kmsnowman Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 I have a couple Do it mold Pro Pour Ballhead molds that don't pour well at the keepers. Does anyone work molds ? I would like to have these tweaked so they pour a consistent jig. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Pour a few runs without hooks like Bob said. Make sure your lead is the soft type and hot. If that doesn't work then you may need a mold release spray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccfish Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 +1 on the mold release spray, that's what worked for me when I was having this problem. Frankfort arsenal drop out is the one I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasilofchrisn Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 First spray your mold with a light coating of Frankford arsenals drop out spray. Then heat the mold on top of your pot as your lead is heating. Warm up your hooks before inserting into the mold. Use good clean lead and flux it well. Your problem will be solved. You might also need to tilt your mold as you are filling it. But for the molds you are talking about that is unlikely. If it is a do-it mold with no obvious defects then doing the above will fix your problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Pro series molds usually pour easily and the fact that the collars aren't filling tells me a few things. The first thing you have to check is the temperature of the mold and the lead, if you have a hot mold and the pours are still incomplete you can try turning up the pot, but turn it up 1/2 notch, if you are at 6 turn it to 6.5 and wait for 15 minutes while letting your mold sit on top of the pot. If you do that and still have incomplete pours there could be other problems. The first is the lead, is it scrap lead or wheel weight lead? If it is then that could be the problem, if you have too high of a percentage of zinc the lead is bad, if you have too much antimony you may need to ladle pour as your spout isn't fast enough because the lead is hard and freezes quickly. Normally I suggest cracking the mold, inserting a piece of high temp tape near the hinge of the mold to create a small gap when the mold is closed to let air escape but I've never heard of that problem with the pro series molds. So, what kind of lead are you using, some detailed information will go a long way in helping you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmsnowman Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks guy's I've done all of the above except turning up the heat. I pour Bismuth tin mix and not lead. The thing is some of the cavities come out fine every time and some do not. I will try pouring at a higher temp though. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) Thanks guy's I've done all of the above except turning up the heat. I pour Bismuth tin mix and not lead. The thing is some of the cavities come out fine every time and some do not. I will try pouring at a higher temp though. Thanks again. Ken, I'm really surprised you have an issue with bismuth and tin. I pour quite a bit of this as well, and have never had an issue with bismuth and tin. It pours just like water for me, to the point that sometimes if I have air reliefs it fills everything. It is very fluid. Are you mixing the two together to come up with your own alloy or are you buying Roto-metals blend? Actually, turning up the heat is not going to solve your problem (just a guess). You know as well as I do, that bismuth melts at a much lower temp than lead. So I think something else is going on, however I really don't have an answer for you. I have never had an issue pouring bismuth, other than it is so hard, with sharp edges and sometimes very difficult to get out of a mold. I am thinking that you might need air vent lines to relieve the air from the mold to get the bismuth down to the keepers. This is just a guess. Is this the first time you have poured this mold with bismuth? I do know from pouring lead, that if you pour for too long, the aluminum molds do expand a bit sometimes, and when I let the molds cool a bit, they pour better, but I don't think this is your problem. Let me (us) know what you finally do to solve this problem. I am extremely curious, in case this happens to me. Edited March 13, 2015 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmsnowman Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Hey Ted I'm using a Hvy gami. hook, I'm thinking not enough Bismuth is getting by the hook. I have a lot of customers that love this hook so I need to solve this issue. I loose to much time picking out the bad ones and re pouring them. I'll let you know if I solve it Ted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Ken, I'm thinking air trapped. One other thing you can try is enlarging the area where the hook shank lies just below the keeper. Many times if the hook shank varies in diameter, and the mold halves close around the hook shank, it will not leave any air out. However if you do this, you will get some bismuth seepage down the hook shank if you ever go back to a smaller diameter hook. But to me I would rather have this and trim it, then melt and re-pour again in hopes of maybe getting a good one. I've done this in the past with oversized hooks in lead and it does work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basseducer Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Can you adjust the flow on your pot? That is one of the first things I look at when this problem arises. I also push the gate up against the nozzle so the lead does not cool as much when exiting the pot. If that does not work and I've done what was mentioned above. I place the hook in the cavity and wave a mini torch over the hook for a few seconds. close the mold and pour. It takes more time. but it works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmsnowman Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks again guy's. Ted , what type of bit would you use on the mold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) Thanks again guy's. Ted , what type of bit would you use on the mold? Ken, If I am correct many of the heavy Gami hooks have flat sides on the hook shank, they are not round. What I have done to open up the area where the hook shank lies, is I take a small jeweler's round file and file a deeper groove onto both halves of the mold. It doesn't have to be perfect, as most people are not going to notice that the hook shank is off .015. There is more slop in a Do-IT mold than that when you buy it new. Also if you have the guts to do this, is I've also taken a drill bit in a pin vise that is slightly bigger than the current opening in your mold and hand drill it. To find the correct bit, you should roughly know what size diameter you have in the mold. Take a slightly bigger drill, place it in where the hook shank should lie. Close your mold. If your drill bit falls out it is too small. If the drill bit does not fall out, then check to see how much gap you have between your mold halves. If we're talking .015 +/- then take the drill bit out, close your mold and clamp it. Next take your drill bit and slowly with the pin vise, turn it into the cavity to drill it out bigger. With you going slow, the drill bit will follow the original cavity, and drill out the new hole. make sure you don't go through the other side of the cavity and ruin your mold. Now open your mold and see if your hook shank is looser, than pour your head. See if that made a difference. If it is still too small, go up a little more. You shouldn't have to go up too big in drill size. I would say a max. of .020 cumulative should be the most your mold would need. If you have a lot of small drill bits, than it is better to use those incrementally than one drill bit. This is like step drilling to get the hole size you want. Every time you enlarge the hole, pour a sample head, so you don't go too big. This is tedious, but it does work. Finally if you are really gutsy, you can do this as well with a cordless drill, just go slow. PS: I assume your mold is aluminum. Edited March 13, 2015 by cadman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh'sjigs Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 Personally i have never used the release spray...I just candle my molds then warm them up...sometimes you can actually warm the hook up also. Do this just by putting your hooks into your mold and let it set for about 20 seconds then try it. Just what works for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
