Do-it Slip Jig Lure Mold (both Styles)

[cadman]

I wanted to cover this mold due to the fact that this mold is the hardest mold I have had to get really full and complete pours to this date. I have tried to no end to get this mold to pour correctly. Well after the next few easy steps, I now have a 99% pour ratio. Here is what I did.

#1 Spray all the cavities with a mold release spray and #2 which is where this has worked flawlessly and I don't know why.

#2 Do not and I repeat do not pour using the Lee IV pot. Use a 1.5 oz small pouring ladle. I bought mine from Barlow's. It cost a little over $4.50. See link http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=1531&CATID=59

This ladle was the key and I will tell you this little ladle was a godsend. This is what I do, I fire up my Lee IV pot, and wait for the lead to melt. Then I put the ladle in my Lee IV pot and use the ladle to fill all the cavities in the Do-It Slip Jig Lure Mold. Always leave the ladle in the pot to keep it hot. This little ladle is the ideal tool to fill the mold cavities. I also over fill them and the hot lead seems to fill all of the crevices in the mold cavity. I finally have almost 100% full pours compared to about my earlier 30-40% I used to get in this mold. Also in this mold, pour only one cavity at a time. You will never pull the rod through if you try to pour all three cavities per side.

Finally in closing I have used this ladle for a few other molds that are problematic, and it solved that problem as well. I have not changed my lead composition, and I can still pour my 70/30 lead with no problem 70%hard/ 30% soft. Try it out the cost is so cheap and the results are worth it. If anyone else has done this please post up and enlighten us with your experiment.

Edited May 10, 2010 by cadman

[MuskyGary]

I wanted to cover this mold due to the fact that this mold is the hardest mold I have had to get really full and complete pours to this date. I have tried to no end to get this mold to pour correctly. Well after the next few easy steps, I now have a 99% pour ratio. Here is what I did.

#1 Spray all the cavities with a mold release spray and #2 which is where this has worked flawlessly and I don't know why.

#2 Do not and I repeat do not pour using the Lee IV pot. Use a 1.5 oz small pouring ladle. I bought mine from Barlow's. It cost a little over $4.50. See link http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=1531&CATID=59

This ladle was the key and I will tell you this little ladle was a godsend. This is what I do, I fire up my Lee IV pot, and wait for the lead to melt. Then I put the ladle in my Lee IV pot and use the ladle to fill all the cavities in the Do-It Slip Jig Lure Mold. Always leave the ladle in the pot to keep it hot. This little ladle is the ideal tool to fill the mold cavities. I also over fill them and the hot lead seems to fill all of the crevices in the mold cavity. I finally have almost 100% full pours compared to about my earlier 30-40% I used to get in this mold. Also in this mold, pour only one cavity at a time. You will never pull the rod through if you try to pour all three cavities per side.

Finally in closing I have used this ladle for a few other molds that are problematic, and it solved that problem as well. I have not changed my lead composition, and I can still pour my 70/30 lead with no problem 70%hard/ 30% soft. Try it out the cost is so cheap and the results are worth it. If anyone else has done this please post up and enlighten us with your experiment.

I just got the slip jig mold, but haven't tried it yet. I do have a small ladle and you can bet I'll try your methods! Probably try it on several of my molds. Thanks Cadman, MuskyGary

[cadman]

I just got the slip jig mold, but haven't tried it yet. I do have a small ladle and you can bet I'll try your methods! Probably try it on several of my molds. Thanks Cadman, MuskyGary

MuskyGary,

You may have better luck than I had with that mold, so try using the Lee IV pot just don't waste a lot of time if you don't get full pours. The reason I'm saying to try it with the Lee pot, because the Lee pot by all means is faster. However if you get 1 in 4 good pours than no matter how fast a Lee pot is, I would rather pour 1 good one a little slower than 3 bad ones. Also I have found out that all molds aren't made the same. I have two dentical Arky molds, and one of them pours all three cavities perfectly. The other one I always have problems with one cavity. With that said, maybe you'll be one of the fortunate ones and get the "Perfect" mold. Please post your feedback when you try your molds out

[BBK]

I get full pours using an IV. Just have to soot the heck out of the mold.

If you look closely, the mold says "ladle pour ONLY" on it.

The key, and I found this out today, is to soot the pull pin with a candle. Sooting the pull pin gave me 100% with an IV this afternoon using WHEEL WEIGHTS.

Edited May 11, 2010 by BBK

[cadman]

I get full pours using an IV. Just have to soot the heck out of the mold.

If you look closely, the mold says "ladle pour ONLY" on it.

The key, and I found this out today, is to soot the pull pin with a candle. Sooting the pull pin gave me 100% with an IV this afternoon using WHEEL WEIGHTS.

I spray mold release on the pull pin and it does the same thing as your sooting does. This definitely helps also.

[BBK]

Good to hear, I just bought a can of that release from zeiners.

[smallmouthaholic]

Finally in closing I have used this ladle for a few other molds that are problematic, and it solved that problem as well. I have not changed my lead composition, and I can still pour my 70/30 lead with no problem 70%hard/ 30% soft.

Why the 70/30 hard lead composition for a slip jig? I personally would only use that mix for buzz baits and spinner baits.

Thanks for the detailed info -

Al

[cadman]

Good to hear, I just bought a can of that release from zeiners.

Let me know how it works for you.

Why the 70/30 hard lead composition for a slip jig? I personally would only use that mix for buzz baits and spinner baits.

Thanks for the detailed info -

Al

I like a 70/30 mix for everything I pour. I do not like to use soft lead for any of my jigs. I just like a hard mix, which I believe also helps everyone that powder paints. JMO

[smalljaw]

I've been using that little ladle for just about all of my jigs and spinnerbaits for a long time. I believe it is why I don't have many problems with incomplete pours, I started with a palmer hot pot and thern got the Lee bottom pour furnace and then I went to pouring the ultra minnow spinnerbait and thats when I got the Lee precision melter and small wood handle ladle and I haven't looked back. I like my bottom pour for 1/4oz and 3/8oz jigs but I have to admit that I use the ladle almost exclusively now because I can use harder lead without much problem but using the ladle does take some getting used to.

[Ogajiga]

I've got a Lee small ladle but only use it for skimming dross - judging by appearance never figgered it could actually be used for pouring. My cheap import cast iron 1-1/2# ladle BOWL just broke tapping the HANDLE to shake off klingons, and I was pleased that my (heavy) backup USA 2# ladle seemed to have increased melt stream velocity which reduced the mispour ratio for most molds, until I got to the Do-it AHB-4-341. This Arrowhead mold has always been a tough pour due to heavy wire hooks in narrow collars with skinny spike barbs and I had to polish the cavity surfaces to get 90% complete pours. Well, with nothing changed but the new ladle I started getting 50+% incomplete collars and barbs despite cracking the mold faces for air release, adusting pour angles-volume-height, and higher/lower melt temps. I figgered size might matter so bought an approx. 4 oz. antique cast iron ladle bowl on eBay and will try it as soon as I can figure the best way to attach a handle onto it. Thanks for confirming this!

BTW, I use soft lead with 5% tin added for ladle pouring jig heads.

[cadman]

You know guys, I do not like change probably like most people. I love my Lee IV pots and wouldn't change them for nothing in the world. However, when you try every possible variation to get good pours in a mold and the best you can get is 30 to 40% something has to be done. So with me trying this, it really opened up my eyes as how well this works . By no means is this process breaking any pouring speed records. However like I mentioned earlier, if you're pouring and you get 1 out of 4 good pours the old way, then it is time to try something different. I'm not pouring faster, but every pour is perfect. So in essence I'm still pouring faster because I have no re-pours. Sometimes you got to put all your knowledge and pride aside and listen and expand your horizons. In this case it has worked extremely well for me .

Smalljaw, I wish I had tried this earlier, it would have saved me so much aggravation on some of my troublesome molds. You seem to be one step ahead of me. Well done.

[Ogajiga]

Yeah, its surprising how late in the game you can still run into a new confusing problem. My small Lee ladle pour gates are damaged from scraping cast iron pots, so might not be useable for pouring. How did you guys figure to try such an unlikely solution for tough pour molds?

Dang, I just sold a small cast iron S&W ladle which might be easier to manage & pour better than a heavy ladle.

[smalljaw]

Cadman, I'm never a step ahead of you...lol! The only reason I went to the ladle for that mold was I remembered how well I was able to pour my 1/8oz finesse jigs with the hot pot 2, so I figured a small ladle with 1oz of lead would be easier that the hot pot with a couple pounds of lead and it worked and like I said, it worked so well that I ladle pour almost all my baits now unless I have to make more than 20 jigs then I use the bottom pour furnace.

[BBK]

Let me know how it works for you.

I sure will! I was real close to buying it after reading your previous thread on it. Now that I have so many molds, sooting takes too much time. Time wasted is money wasted.

I got an email yesterday from zeiners saying the release spray is backordered

[cadman]

Yeah, its surprising how late in the game you can still run into a new confusing problem. My small Lee ladle pour gates are damaged from scraping cast iron pots, so might not be useable for pouring. How did you guys figure to try such an unlikely solution for tough pour molds?

Dang, I just sold a small cast iron S&W ladle which might be easier to manage & pour better than a heavy ladle.

Hawn,

I found this out similar to Smalljaw's experience. I had a hell of a time pouring my ultra-Minnow Spinnerbait mold with my LeeI IV pot. It was a nightmare. So then I went to soft lead for that mold, and my Palmer Hot Pot. Well it worked really great except the damn thing was so heavy. Also when I used the Palmer Pot, and I was pouring the last cavities closest to my hand, I was always scared that I would over pour too much and burn my hands. Even with leather gloves , those gloves get really hot from lead fast. Anyway, I was skimming the crap off of my Lee pot one day when I was fluxing, and I happened to be using my small 1-1/2 oz ladle. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Instead of using the heavy Palmer Pot why not try using this to see if it works. Well it did and the rest is history. Why wasn't I born with all this knowledge in my head. Life would be so much easier.

[JSC]

Good info Thanx Guys

As a side note on "Slicking Up" the pull rod ... I had a customer that poured all sizes of egg sinkers and he used a bar of Ivory Soap ... had it sitting next to his pot and would drag the pull rod thru the bar of soap before casting and it worked like a charm for that purpose.

I have tried wax that I use for fluxing when making a few egg sinkers and it works as well.

JSC

[DDSBYDAY]

Let me know how it works for you.

I like a 70/30 mix for everything I pour. I do not like to use soft lead for any of my jigs. I just like a hard mix, which I believe also helps everyone that powder paints. JMO

I like to stay with as soft as possible. The only reasons are I like easy pours and twist off sprues. What are the powder painting advantages. I have a lot of harder lead available but avoid using it. I have read many posts that mention a lead mix. I am very interested to know why.

[cadman]

I like to stay with as soft as possible. The only reasons are I like easy pours and twist off sprues. What are the powder painting advantages. I have a lot of harder lead available but avoid using it. I have read many posts that mention a lead mix. I am very interested to know why.

This is just my personal opinion as I did some testing on powder painted hard lead jigs and powder painted dead soft jigs. On the harder lead jigs, the paint didn't ship off as fast, because the lead underneath the paint didn't give in. With soft lead if you drop it, it will definitely deform quite a bit. I don't have any documents to prove this only a hardness tester at work. I am not scientist or a metallugical specialist, so all my finding may be thrown out the window. For me the harder the lead the better, as long as I get good pours with no re-pours. JMO

Edited May 13, 2010 by cadman

[cadman]

Good info Thanx Guys

As a side note on "Slicking Up" the pull rod ... I had a customer that poured all sizes of egg sinkers and he used a bar of Ivory Soap ... had it sitting next to his pot and would drag the pull rod thru the bar of soap before casting and it worked like a charm for that purpose.

I have tried wax that I use for fluxing when making a few egg sinkers and it works as well.

JSC

JSC, I will have to try that. It would be easier to drag a pull rod through soap than always spray it with a release agent. What does the soap do to the egg sinkers when you paint them. Do you know and can you elaborate?

[JSC]

JSC, I will have to try that. It would be easier to drag a pull rod through soap than always spray it with a release agent. What does the soap do to the egg sinkers when you paint them. Do you know and can you elaborate?

I thought about the painting after I posted ... He did not paint the sinkers so that was not a problem but it might be when you are going to paint the casting ... all I have poured with this system was egg sinkers ( and not a whole lot of them maybe 20#).

JSC

[cadman]

I sure will! I was real close to buying it after reading your previous thread on it. Now that I have so many molds, sooting takes too much time. Time wasted is money wasted.

I got an email yesterday from zeiners saying the release spray is backordered

Sorry for the late reply, but Do-It sells the same stuff along with Barlow's. Check this place out, phenomenal price http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=763758. God dang nab-it now I find this and I paid close to $10.

[chill]

I I would like to throw in my 2 cents worth on the wooden handle ladle I am on my second one and use it alot but I keep forgetting about the wooden handle burning up so with the tape I bought off Cadman I wrapped my new one and cured the problem of the CRS desease and it works great. I use it on everything because I can not get my Lee IV to stop leaking I noticed that the screw that is suppose to adjust is not going in to the groove it has never worked like it should am working on saving up to buy a RCBS had and old one once and it is the best I haved used. I want to thank everyone on TU site you have helped me a lot