Tree_Fish Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 So I bought both sizes of the snootie mold and sat down last night to attempt my first pours with them. I kept having problems getting all the cavities to fill all the way. And I always flux the %&*$ out of my lead, the cavities are sprayed with a good coat of drop-out and I preheat my molds by sitting them on top of my hot pot while it warms up and this process usually works pretty well for me. I realized that only one cavity a pour was coming out complete so I tried just pouring one cavity at a time and it worked. I was able to pour all 6 cavities and they filled great but I could only pour one cavity at a time. I have never seen this in any of my other molds, any suggestions? Also I have a question regarding hook sizes. I had some owner 5304's in 4/0 and could only get them to fit in the 1/4 cavity, the eyes were to small to fit in any of the others. So what size hooks should I get in the 5304 for these molds? I primarily intend to use the 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 cavities. Thanks in advance guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkvnmtr Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 The problem might be your Hot Pot. A bottom pour will probably work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree_Fish Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 What specifically about the hot pot would only cause one cavity at a time to fill? As I said before I use the same process on all my molds and this is the first time I've had this problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkvnmtr Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Some molds pour better from a bottom pour pot and some pour better from a ladle. Never used a Hot Pot but I assume it is more like a ladle. If you have a friend with one try a few and see if it is better. Some times I find that a lead alloy will not work well in a mold. There is a lot of things that affect a pour. Sometimes I just wait untill another day and it pour fine. I think the humidity and pressure affect it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 The Snootie is my favorite jig!!! I use it for my flipping jig, I use it to make a swim jig and I even use it to make a bladed swim jig (chatterbait). I use the 3/0 5304 for my 3/8oz, it makes a nice strong and compact jig, not quite a flipping jig and not quite finesse, anyway I don't know why you can't go with the 4/0 in the 3/8oz or 1/2oz cavities since I can use the Mustad 32786 in 5/0 for the 3/8oz and 6/0 for the 1/2 and 5/8oz cavities. Another hook you can use is the Gamakatsu 2014, it is a 60 degree EWG hook and that is what I use for the swim jig. As for pouring all the cavities at one time, well I only do one at a time, I find it quicker as I can pour, demold, load the hook and pour again quicker than doing all of the cavities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonfishn Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Did you try a light dusting of baby powder? Sprinkle on, blow it off, residue is usually enough to slough the lead mold off when done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) I realized that only one cavity a pour was coming out complete so I tried just pouring one cavity at a time and it worked. I was able to pour all 6 cavities and they filled great but I could only pour one cavity at a time. I have never seen this in any of my other molds, any suggestions? I have both snootie molds as well and pretty much all I fish. I also use the same hooks as smalljaw. I too only pour one cavity at a time as I find it easier for speed and accuracy. I think I know what you are trying to say and I think I know what's happening. Are you saying that you can load 3 different hooks in three different cavites on the same mold and then pour one cavity, then go on to the second and then the 3rd and they do not pour complete? If your answer is yes, then what is causing the problem is your Palmer Hot Pot. What is happening is this. You are trying to pour (3) cavities and when you get to the second and third one they don't fill. I have a hot pot and pour usually spinnerbaits with it on occasdion, and I don't like it for that reason. What's happening is you pour the first cavity fast and it fills and you have some overflow. You go to the second cavity which is in the middle and you have to pour slower so you don't get overflow in the last cavity. When you get to the last cavity it is either by your hands or by the hinge and believe it or not, subconsciously you are pouring slower yet because you don't want to over pour in the hinge area and if it's by your hands you don't want to overpour theer because you can burn your hands or fingers. Believe it or not I am much more cautious when I pour with a Palmer Hot Pot then with a bottom pour pot.So you have to pour too slow to get the stream into each separate cavity, and by the time you do that the lead is cooling off and it doesn't fill the other cavities. If you pour too fast to compensate for this it will over fill one cavity and then start to fill another. By the time you get to the other you can't pour into it because some lead from the first pour has seeped into this one. The only solution to this is pouring with a bottom pour pot, where you can load three cavities with 3 different hooks and then pour. Even with a bottom pour pot ,I have tried to load (3) cavities with hooks and pour each cavity and it does work. Like I mentioned I find it slow going, because you have to make sure the hooks are seated correctly along with the base hole pins and also you have the correct hooks in the correct cavities. I seemed to waste a lot of time doing it this way, because either one of the hooks moved or the basehole pin moved and I could not close the mold. What you can do if you want to pour this way, is to stick the sprue hole of the mold into the nozzle of the bottom pour pot. I hope this explains it a ltlle better. Edited April 28, 2012 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
