Cub48 Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 I have a few questions. I made my first pours today, I had a few flops but did get some useable jigs. I am pouring 1/6 and 1/32 I drilled the 1/32 to around 1/24. The hole in the top of the mold looks like it may need drilled a little bigger they look small. What is the best way to cut the jig off i used side cutters but they leave a tapered top. Next does lead get harder the more you cook it or does it get softer. Does it help to spray your molds with spray oil or something. I am pouring with a ladle what does everyone use to hold the mold together while pouring I used tie straps but you waste one every pour. I never fluxed going to try this next. I saw a thread that said something about zinc wheel weights how can you tell the difference are they a lot harder I have some stick on weights that seem a lot harder have not melted yet. Thank for your info Cub48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBK Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 I have a few questions. I made my first pours today, I had a few flops but did get some useable jigs. I am pouring 1/6 and 1/32 I drilled the 1/32 to around 1/24. The hole in the top of the mold looks like it may need drilled a little bigger they look small. What is the best way to cut the jig off i used side cutters but they leave a tapered top. Next does lead get harder the more you cook it or does it get softer. Does it help to spray your molds with spray oil or something. I am pouring with a ladle what does everyone use to hold the mold together while pouring I used tie straps but you waste one every pour. I never fluxed going to try this next. I saw a thread that said something about zinc wheel weights how can you tell the difference are they a lot harder I have some stick on weights that seem a lot harder have not melted yet. Thank for your info Cub48 What mold are you using? I just hold the top of the gate with pliers and move the jig head back and forth until it pops off. DO NOT SPRAY YOUR MOLD WITH OIL IT WILL IGNITE I hold the mold (do-it) together with my hands.... Thats all the info I got, hopefully someone will jump in with the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDSBYDAY Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 I have a few questions. I made my first pours today, I had a few flops but did get some useable jigs. I am pouring 1/6 and 1/32 I drilled the 1/32 to around 1/24. The hole in the top of the mold looks like it may need drilled a little bigger they look small. What is the best way to cut the jig off i used side cutters but they leave a tapered top. Next does lead get harder the more you cook it or does it get softer. Does it help to spray your molds with spray oil or something. I am pouring with a ladle what does everyone use to hold the mold together while pouring I used tie straps but you waste one every pour. I never fluxed going to try this next. I saw a thread that said something about zinc wheel weights how can you tell the difference are they a lot harder I have some stick on weights that seem a lot harder have not melted yet. Thank for your info Cub48 Don't drill out the sprue hole. I think you meant 1/16oz and 1/32 altered to 1/24oz. It should be very easy to spin the sprue off that size jig. No cutting . Use soft lead and flux with wax. You should not have to do anything other than close the mold by hand. If you have access to stick on wheel weights they are soft and will cast well. Clip on wheel weights on the other hand are hard lead. You can not alter the hardness of lead by fluxing or cooking. Fluxing removes the oxides and junk (dross) from your metal. Pre melt the lead and flux it to remove the dross before you cast it(clean the lead). Then you will be able to cast without problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 The post thread on zinc contamination was pretty complete IMO. What I do with stick on wheel weights is break the longer straps into more manageable pieces of no more than 3 segments each, then soak them in paint thinner at least overnite in a closed container like a plastic bucket with lid. This will help dissolve the glue on the plastic tape, as well as grease & grime. A slotted kitchen spoon or ladle can be used to remove tape and weights, I like to drop the cleaned weights onto newspaper to dry. The dirty thinner can be re-used as most of the crud will settle to the bottom of a container after a coupla days and the clarified liquid can be poured off and saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cub48 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 (edited) Thanks Hawnjigs The thread I saw just said a little about it. So after your reply I did a search on it. I think I have some stickon weights that are zinc they apear harder than lead. I did drill the 1/32 to 1/24 or close these are user not seller the 1/32 was a litttle smaller than i like and you can't buy 1/24 molds that I saw. The mold is a Do it Mold it just looked like the hole where you pour the lead in was a little small and rough. What I was talking about holding the mold closed when you are pouring with a ladle it helps to have two hands. I am thinking about getting a pot but want to see how everything works first. Thanks everyone that replied Cub48 Edited March 31, 2010 by Cub48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 (edited) The hard stick-ons are probably steel, they usually have smaller segments than the lead. Not seen a zinc sticker yet, but most of my batches of clip wheel weights have some zinc clippers mixed in. Main thing to avoid zinc contamination is to skim out everything that floats on a wheel weight melt as soon as the silvery molten lead sheds fairly cleanly off the steel clips, which is soon after the sludge melt turns to liquid. Additional heating beyond that point may reach a high enuf temp to melt zinc, which is best avoided. After several hundred thousand pieces ladle casting experience, I would recommend a bottom pour pot & soft lead for small jig heads. Edit: As the other posters have mentioned, there is a difference between the pouring qualities of soft and hard lead so hard clip on wheel weights should be processed separately from soft stick ons. Both types of wheel weights are dirty and would be much improved by fluxing. Edited March 31, 2010 by hawnjigs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 What is the best way to cut the jig off i used side cutters but they leave a tapered top.Thank for your info Cub48 Most everything else was covered. For me a good set of gate cutters is an absolute for good jig heads with minimal touch up before painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cub48 Posted April 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 Just made my second pour today. Did not have any flops. Poured three molds . Thanks for all the info on this site. Here is what I did. I took a die grinder and bur and smooth the pour holes in the mold, they were rough like cast this made the lead flow better. fluxed the lead with saw dust was going to use wax but could not find it. Also cleaned the spout of my laddle with the die grinder. Heated the mold with hooks in. put a pan under the mold to catch the over pour. tilted the mold to the side and poured . best looking jigs so far. Used the Matzuo #4 sickle hook. tried them out Saturday worked great. Cub48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 Congratulations! Smooth polishing the inlet gates is a last resort I use only for very difficult to pour molds after all other remedies are exhausted. Our resident metalurgist expert "sagacious" wisely recommends this process as a first step, but I guess I'm lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
