation layer begins to rapidly rise to the top. Each time I spoon it off, a new layer has already formed. I also noticed that if I scrape the bottom of the pot very lightly with the spoon while the lead is at this temperature, some of the oxide powder seems to be liberated from the base of the bowl and rise to the surface, where I spoon it off as well. I was thinking it could just be other metal impurities that have become snagged on the bottom of the bowl, but when I pour all of the lead out there seems to be quite a bit of that orange colored oxide all along the bottom of the bowl. To mitigate any potential rapid corrosion I have been unplugging the pot from the wall as soon as the oxide layer begins to form faster than I can spoon it off (no temperature control; the manufacturer claims the element gets to the 'perfect temperature' by just plugging it in...) Just want to be safe. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

I recently picked up a number of older molds. One is a palmer no 203 which is a larger spoon mold, 3 1/2, 5 and 7 ounce sizes. I have not tried it yet due to a couple concerns. There is a sizable gap between the mold halves, nearly an 1/8 inch. Theres no way it will pour without major lead leakage. The mold appears to have been used with red clay. I cleaned a lot from the inside and outside. Is this mold designed for making "dirt" weights? Any help would be appreciated.

I've been pouring lead baits for about a year now & I've become pretty comfortable with the process. Far from a master, but I'm not unhappy with where I'm at. But my lead pot, that sucker is frustrating me. I first started with a Lee bottom pour pot, but gave up on that due to constant clogging. I switched to a 5703 Lee Precision Melter & ladle pouring & I'm happy with that method. My question is...how do I keep the pot from getting rusty/crusty on the inside? The inner walls are covered with rust crumbs & my lead (after being hot for a bit) often gets a rust colored crunchy film layer on top. I do flux & it helps a bit , but the contaminants on the inner walls of the pot just keep dirtying the lead back up. I am using what I believe to be clean soft lead, I buy it from Lure Parts Online. I don't often have issues with incomplete pouring, but I am looking for ways to keep my furnace & lead cleaner. I don't want to rebuild/replace my furnace every 6-12 months. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been using Loon’s UV clear fly finish THIN to coat and secure my swimjig and bladed jig 3D eyes after sticking them on. I’m finding the coating insufficient at times as the eyes are breaking loose every now and then. Thin is awesome on the threads as finishing cement, but I’m wondering if UV THICK would be a better choice to finish the heads/eyes. Any experience with both to confirm I’m thinking correctly? thx!!

Hey all. Have a few questions but I’ll start with 2 and go from their. 1-whats the easiest way to foil some saltwater diamond, flutter, speed jigs as a diy from home. 2- where is the best place to get foil that have nice holographics or even better would be have fish patternes. Thanks.

Does anyone know where to get this mold to make crankbait belly weights with lead and wire? Or is there a video out there somewhere that shows directions on how to make one of these molds? I've tried making one out of RTV but the wire would not stay verticle in the mold when pouring in the lead. Any info on this would be great!.. I wish Do-it made this mold so I could just buy it and their wireform inserts for it..

Not sure we’re to post this but if anyone knows or has a hilts 3 ounce scampi lead head mold. I’ve looked for one everywhere and the company doesn’t make that one anymore. Is thier places I could look for old lead molds, besides eBay I’ve tried that already. Thanks

Not sure we’re to post this but if anyone knows or has a hilts 3 ounce scampi lead head mold. I’ve looked for one everywhere and the company doesn’t make that one anymore. Is thier places I could look for old lead molds, besides eBay I’ve tried that already. Thanks

I am looking for a flipping jig head with a horizontal line tie like below. The lead head appears to encapsulate the line tie, has a weight forward design and is a little wider than some jigs you find. I just want the jig head, no weedguard, unpainted, no skirt, with a Gamakatsu hook. 1/8" hole for weedguard is fine. 5/16oz and 1/2 oz are preferred weights with corresponding hook sizes 3/0 - 5/0 regular round bend Gamakatsu Hook. Where can I find this? I'd love to find a place or person who makes custom jig heads I can order in bulk but no luck so far. Don't want to pour my own heads, just want to paint, add weedguard and skirt.

I will trade/swap jig heads or hair jigs for soft lead

I need some advice with my split shots. I'm using 99.9% pure lead and my splits are still very hard to open and close. I'm using a Lee 20lb production pot and pure lead! Why are they so hard after pouring?

Starting point for discussion: We will start by using Wheel Weights to increase hardness. Many of us use them as a source of Antimony and they are either free or cheaper than pure lead. lets say we are molding 3/4 oz gigs and larger. What % of WW's do you recommend adding and why? What are Pros and Cons associated with increasing the hardness of lead. Fluxing Mold fill Prone to sticking in mold Mold flash Temperature of lead mixture Harder end product Powder coating Melt Temp Lead = 621 F Antimony = 1,167 F TIn = 449 F

Anyone know what causes pitting in lead pours. I'm pouring 2-3 oz lead jigs, not smooth. the mold is smooth, but I get little craters all over. thanks for your input

Hello all, There seems to be a lot of questions about how much weight to add to a bait. There are several methods described in other posts dealing with this issue for a “new” bait. I have a system for developing consistency through a line of the same bait as I’m sure many TU members have. My system is in no way perfect but gives me a good starting point. This is my process. I try to build lures by a repeatable process. I also use balsa wood. These two things don’t always agree. Different boards are from different trees and therefore have different densities that will affect the action of the bait and amount of lead that should be added. I have designed a system that allows me to come up with a reasonable starting point for a new lure by deciding how much weight to add. Whenever I try to decide how much lead to add to a bait I start out with math. I take measurements from previously successful baits (weight, vol, density,…) and use equations to get a rough idea of where to start. These calculations in no way are absolute. The different shapes of baits and amount of surface area that is exposed to epoxy or sealant also affect the weight and final volume of the bait. Other factors that influence this include line ties, hook hangers, lips, hooks, split rings….. and the way that many of these are attached to the bait. These equations are meant to be a rough estimate of how much lead to add in the construction. When I first get a board I place it on a kitchen scale and weigh it. I then record the weight on paper and on the board as well. I then use the dimensions of the board and the weight to calculate a density for the piece of lumber using the equation Density=Mass/Volume. (see attached volume table) Using mass values in grams and volume values in centimeters allows me to see what the density of the board is in relation to water (density=1g/cm^3). When I create baits I use a router. This allows me to be as repeatable as possible. I construct a bait by joining two halves together to form a bait with epoxy. I try to be as consistent as possible in the joining of the baits by the amount of epoxy I apply and always press the baits under a set amount of pressure while drying. Once the baits are joined I weigh them on a powder scale to determine their mass. After taking 5-10 measurements I calculate an average mass for the run of baits. By doing so after the baits are epoxied together allows me to be closer on the end product than weighing them beforehand. This negates some of the error encountered in gluing and from half to half. After the average mass is calculated I determine the volume of the lure body by using the known density and mass values. By comparing this volume to previous baits I can get a rough idea of how much weight should be added to a bait. (see area of drill bit table, multiply by depth of cavity and gr per cubic centimeter for a rough estimate of mold size needed) I then take the amount of weight calculated and install it and finish a lure with all the necessary components and coatings and test it. Sometimes I don’t coat the lure for the sake of speed. From the test I make adjustments accordingly on the amount of weight needed, hook size, line tie position, bill angle…… Once all this has been done for a particular style of bait you can adjust the amount of weight needed by recalculation of the density. Then you can adjust the weight accordingly to the density of a new board to get the same rate of rise in the lure. The action will be somewhat different as the distribution of mass in the lure is slightly different but usually the difference is negligible. By always recording all the measurements and calculations it is possible to get very close to a run of baits from the past that have turned out to be very successful. This can then be followed as a recipe. I’m sure this is nothing new but thought some of the members might benefit from an explanation of what it is to be repeatable and how to do so. The process, once again, in no way is perfect (bits have different points, walkout,....). It is a good reference and starting point for me however. Good Luck, CarverGLX

How do everyone attach the weights in the molds before casting? I have tried to attach it to the through wire but I thought that was a pain in the ass cause I wanted the weights in the very low of the belly and the lower part just behind the middle hook and needed to bend the wire in so many places. And I felt that it was hard to get the lead to stay in the exact same position every time i Casted :/. I have searched the internet for information about it many times without luck. I asked Solarfall (Solarbaits) but he said that it is a secret how he do it ! I have molded lead in bars. 8mm and 10mm thick. How do I attach it to the resin-mold easy and perfect everytime?

Looking to do a production run on spinnerbaits.... I am ready to go...got my design, my prototype..... how do I get to a finished product from here? I guess first step is a mold....how big, hand poured,injected? HELP! thanks!!! Scott