Kasilofchrisn Posted September 26, 2013 Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 I have noticed that the melting pot quantity can affect the pour also. When the pot is full there is more head pressure at the nozzle and the material drops with extra force. When the hot streaming metal is in the dead center of the opening the force causes "splash-out" If ladling works, the answer may be to use less metal in the Lee pot. I believe having a full pot is best. Put the nozzle tightly against the gate and let the force of the lead fill the mold cavity. The head pressure will help you if you do it this way. If I had this issue this is what I would try more lead not less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted September 26, 2013 Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 I believe having a full pot is best. Put the nozzle tightly against the gate and let the force of the lead fill the mold cavity. The head pressure will help you if you do it this way. If I had this issue this is what I would try more lead not less. I have not tried that and appreciate that advice. The mold is too long to get the opening closest to the handle under the gate with a direct approach so I have been tilting the mold and holding it an inch or two away. How do you fill that last cavity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasilofchrisn Posted September 26, 2013 Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 I have not tried that and appreciate that advice. The mold is too long to get the opening closest to the handle under the gate with a direct approach so I have been tilting the mold and holding it an inch or two away. How do you fill that last cavity? Most of my stuff is too big for a bottom pour pot so I use a large pot and ladle for most things. I haven't had many problems with my smaller do-it molds and m,y bottom pour pot. Have you tried putting the mold sideways to the pot? A bit harder to hold but should work. If holding it farther away gets you complete pours then you shouldn't change it. You could always leave the last cavity out and just not use it unless you have too. I don't always pour all the cavities in my molds at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarverGLX Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Great advice guys. The only other possibility is that there is some foreign substance in the mold, on the hook, or most likely on the base pin creating a gas bubble when burned by the lead. I've had problems from this in the past from pouring jigs with vinyl coated cable guards. In your case if there happened to be powder paint on a base pin that was in turn put in a larger mold the next time the plastic would burn... Gas released... Bubble formed. From your pictures however it looks like your pins are pretty clean so the comments listed above will likely fix your problem. Just a thought and something else that wasn't mentioned before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBehr Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 I just got the same mold...and I had the same issue. What I noticed was the it seemed to go away after the mold got hot....and after reading the comment on the cold hooks...I was leaving the hooks in the hot mold while I broke off the sprue and sanded the heads. So maybe the cold hooks might be a contributor?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbslures1 Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 For some unknown reason when Do-It started using all black handle molds, a lot of them are hard to pour. For a long time the used various colored handles such as blue, red, green, orange etc which indicated the price of that mold. At any rate a lot of the black handled molds pour lead poorly. I have tried many things but none of them helped until I started putting TALC powder into the mold cavities prior to pouring. In some cases I put talc powder for each pour and other times I add talc about every 3 or 4 pours. Do not use cornstarch type, it only burns and does not help. I add the talc powder, close the mold and shake it some then open the mold and bang the two halves together to remove any excess powder. I presume the talc is so slick it allows the lead to slide into the cavity much better. Try this and you will be amazed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Gansner Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 Its the red hooks, I have a swim jig mold that uses mustad ultra points the black nickel work fine put in a red hook and i get the same result. Have not tried mold release. Will look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbslures1 Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 I have an Arky Flat eye jig mold. For the most part the jigs pour nice and look complete until I remove the sprew. Underneath there is a cavity that didn't get filled almost every time. I am pouring soft lead that has been cleaned twice and fluxed. I'm not sure what I can do differently to get a complete pour. I can get these holes to fill in if I do multiple coats of powder paint but I am wasting paint this way plus it is also more time consuming to try and get these holes filled that should be there in the first place. Here are several pics showing the pour process and the result. Any thoughts? Thanks The cavities in the jig heads are a natural thing that happens when pouring lead or most any metal into a mold, in fact there is a unseen cavity inside the head practically in every head poured this way. The best solution to the problem is to slow down as much as possible when pouring. If you are using a bottom pouring spout, reduce the flow as much as possible or if you are hand pouring do the same. My guess is that what you are doing is pouring much too fast with a bottom pour spout. I once worked in an aluminum casting plant pouring 2000 lb ingots and every ingot we poured had a cavity either inside or on the outside. They eliminate the cavities by using Direct Casting or DC casting. Slow down when pouring and see if this solves or helps your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbslures1 Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 I used the ultra minnow spinner, I could not pour a jig with that mold to save my life, Then I smoked it, I have a 90% success rate. the 10% is my bad, not the mold lol This mold is almost impossible to pour a complete head, don't know why, try putting talc powder in the mold cavities before you pour the lead and shake out excess talc and you will be amazed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basseducer Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 It looks like you are breaking the sprues off. I found that the harder lead does this more often. I also found that if you break the sprue off immediately after demolding while the lead is still hot this does not happen. Lead continues to harden for some time after you make your cast. Try pouring 3 jigs, break off the sprue on one of them right away and set the rest aside. Then break off the next one on the next day and so on. You will notice that it gets harder each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbslures1 Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 The cavities in the jig heads are a natural thing that happens when pouring lead or most any metal into a mold, in fact there is a unseen cavity inside the head practically in every head poured this way. The best solution to the problem is to slow down as much as possible when pouring. If you are using a bottom pouring spout, reduce the flow as much as possible or if you are hand pouring do the same. My guess is that what you are doing is pouring much too fast with a bottom pour spout. I once worked in an aluminum casting plant pouring 2000 lb ingots and every ingot we poured had a cavity either inside or on the outside. They eliminate the cavities by using Direct Casting or DC casting. Slow down when pouring and see if this solves or helps your problem. The more I looked at your photos maybe my first reply is not the problem but it appears you are breaking the sprues off instead of cutting them off with gate cutters. I would try cutting them off with some good gate cutters plus slow down on my pouring speed. There is almost always a cavity inside the poured head and it appears to be at the point where you are breaking the sprue from the head. I have never had much luck breaking sprues off, some molds are not a problem but some are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 I believe having a full pot is best. Put the nozzle tightly against the gate and let the force of the lead fill the mold cavity. The head pressure will help you if you do it this way. If I had this issue this is what I would try more lead not less. I did what was suggested here and by Cadman. MUCH BETTER. I was 100% wrong about doing better with less lead in the pot. Mold opening snug to the spout = excellent pours and smaller sprues. Thanks, guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) I did what was suggested here and by Cadman. MUCH BETTER. I was 100% wrong about doing better with less lead in the pot. Mold opening snug to the spout = excellent pours and smaller sprues. Thanks, guys Painter, The more you pour the more you will find that there isn't one answer to every problem. I can pour the same mold three days in a row, and many times I have to do something different each day. I am a strong believer that humidity plays a big part in lead pouring as well. It's nice to have a forum where you can get so many various answers to your questions, with so many people having different solutions . On another day of pouring you may have to do something else to get good pours. Unfortunately that's the nature of the beast. Even two identical molds pour differently as I have had that experience as well. Anyway glad it all worked out for you and Happy Pouring. Edited October 20, 2013 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasilofchrisn Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Cadman is 100% spot on. It sometimes is baffling as to why a mold will not pour properly and then you find a fix. Next day and the problem goes away or requires a different fix. Studying this forum and keeping an arsenal of ideas to fix your problems is a sure way to have good pours and a fun, not frustrating,casting session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saugerman Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 A easy way to keep your hooks warm is to use an old crock pot, just dump them in, and put it on low. You can usually pick the hooks up with your hands, without burning them. It just warms them enough they work better in the mold. Also the talc powder is a good way to get a cavity to fill on out if you've been having trouble. I use a small rag and shake a little on the rag and then wipe the cavity down with the talc powder, and it has never failed to complete the cavity. Once you start having a problem again just wipe the mold again. Every one has a little different way of doing things, this is just one of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 So right about different days and different tricks. We had a cold snap and I guess my molds got just cold enough that they would not pour right today until thoroughly warmed up. Earlier in the week they were spot on the first shot. Only about 5 F degrees difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
