dannyp Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 I read in a thread about someone having difficulty pouring some jigs, Ie he wasn't getting a good pour around the barb area of the hook shank. I too am having that same problem on a snootie jig. My lead is plumbers lead fluxed with beeswax. Made several test pours to heat the cavity,, and still had problems with it filling in around and just above the barb area. Even took the dremal and made a vent line in the problem area. and still had problems. Finally took the hooks and dip them in the lead and got the shank good and hot and from there on very little problems. My questions are this; How do you heat your hooks and does one style of hook pour better then another? (Black Nickle vs aberdeen vs bronze finish) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cz75b Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 I find a good hot mold helps with the fill around a hook. Hook-less casts help, pre heat molds on the furnace as the lead melts and also careful use of a propane torch to the cavities when the mold is closed all help. Too much hook pre heat will screw up the temper and dipping a hook in molten lead is tricky business that way. Put the hook in a mold and dip the edge of the mold in the lead for a few seconds, the hook heats up and the pour is good. Try different things and see what works, each mold has a unique response! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) dannyp, what cz75b stated is correct a really hot mold is the ticket. Put your mold on top of your pot when heating it up. When everything is melted make some blank test pours without hooks. You should do this until all your cavities pour full. Once that happens, now you’re set to go. You should not have to pre-heat your hooks, unless you are working in extreme cold conditions. You can if you want; you can put them on a hot plate, or put them on a piece of wood and let a 100 watt bulb shine on them. Like cz75b mentioned don’t overheat the hooks because they will lose their temper, especially the thin aberdeen hooks. As far as which hooks pour more completely, I would say aberdeen, because they are the thinnest, and heat the quickest. You mentioned you have the Snootie jig mold. I have both of them and they are the easiest to pour, because they have very little detail. The Snootie mold has a ball collar and no barb. Jigs with a barb are the most troublesome, because the lead doesn’t want to fill the barb area. I will tell you that every mold that is made is not identical. If you and I bought the same mold on the same day, I may get one that pours perfectly, and you may get one that has problems with it. All the molds from Do-It are cast, and then the faces are machined for flatness. I also got this other information from them, which may be helpful. All of their molds are tested so they only pour soft lead. If you use anything else you may have problems. Also soft lead shrinks when it cools and hard lead expands when cools according to them. So if you use soft lead your jigs should pour full and release from the mold easier. Here again all of this is based on perfect conditions. I too have problems from time to time so you’re not the only one out there frustrated. Just some more food for thought. Edited June 16, 2009 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 I put my mold on the pot while it is heating up and I leave it there until the lead is melted, but while that is going on I put my hook near the pot, not so close that they are too hot to touch but just close enough that they are pretty warm. Once you have a hot mold, you can place the warm hooks in the cavities and close it up and wait like 3 or 4 seconds, this will make the hook hot enough that you shouldn't have to worry, if your mold is hot enough it will pour fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyp Posted June 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Thanks guys,, Cadman another ? for you. Do you hold your mold (Snootie) level while pouring??? I got to looking at mine last night after I posted and noticed that if I hold it level, I have a very small gate hole looking straight down the gate, but if I tilt it at a 45* or so the hole is larger. Think I am going to try that later on today and see if that cures most of my prob's. BTW Cad, Thanks for all your insight on this forum you may not know it but you have helped me out a bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) dannyp, Every mold is different. On my Snootie mold I tilt it nose down (similar to what you are saying), and I also put the sprue hole into the pour spout(if you have a Lee IV bottom pour pot), this acts as an injector. You should try this and see. It does work very well. If you do, be careful, since the mold is not straight, you may get some lead to squirt out of the sprue hole and splash you. You can also try doing this with the mold straight, that may work for you as well . Always wear gloves. I have some molds that have to be tilted a little to the right, so the lead fills faster in the sprue holes. It's weird, but once you find what works, write it on a piece of paper, or write it on the mold with a marker. It helps with a lot of trial and error. I have about 40 molds, so I have to write it down. As far as help goes, I have no problem helping anyone, just ask and myself and others will reply and come to the rescue to help anyone out. Edited June 16, 2009 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
