Smallest sinker eye?

[Kasilofchrisn]

So I ordered a couple mold from Bug molds off of eBay.

The molds come from Ukraine and he does not offer inserts for these molds.

The mold are nice and I think they will work well, but I'm having trouble finding a sinker eye to fit them.

Even a number 0 sinker eye is to big.

I've tried making my own using nesting pliers, round nose pliers, etc and all of that but it's kind of a pain and hard to get it exactly right every time.

I have thought about building a wire bending jig and tool like the ones made on the Engineered Anglers channel on YouTube. But that is some extra work and even then I'm not sure it will work the way I need it to.

I tried my little blue Bender, my Hagen's wire former and my Twistech and they all make an eye that is too big.

I mistakenly assumed these molds would be made to accommodate a standard size 0 sinker eye or another standard sinker eye that I could purchase here in the US.

 I thought maybe someone here might know of a source of a smaller sinker eye.

Maybe something in metric from over in Europe that could be purchased online?

Or if you have any other ideas that might be helpful let me know.

[21xdc]

I would modify the mold to take the size 0 ss insert that you can get easily in the USA.

[dlaery]

you might try ohare spring, they use to have some small figure 8's

I think I got these from ohare spring, The brass eye is a Do-It #1 Brass wire eye

[Kasilofchrisn]

13 hours ago, 21xdc said:

I would modify the mold to take the size 0 ss insert that you can get easily in the USA.

I don't think that's going to work very well.

Quite likely I would destroy some of the cavities in the mold attempting to do this with my dremel.

Or at least modifying this mold would be one of my last resorts.

 

 

[Kasilofchrisn]

11 hours ago, dlaery said:

you might try ohare spring, they use to have some small figure 8's

I think I got these from ohare spring, The brass eye is a Do-It #1 Brass wire eye

I didn't see anything on the O'Hare website that was close enough for me to make work.

Also the price they want is a bit much.

I really don't want to spend $150 or more for inserts for a mold that cost me $32.

I don't need a thousand of them.

At least not at this point anyway.

[Go55]

Small size rolling swivel?

[Arne]

Could you try a drill with a cup hanger chucked in it?  Make a small loop, put the ends in a vise and twist away.  Cut to fit.  Just a thought.

[Kasilofchrisn]

21 hours ago, Go55 said:

Small size rolling swivel?

You might be on to something there!

I'm out of town for work but when I get home I'll try out some of the swivels I have or pick some up at the local tackle shop.

If nothing else I could cut a barrel swivel in half and have two eyelets from each one.

[Fishermanbt]

Would something like these work?  I have ordered some tackle craft items from AliExpress recently and most items have shipped very fast. 

[Go55]

2 hours ago, Kasilofchrisn said:

You might be on to something there!

I'm out of town for work but when I get home I'll try out some of the swivels I have or pick some up at the local tackle shop.

If nothing else I could cut a barrel swivel in half and have two eyelets from each one.

Came up so fast because I am cheap, lazy and no patient man! Hahaha
Just kidding, in most case easy to get is very important especially DIY type experiments like we do. Right?

[Kasilofchrisn]

16 hours ago, Fishermanbt said:

Would something like these work?  I have ordered some tackle craft items from AliExpress recently and most items have shipped very fast. 

Those look to be the size of a standard American sinker eye.

So no, I don't think those would work.

[Slammingjack]

Barlow's has a size 0. I know this is a little late. If you found some place to pay something that works.

let me know.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Slammingjack

[Kasilofchrisn]

11 hours ago, Slammingjack said:

Barlow's has a size 0. I know this is a little late. If you found some place to pay something that works.

let me know.

I have a thousand of the size 0 from Barlows and as I mentioned in my original post they're too big!

[Slammingjack]

My Bad!

 

 

[sdsaw]

Just a thought. Maybe you can find a hook that you can cut to use the eye  and bend the cut end so it holds in the lead?

[Kasilofchrisn]

8 hours ago, sdsaw said:

Just a thought. Maybe you can find a hook that you can cut to use the eye  and bend the cut end so it holds in the lead?

Another good alternative to try if the swivel idea doesn't work out.

Thanks!