pouring non lead in do it molds

[Gloomisman]

Any of you guys ever try pouring straight tin, tin/bismuth or bismuth in a do it mold.

Any updates to this pouring technique besides the 2 yr old post?

Edited March 31, 2009 by Gloomisman

[dlaery]

I have poured Tin in a do-it mold and it pours like lead. I always thought it was easier to pour than lead. It is slightly thinner than lead. Dosn't need to be as hot. Spru is harder to break off.

I have poured a lot of Bismuth/Tin 60/40, in spincast molds and it pours good but it is different. It melts at 240F, but I heated to 420F so it would pour good. I have poured Bismuth in a do it mold but when you break it off it doesn't break off very good. It is brittle, it leaves a very rough spot where you break it off. I haven't tried the Bismuth/Tin in a do it mold, but It should work. I added the tin to the bismuth so it would break off smooth. The bismuth is 85% the weight of lead. Tin is somewhere around 60%, not for sure.

[Ogajiga]

"dlaery" pretty much covered it. IMO the Bi-Sn alloy that best compromises the attributes of heaviest weight, nice surface finish, easy sprue removal, powder paintability, and mitigated brittleness would be a 90% bismuth - 10% tin alloy. The exception to this would be that a high bismuth alloy would be too brittle for spike barbs on jig heads. Molds used for pouring Bi-Sn need to be exceptionally tight to minimize flash.

[Fatman]

Hawn

You and I have talked about these ratio's before. You say 90/10 but it's too brittle for the barb, so in order to keep the barb for holding plastics what ration would we be talking???

I'm still looking at the 70 bis/ 30 tin if I could just try a few pounds of it but most of the places I've tried have minimum pound requirements and it would hurt the pocket book to get stuck with something.

Now I've asked Lee Production pots what materials are bad for it and they tell me zinc, copper, silver, gold, aluminum, pewter or brass should not be used in their pots as it can damage the liner.

Fatman

Edited April 1, 2009 by Fatman

[Ogajiga]

"Fatman", for reasonable spike barb strength, IMO you'd need a 50% or less bismuth alloy, which compromises weight. Luckily, Do-it has been phasing out spike barbs in favor of the tapered barbs which are OK cast in high bismuth alloys. Bi70-Sn30 spike barbs could work if you trimmed off the barb tips down to 2/3 or less of the original barb height, but you might get some ragged breaks with a standard sprue trimmer. I personally don't find it necessary to make any BiSn spike barb heads.

[Gloomisman]

Low Melting Point Bismuth Based Alloys

You can order any quantity.

I just ordered 2lbs of the Low 281 58% bis and 42% tin. Thanks guys, more to come in about a week or two.

The melting point of this is pretty low so i think I'm going to just torch it and pour a few heads to see what happens.

I've got a grain scale too so I plan on doing alot of R&D on this. Making a bigger head isnt an issue with me on a bass jig. If I fill a 3/4oz to get about a 1/2 thats cool it will push more water.

[Ogajiga]

"Gloomisman" 58-42 is a fairly hard alloy so if you can't snap off the sprue with pliers try some HD gate shears(not nippers!) or wire cutters. If that doesn't work, throw the head down vertically into a high sided metal pot to land on the flat front of the sprue, & protect your eyes.

[Gloomisman]

thanks Hawn. I'm sure I'll be back with more ?s. This is a new one on me so there is going to be some learning curve I know. I hope this works good though I like the non lead deal.

[Gloomisman]

ok guys I got another question for you. I poured some of the bismuth tin and Poured great and takes longer to cool then lead.

Question. How in the world do I get these out of my mold. I tried a poisen jig and the things would not come out. I had to torch them and melt them out.

[jigs 1956]

were do you buy bismuth and tin ? would like to change from lead because wisconsin is talking about getting rid of lead thanks jeff

[Ogajiga]

"Gloomisman", I don't pour Poison Tails, but the 30+ molds I pour lead free with release OK by tapping the sprue with a piece of wood. This requires leaving a sprue "knob" protruding above the inlet gate. Use gravity and with the open mold face pointing down tap on the knob so the casting will drop vertically onto your work table. If the sprue breaks off leaving the jig head trapped you can try tapping the casting out with an awl - point on the sprue break. If the casting still refuses to release, the mold cavity needs to be re-surfaced. Especially with newer (rougher) Do-its, I smooth out the cavity surface (carefully!) if nececssary with a non-powered ball cutter or abrasive bit to facilitate release. Unlike lead which shrinks when cooling bismuth expands. Your 58-42 alloy is actually fairly user friendly because of the high tin content. This is just a bump on the learning curve, you're almost there!

"jigs 1956", there is a link to Roto Metals posted in this thread.

[Gloomisman]

Thanks Hawnjigs. I'll try it in a different mold next. Probably my football. I'll also polish the mold some with a polish of some sort. Round 2 next week.

[Fernet]

Gloomisman, Try knockin the backside of the mold hard with something harder. Some heavy sooting or mold release spray wont hurt either.

This is a source: Pure Bismuth Ingot from Rotometals

Did'nt see there was a second page that covered the questions already.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Fernet
Did'nt see there was a second page that covered the questions already.

[Gloomisman]

Got it to work guys. Thanks a million. I've got about 12 bis/tin poisen heads sitting on my desk. Painted and getting ready for weedguards.

The weight isnt that far off. the 3/4 poisen comes out to 250 gr and a real 3/4 is about 318. Once I painted them and put a weedguard, glue on it should be real close to 3/4oz.