Tree_Fish Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 So I got my brush jig mold in and sat down to do some pours with it. Poured 5 runs with no hooks etc, put the hooks and pins in and poured. The heads had filled out but the collar and barb had not. 5 more pours without hooks another run and I got one out of 3 that almost filled all the way. Did a couple more pours w/o hooks same thing, just one cavity almost filled. I thought well its got to be just about hot enough so I set the mold down on my hot plate left the lead heating and went and put some soot on the cavities and came back for some more pours. Still having the same issues, ended up with about 20 jigs that hadn't filled out and four that I would call useable. This is the only mold I've had this issue with. I read somewhere that some people are experiencing these issues as well and as a resolution they take a torch and heat the hooks while in the mold for 4-6 seconds apiece. Just wondered if anyone else has had this issue with this mold and what they did to get full pours. Thanks in advance for any advice given! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAWJigs Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 When I have that problem I usually put a business card or something to keep it cracked open and pour and see what happens. Is your lead clean? I use to have that problem a lot and started fluxing 2 or 3 times before I started and I could pour 100 jigs no problems and flux again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) Mindhunter, First of all, I would highly recommend Frankford Arsenal Drop Out mold release. This is the best investment anyone can start off with. If you can't pour with this stuff (other than lead free jigs) than you are really doing something wrong. Next is flux the lead heavily. Followed by heating your hooks. I do not use a torch to heat hooks, I think this is a bad idea, (JMO) I use a 100 watt light bulb with a reflector aimed at all my hooks in a black bowl. Your choice. This should get your lead to flow better with hot hooks. Plus using a lamp is safer than using an open flamed torch in my opinion. Now I did find that this mold is hard to pour at the beginning until it is broken in. With that said, if you are still having problems, carefully open up the cavity that holds the hook shank on both mold halves. Now I mean carefully. What could be happening is the air is getting trapped as the lead pours in the mold. By you opening up the cavity there, your hooks will be a little looser, however what you will see is a bit of lead leak out and drip down the hook shank. With this happening, you know that the air is being pushed out as the lead fills the cavity and you should have good pours. You can easily trim off this little peice of lead. I have done this to many of my molds. It is easier to trim off a little piece of lead on the hook shank, than getting frustrted trying to get good pours. Trust me I've done this many times and some things are proven that work. If you still are having problems you can crack the mold with a piece of tape or business card as mentioned above. If you are pouring the cavity closest to the hinge, you can put the tape by the hinge, if you are pouring the cavity closest to the handles, put the tape behind the cavity you are pouring. Move the tape front to back to get minimum or maximum gap. Now the whole purpose of this is to release trapped air. If you crack it too much you will get flash. So the optimal thing to do is adjust the tape so you release the trapped air and not get flash. This is a trial and error thing. Finally you can also try to force the lead into the mold. Do this at all stages of pouring. Whether with tape, without tape, tilted or whatever. Sometimes sticking the mold sprue hole onto the pot pouring nipple forces lead into the mold. This does solve many bad pours. There are a lot of tricks that I can not possibly cover for you. Everday I pour is a different day for me as well. I have good days and bad days just like everyone else, on the bad days if they are really bad, I just walk away and start on it the next day, and try to figure out what I haven't tried. Most of the time the next day is 100% better. Just a quick note: I started to pour lead-free jigs, and that is a totally different animal. There are many things that just will not work. So hang in there and ask questions. Everyone here is willing to help. Let us know how it goes. Edited February 23, 2012 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchance Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 good tips.....thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree_Fish Posted February 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions guys, will try some pours in the next few days and let ya know how it goes. I would be pouring today but I usually pour outside and the winds blowing 30+ here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defish Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 When you're doing your no-hook warm up pours do you remove the hookless pours right away, or do you leave them in for a bit? Leaving them in for 20 seconds or so gives the mold a chance to absorb the heat better from the lead. I also leave the newly poured jigs in the mold to keep it hot while I skim the pot, or anything that will delay the next pour. I also do at least 3 GOOD hookless pours that fill out completely before I put in hooks. With a tough to pour mold it also helps to just pour one cavity at a time, and after things get going better start pouring multiple cavities. The mold stays hotter pouring a single cavity because it's open a lot less time to just remove one jig and place one hook. It's slow, but it's better to get one good jig at a time than a handful of mis-pours... Something else that's helped me is paying attention to how much lead is in the pot. Too much lead in the pot can cause pouring problems. Good luck. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass100 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 With the small brush jig mold I put the pour nipple into the mold and I have a 100% success rate, and that is with hard lead. With the big brush jig mold, specifically the 3/4 and 1 oz jigs, I have to use soft lead or I can't get them to fill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Cadman's advise is spot on and I agree with it 100% but I believe I can add a little bit. Before you open the hook cavities, which for me would be the last resort, try one more thing, and that is pouring with a ladle. I got started with a ladle and found some molds it justs works better, especially molds that have detail like my Ultra Minnow spinnerbait mold. If you haven't used a ladle it will take a little practice and you need the right one, Lee makes a small 2oz ladle with a wooden handle, this has pouring spouts on both sides and is the one I find that works best with 3/4oz baits and below. The way use use to ladle when pouring problem molds is going to be different than normal pouring, I find that a lot of my smaller jigs need to be ladle poured sometimes especially if I'm using harder than normal lead. If you use a different hand to pour than I'm describing just reverse it. I pour with the ladle in my right hand while holding the mold with my left, the pot is on my right side as well, I tilt the mold slightly to the right and then take the ladle about 1/2 full of lead or whatever I need really, and press the bottom of the ladle near the gate of the cavity I want to fill. It is best to make a dry run first, to see where to position the ladle, because what you want is the ladle to be near the gate that all you need to do is rotate or turn the ladle toward the mold while keeping it against the top of the mold. What you are doing is instead of pouring the lead into the cavity you are more or less dumping it in and you are doing it at a fast rate, if you do it right it will fill the cavity completely and it won't splash but instead go right in the mold. You need a little more lead in the lade than what you need, for example if I'm pouring a 1/8oz jig, I'll have the ladle about half full, it is more than I need but when I rotate the ladle and dump the lead in the cavity, there may still be a little lead left in the ladle, but the 2 most important parts of this is to make sure you have the ladle agains the top of the mold and that the mold is tilted toward the side you are pouring from, this will keep you from spilling the lead all over. It sounds harder than it is but if you can get good with a ladle it will help with some of the harder molds to pour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Cadman's advise is spot on and I agree with it 100% but I believe I can add a little bit. Before you open the hook cavities, which for me would be the last resort, try one more thing, and that is pouring with a ladle. I got started with a ladle and found some molds it justs works better, especially molds that have detail like my Ultra Minnow spinnerbait mold. If you haven't used a ladle it will take a little practice and you need the right one, Lee makes a small 2oz ladle with a wooden handle, this has pouring spouts on both sides and is the one I find that works best with 3/4oz baits and below. The way use use to ladle when pouring problem molds is going to be different than normal pouring, I find that a lot of my smaller jigs need to be ladle poured sometimes especially if I'm using harder than normal lead. If you use a different hand to pour than I'm describing just reverse it. I pour with the ladle in my right hand while holding the mold with my left, the pot is on my right side as well, I tilt the mold slightly to the right and then take the ladle about 1/2 full of lead or whatever I need really, and press the bottom of the ladle near the gate of the cavity I want to fill. It is best to make a dry run first, to see where to position the ladle, because what you want is the ladle to be near the gate that all you need to do is rotate or turn the ladle toward the mold while keeping it against the top of the mold. What you are doing is instead of pouring the lead into the cavity you are more or less dumping it in and you are doing it at a fast rate, if you do it right it will fill the cavity completely and it won't splash but instead go right in the mold. You need a little more lead in the lade than what you need, for example if I'm pouring a 1/8oz jig, I'll have the ladle about half full, it is more than I need but when I rotate the ladle and dump the lead in the cavity, there may still be a little lead left in the ladle, but the 2 most important parts of this is to make sure you have the ladle agains the top of the mold and that the mold is tilted toward the side you are pouring from, this will keep you from spilling the lead all over. It sounds harder than it is but if you can get good with a ladle it will help with some of the harder molds to pour. X2 I know I couldn't remember everything, there are so many variables to try. Sooooooooooooo try them all until you come up with a solution. Thanks Smalljaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softworm Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions guys, will try some pours in the next few days and let ya know how it goes. I would be pouring today but I usually pour outside and the winds blowing 30+ here Pouring outside could also be one of your problems, I've done it in the past seemed like the least bit of wind would cool things a little and cause problems. I wouldn't do it in my house though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
