GDille Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 I've been pouring spinners, buzz baits and jigs for a few months for my FFA project. I've had to expand on my fly tying to get out of the "Just a Hobby" mindset that people have of this project, I have over come some of these people and began to win awards for my work along with supply my school with baits. Do you guys order you lead online, or go to the local tire shop and get the old weights. I've also read that you need really soft lead to pour into a Do-It ultra minnow mold, which I've ordered but not yet received. will tire weights be soft enough? Or is there a better way? I'm heating my lead with an oxyacetylene torch, so i can always add more heat if I need to for harder leads in the ultra minnow mold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 I get my lead from dentists, plumbers, old time printers, contractors and anywhere else I can find it for free. You can also get it on line at Roto-Metals I believe. They are the cheapest on line, but don't quote me. As far as the Ultra-Minnow mold if you get the spinnerbait than my choice is pure soft lead. If you get the jig than I pour that with straight hard lead. This is just what I do with my set-up. Others may have different ways to do it. There is a lot of trial an error on the person who pours this and their experience along with their knowledge of how lead pours in different molds. There is no foolproof way of doing this. Just pour it and ask a lot of questions. This topic has been covered extensively on this mold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuskyGary Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 I buy all my lead on e-bay. Just search lead ingot. As far as the ultra minnow, I pour mine with soft lead. Haven't had any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDille Posted December 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 cadman, I have read on here earlier that you have taken the ultra-minnow jig mold and cut a slot for wire forms to make it into a spinner bait mold. I think this is what I will do since I have a gift card, and have been researching and deciding on what mold to go for. My uncle has so printing lead in 20 lb ingots, I was going to bum one off of him to get started. Is that lead too hard, or have you ever used it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 cadman, I have read on here earlier that you have taken the ultra-minnow jig mold and cut a slot for wire forms to make it into a spinner bait mold. I think this is what I will do since I have a gift card, and have been researching and deciding on what mold to go for. My uncle has so printing lead in 20 lb ingots, I was going to bum one off of him to get started. Is that lead too hard, or have you ever used it. I don't think you read that I did that. I may have put in a lot of air (vent) reliefs so the air can escape and the lead could pour easier, but that's about it. Trust me you don't want to cut slots in the Ultra-Minnow jig mold for wireforms, if they already have a spinnerbait mold that encompasses almost every size you will need. Unless you're going to do that to the 1-1/2 oz and up jig mold to make heavier spinnerbaits. The reason I'm saying not to do this is it's a lot of tedious work, and if a mold can be bought ready to go then why do it. It's worth to pay the extra bucks and buy a complete ready to pour spinnerbait mold than to cut, measure file and so on. On printers lead in my experience, the lead they made type with in the past is very hard. I do not think it is a good choice for the Ultra-Minnow spinnerbait mold. You will have problems. Most everybody uses soft lead for that mold. This is just my opinion. You can always try and then post your results here so everyone can learn and get more educated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernconv Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 GDILLE I have been pouring the ultra minnow spinnerbait mold for a while now, and I recommend looking for a local stain glass window making for the lead, I work for a metal recycling company in canada and out of all the lead I get from there the stain glass maker lead is as close to pure lead as you will ever find. I have never had problems pouring it and the people who buy my baits like how it is the softest baits they have ever bought. They also like how my 1/2 oz. bait tend to be a touch heavier the the harder baits. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatsrat76 Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 GDILLE I have been pouring the ultra minnow spinnerbait mold for a while now, and I recommend looking for a local stain glass window making for the lead, I work for a metal recycling company in canada and out of all the lead I get from there the stain glass maker lead is as close to pure lead as you will ever find. I have never had problems pouring it and the people who buy my baits like how it is the softest baits they have ever bought. They also like how my 1/2 oz. bait tend to be a touch heavier the the harder baits. Paul The last time I bought lead was about 2 years ago and paid $20 for 80 Lb of stick on or clip on wheel weights. The stick on were softer then the clip on. Flatsrat76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCD Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 I buy my lead online at rotometals, look in the bullet casting section... they have quite a few different mixes with alloys like tin and antimony. Rotometals is a reliable dealer with good prices, and you can get free shipping on orders of 20 lbs. or more I believe. Pure lead is the easiest to work with, but isn't as durable as the harder leads. I started out using pure lead but switched to the "hardball" mix for a more durable jig. I've never pour the ultra minnow mold so I can't help with that.. but if Cadman says it's best to use pure lead for that mold, that's what I would go with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucktownbasser Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Been pouring big 5/8 and bigger Ultra Spinner mold, soft lead is best, but harder lead is workable if on a tight budget. I get my lead from the local tire shop for free. Use masking tape shim where handles close on mold to allow air to escape and make sure mold is preheated along with hooks and wire forms. Pour fast and don't let the mold cool down. I probably don't have as much experience as the other guys but this works for me on about 95% of the heads I pour. The 5% with defects get used in other tackle making experiments. Either way good luck and never stop learning from these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDille Posted December 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Thanks Guys, I think I will hit up the local co-op tire shop, i know they have tons of weights. If it isn't soft enough, i will probably just order some soft lead online. tire weights is about all you will find around here in excess, since I live in rural Kansas. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Thanks Guys, I think I will hit up the local co-op tire shop, i know they have tons of weights. If it isn't soft enough, i will probably just order some soft lead online. tire weights is about all you will find around here in excess, since I live in rural Kansas. George George, as others have posted, remember that stick on wheel weights are soft and could be separated from the hard clip ons. Kinda messy, but the sticky weights can be soaked in paint thinner until the adhesive melts enuf to remove the foul smoking plastic tape. I'm getting 5-10# of soft stick ons per bucket of wheel weights. The recent topic posting about zinc contamination has IMO essential information about wheel weight processing. Mods, how about making the zinc topic a sticky? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 MuskyGary Let us know who you've bought the pure from on ebay!!!! I ask this because on several of the boards I'm on folks have gotten hard lead when they were promised soft and you never know what you're going to get. THanks Fatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbor Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Ive never had great luck finding lead. Tire shops are a good source for wheel weights, i had one shop give me about 75# for free and also bought over 100# from another shop for about $15. We did have here electronics surplus places and aerospace surplaces that had lead lying around. I lucked into a business going under that had 3 big 50# soft lead blocks that I bought for $30 for all but my buddy stole one from me. You should also try recycling places they might sell to you also. Lastly i have seen lead on craigslist at times. goodluck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridanative Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 Go to a boat yard and see if you can get ballast weights out of a salvaged boat. My brother works for Sea-Tow and thats where I get all my lead but he said they have tons of the stuff laying around. You can also use old dive weights which you could probably get for cheap from ebay or craigslist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 MuskyGary Let us know who you've bought the pure from on ebay!!!! I ask this because on several of the boards I'm on folks have gotten hard lead when they were promised soft and you never know what you're going to get. THanks Fatman Buy from Junkateer Jerry -a top-rated seller on e-bay w/a 100% rating. I 've purchased soft -lead ingots twice-prompt delivery and the lead is clean and soft. $63.50 for 50 pds. delievered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
