HAWGHUNNA Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Makes since to build a jig to hold your jig head while drilling,could you provide a pic of the 2x3x6 holding block as well as the jig? Do you use an awl to tap the correct drilling location on the head to keep the drill bit from wandering as you start the drilling process? And does the 1/2 oz. jig still stand up correctly with the larger hooks? I really do like the larger hooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagio Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Sorry my dimensions were off a bit on the chunks of wood. These were just scrap I had laying around the shop. The one I use for drilling is 2x1.5x3. I had to cut it down to allow access w/ my drill bit. No tap needed, i use the base hole pins so there is a starter there, you have to open a little once you paint for ease in getting your guards in there. Yes, they stand up fine. Water just opened here, but they stand up fine in the aquarium or on the bench. The slots are under cut so not to damage the hook point. I have 2, one wide enough to hold colars, one for screw lock--just a deeper grove with less angle. Very simple to do and saves your hands big time. The pic other shows the size difference between the hooks 5/0 to 3/0 left to right. The only reason I mentioned this is because it is more drastic than other hooks I use, espeically the shaft length. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAWGHUNNA Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Thanks for sharing Stagio, Hey Guys, I got my mold,and the collar on the jigs don't seem to want to fill properly (only half way around the hook).....what gives? I heated the mold... even heated the hooks,the 3/8 seem to do fair,but the with the 1/2,I have only gotten 3 jigs from 20 plus attempts.And the 1/4 does not pour well around the collar either. Could it be my lead not being hot enough,or could it be the lead it's self? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagio Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 How are you melting your lead? Try smoking the mold if your lead is hot enough or placing a tiny piece of tape (size of a finish nail head) on the face. Start at the handle and move towards the hinge. Sounds like it isn't venting- assuming the lead is hot enough and soft. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAWGHUNNA Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Steve, My melting pot is an older one,no settings...only a heating element running throughout the pot,I pour with a ladle. The lead gets very liquefied in the middle of the pot,but hardens up around the edges,is the temp in my shop to cold? I'm a little confused about the tape solution that you mentioned. And I'm not sure about what lead I have,or,how to get all of it out of the heating pot to change it. How do I smoke the mold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagio Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) Sounds like you will need a new pot soon, but that doesn't stop you from working around it. If you get a new one, I have a Lee II which I love. bottom pouring. Worth 2x what I paid just for the speed and convenience. 1. Keep your ladle in the lead--it will keep the lead hot for longer as you poor. 2. Refill your ladle for each cavity---again heat is your friend. 3. Smoking the mold is simply getting a candle (larger wick the better) and building some soot on the face of the mold. Hold the flame over each cavity until they turn black. Then wipe away the excess from the side that isn't filling. That will help any trapped air escape. 4. Tape is the same concept as the soot just with a different medium. Place the small piece of tape (1 for the whole mold) near the place on the cavity where it isn't filling (in this case the back of the collar) leave some room between the edge of the cavity and your tape. It will allow air to escape. There are more options but the melter may be your biggest challenge. Steve Edited February 16, 2009 by Stagio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 If you have hard lead around the edges, it is almost certainly a lead temperature problem. As the molten lead cannot heat up until all the lead has melted. Something to do with latent heat. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagio Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Agreed- The pot is definatly a problem. Try using a propane torch to melt the lead around the sides of the pot and use less lead. It may heat more thoroughly. Otherwise you will serve your time better to spend the money on a new one. Cabela's has the best price on the 10lb model (which I have and recommend HIGHLY) for 49.99. If you have one of their stores near by they will deliver to the store and save you the shipping cost. Thats what I did. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basseducer Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 I couldn't tell what kind of pot you have from the posts. If you have a lee pot, you can send it back to lee with a check for half the current retail price and they will completely refirbish it and return it looking brand new with a two year warranty. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAWGHUNNA Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) Thanks guys, Between the ole tape trick and running the melt pot on a different electrical circuit than my fan,lights,and toaster oven.....the fore mentioned pouring problems have gone away. I would like some advise however on weed guard installation ... I'm using powder paint,which causes the wg hole to become to small if the jig is painted and cured before guard is installed,but with the skirt wiring technique,it seem to be a lot simpler to put the skirt material on before the weed guard. NOTE: After the paint has cured out,I've been tapping the base pin back into the wg hole just before installing the guard... which seems to work great,it's just another time that I have to handle the product before it's completed. Also,which adhesive do you guys recommend for installing the guards? Edited February 19, 2009 by HAWGHUNNA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sim Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Thanks guys,Between the ole tape trick and running the melt pot on a different electrical circuit than my fan,lights,and toaster oven.....the fore mentioned pouring problems have gone away. I would like some advise however on weed guard installation ... I'm using powder paint,which causes the wg hole to become to small if the jig is painted and cured before guard is installed,but with the skirt wiring technique,it seem to be a lot simpler to put the skirt material on before the weed guard. NOTE: After the paint has cured out,I've been tapping the base pin back into the wg hole just before installing the guard... which seems to work great,it's just another time that I have to handle the product before it's completed. Also,which adhesive do you guys recommend for installing the guards? I use a drill bit to clean the holes - seems quicker to me. I am also using a product called "GOOP" to glue in the gaurds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foo G Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I would like some advise however on weed guard installation ...I'm using powder paint,which causes the wg hole to become to small if the jig is painted and cured before guard is installed,but with the skirt wiring technique,it seem to be a lot simpler to put the skirt material on before the weed guard. NOTE: After the paint has cured out,I've been tapping the base pin back into the wg hole just before installing the guard... which seems to work great,it's just another time that I have to handle the product before it's completed. I'm still in the design phase on some jigs and molds, so I'm trying to make sure I've given a lot of these types of considerations some thought before I have a mold made. There is definitely a wealth of great information from some really talented and knowledgeable people here! Anyway, when it comes to weedguard hole pins, are the Do-It pins slightly over-sized, under-sized, or right at 5/32" and 1/8" in diameter? Is there too much play if you put a 1/8" weedguard in a hole from a 5/32" base hole pin, or will the epoxy or glue fill in the gaps well enough? A guy in my bass club pours his own jigs and he removes the pin and inserts a small section of wooden dowel rod before powder coating. The wood is not ionized like the metals in the jig so the powder paint does not adhere to it. It's a pretty simple and cheap alternative to drilling or clearing the weedguard holes after painting. Plus, it might save you a little in the long run on powder paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) Thanks guys,Between the ole tape trick and running the melt pot on a different electrical circuit than my fan,lights,and toaster oven.....the fore mentioned pouring problems have gone away. I would like some advise however on weed guard installation ... I'm using powder paint,which causes the wg hole to become to small if the jig is painted and cured before guard is installed,but with the skirt wiring technique,it seem to be a lot simpler to put the skirt material on before the weed guard. NOTE: After the paint has cured out,I've been tapping the base pin back into the wg hole just before installing the guard... which seems to work great,it's just another time that I have to handle the product before it's completed. Also,which adhesive do you guys recommend for installing the guards? Everyone has their own system on painting, so you will have to experiment with what works for you. I paint and bake all my jigs as is. I then go and drill out the hole I need. Now this is advantageous to me because I don't use full weedguards. The guys I deal with like 15 strand weedguard(on an 1/8" base hole pin) for better flexibility and hook penetration. If I used a 1/8" dowel or pin or whatever to put in and paint afterwards, the hole would be way too big for my application....So this choice is up to you on what you are trying to accomplish.....As far as glues, I've used super glue, 5 minute epoxy, and goop. They all work well. I'm still in the design phase on some jigs and molds, so I'm trying to make sure I've given a lot of these types of considerations some thought before I have a mold made. There is definitely a wealth of great information from some really talented and knowledgeable people here!Anyway, when it comes to weedguard hole pins, are the Do-It pins slightly over-sized, under-sized, or right at 5/32" and 1/8" in diameter? Is there too much play if you put a 1/8" weedguard in a hole from a 5/32" base hole pin, or will the epoxy or glue fill in the gaps well enough? A guy in my bass club pours his own jigs and he removes the pin and inserts a small section of wooden dowel rod before powder coating. The wood is not ionized like the metals in the jig so the powder paint does not adhere to it. It's a pretty simple and cheap alternative to drilling or clearing the weedguard holes after painting. Plus, it might save you a little in the long run on powder paint. As far as designs go, I'm in the process of making a design right now. The info I got from Do-It and my own experience is this. 1/8" and 5/32" base hole pins I physically measured were .001 under stated size. I measured them all. Do-It said that there toloerance on there pins is +/-.005. Also this depends on the plating process, and who is plating. I measured the mold holes with .125 pin gages. The pin gage on all my molds with base hole pins was snug to loose. This tells me that the opening in the mold is bigger. Do-It said probably +.003. So with all this information, if you get a pin on the nominal with a hole at +.003 yes you will have slop. But you have to remember, that you need to pull the pin out of the jig after it's poured, so making everything to with-in .001 is unrealistic. These are mold of course and not Rolex watches. As long as you don't get flash around your base hole pins after pouring, I think a bigger tolerance is acceptable and easier to work with in the long run. This is just my opinion. Also you have expansion of a cold aluminum mold. But that is another story, as I don't know how to factor expansion and contraction of aluminum molds and a steel pins when combined in the same environment. Edited February 19, 2009 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagio Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I use the Devcon 2T w/ a 30 min working time. Take a little longer to dry of course, but dry's clear and holds fairly well for the application. If you jerk on the individual strands, they will come out from time to time but I don't know many who do this while fishing. I use the full guard for ease of use and production. I use the little block I showed below to hold the jig while I drill. Set it up to give me the perfect angle if I rest the bit on the block. I have a 8 dollar-- rechargable screw driver with a hex shank 1/8" bit and drill them out. (you can get the B/D screw driver at Wal-mart and I got the bits a Lowes) For 2 bits and the screw driver it was about 12 bucks. The key to the drill for me was low RPMs. Less risk of it grabbing and cutting too deep. I can drill and glue about 70 to 100 jigs per hour when I am on a roll. That is how I adjust the guard for the 5/0 hooks. I tried the dowel method and keeping the base pins in while painting, but had issues getting the weed guard in place probably due to shrinkage after the lead freezes. I am new w/ the brush guards but this has been the best method for me. Big thing is to get something that has a low RPM on the "drill". There are others on here w/ much more experience, just sharing what I have found useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Stagio, you are correct. Low RPM or a cordless variable speed drill, which are so comon now. Drill slow. I hold my jigs in my hand when I drill, so I learned from past experience about going slow. A drill bit will bind in lead, and will rip the jig out of your hand and imbed a hook in it to boot . Better yet to have a fixture like you mentioned. Much safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAWGHUNNA Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks for helping me get off and running with the new jig mold guys,I truly appreciate the tips. Now,who has the best deal on rattles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I think you should start another thread, as you will get more answers entitled....."Looking for rattles" or whatever. No one will know its here under the current title. I think this thread has been derailed enough:lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAWGHUNNA Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Sorry about the thread hijacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Sorry about the thread hijacking. Terry, It doesn't matter to me, but you won't get very many responses. BTW I don't use rattles, so I can't help you there bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
