Making my own jigs

[dollarbill]

I am new to this board, just signed up. I am going to start making my own jigs during the winter and I have some questions. There seems to be different types of skirts available. Which ones would you guys recommend? Where do you get the lead? I can buy it off ebay, but was wondering if there are places that you can find it locally?

[reeves]

For skirts, go to www.fishingskirts.com, super selection of top quality skirts at a very reasonable price. He carries some awesome jig patterns.

For your lead, you won't get any deals on ebay but it is readily available there. Try your local scrap metal yard, or any tire shop for wheel weights. Tire shops used to give the stuff away just to get rid of it, but when the price of lead went skyhigh, they started selling it. Check the price that lead is going at on the market before you go shopping. As I am typing this reply, pure lead is selling for $.54 a pound.

[psv]

I buy lead from ebay. Average price about 1-1.10$ per #. I mixed soft lead with tire wheel weights with very good results and shiny finish. If you want to try round silicone skirts, buy some starflash skirts (available in Netcraft, Barlow's, Stamina). They are more expensive then flat silicone skirts, but I like them a lot on my jigs.

Hope it helps.

Edited October 24, 2008 by psv

[Ogajiga]

The crash in industrial lead supply prices down to $.54 prob won't affect local scrap prices since there might actually be a shortage of supply relative to demand. I haven't been able to get wheel weights since one guy started cornering supply & selling ingots on eBay. "Reeves", have your suppliers lowered prices any?

edit: "dollarbill", heres a list of scrap lead types copied from another site that might give you some ideas besides local junk yard/metals recycle suppliers.

1. Clip Wheel Weights: hardened with antimony - composition varies by mfg. Be careful to keep melt temp as low as possible - the occasional zinc weight will melt at 787*F and adversely affect pouring quality of the alloy.

2. Adhesive Wheel Weights: the ones in my area come in joined together segments and appear to be soft with a bit of antimony and tin added.

2. Plumber's Lead: generally premium soft lead but some mfg. added a bit of antimony as a hardener. Usually found in 4-5 lb. round or hexagonal blocks.

3. Roof Flashing: generally soft with a bit of antimony as a hardener. Bonus tin at soldered joints. Suggest removing as much tar as possible if present to avoid melt smoking.

4. Pipe Lead: generally soft with a bit of antimony.

5. Construction Sheet Lead: generally soft with a bit of antimony. Used as wall sheathing for shielding radioactivity or sound proofing.

6. Type Lead: several different mfg. including linotype & monotype but always very hard with 8-20% antimony + 2-5% tin.

7. Ballast Lead: big chunks used for weighting boat keels - probably mfg. from available scrap and composition will vary.

8. Battery Lead: generally very hard with generous antimony or calcium added. Best used for sinkers only.

9. Dental X-Ray Bite Wings: I consider this hard lead with what appears to be antimony and tin added.

10. Shot Lead: used for shotgun shells and diver's bag weights this alloy is hardened with antimony and arsenic.

11. Bullet Range Lead: jacketed commercial rounds are generally softer than hardened cast bullets.

12. Radioactive Shield Cannisters: commonly found as 33 lb. cylinders tapering at ends. Almost pure lead.

13. Cable Sheathing: used for telephone line cable this is a medium soft alloy with antimony and arsenic added.

Edited October 24, 2008 by hawnjigs

[Fatman]

Look in your area for muzzleloader groups/re-enactment groups they pour their own lead balls and it might lead you to a source of lead.

I've been extremely lucky in that I have two privately owned repair shops that save me wheelweights and have never had to buy any. Now if Vermont pass's any more laws on lead fishing tackle I'll switch over to non-lead but it's gonna break the bank.

Fatman

[reeves]

Hawn, I haven't had to get any from local recyclers lately so I really don't know if they have come down in price or not. I get a blend of lead, tin and antimony from a large foundry in St. Louis and they raise and lower their prices with the market. Unfortunately the tin and antimony manage to keep the price up there.

Anyone heard anymore rumbles about eventually doing away with lead wheel weights? There was an article a while back stating that CA was going to lead the fight on this one and it was up for a vote in the near future, but I haven't read anymore on it.

[dollarbill]

Thanks for the responses. Since I am a newbie at making jigs do you think it would be better for me to purchase skirts already made or try and do it myself. My concern is that I will not use the different colors properly until I get used to what I am doing.

[JSC]

Thanks for the responses. Since I am a newbie at making jigs do you think it would be better for me to purchase skirts already made or try and do it myself. My concern is that I will not use the different colors properly until I get used to what I am doing.

What has worked for you in the past is part of it and the best part of making your own combinations is that you can let your imagination go and then try them out to see what is best ....

JSC

[Ogajiga]

"reeves", Lead wheel weights to be phased out in California by end of 2009 - Los Angeles Times