Pouring My Own Jigs

[Wayne SW/MO]

One more thought, store your molds where its warm, it will make them easier to heat up.

[slowroller]

I just got into making my own jigs. I purchased a 20lb lead pot and a couple of jig molds and all the goodies. Made my first set of jigs a couple of weeks ago and all went well. I tried making more last night but I'm having an issue that maybe someone out here can help me with. I was making 5/16 and 7/16 round head, weedless jigs. The 7/16 poured perfectly, however, the 5/16 didn't go so well. The lead didn't seem to get down into the (not sure of the correct terms) base (the bottom of the jig head where the the ring is at). I've tried adjusting the temp, tried heating the jig mold, the pot seems to be pouring normally (no clog). I poured probably 30 times and only got 9 of them to turn out. Some would be missing half the side, some just a small portion. I don't see anything on the mold that's keeping the lead from getting to the bottom. I do pour them in my unheated garage, is that the issue? Any thoughts?

Hey, Have you got this fixed yet? If not this may help! You're doing it right you just need a little help.. First check the vents and make sure they're clean. Its down on the barb part of your mold. It will be that little line coming off of it. Clean both sides. That vent lets the air escape as the lead comes down the shaft of the hook. That will help,..and this will fix it.. What you need next is "Tin" in your alloy! Go to Lowes or Home depot and get some Solder..the solid stuff. Add it to your alloy. Tin breaks up the surface tension of the lead so it flows and fills out your mold. If your pot is fill of lead it may take the whole roll. Mix it in good. Hope this helps !!

[techo]

I just got into making my own jigs. I purchased a 20lb lead pot and a couple of jig molds and all the goodies. Made my first set of jigs a couple of weeks ago and all went well. I tried making more last night but I'm having an issue that maybe someone out here can help me with. I was making 5/16 and 7/16 round head, weedless jigs. The 7/16 poured perfectly, however, the 5/16 didn't go so well. The lead didn't seem to get down into the (not sure of the correct terms) base (the bottom of the jig head where the the ring is at). I've tried adjusting the temp, tried heating the jig mold, the pot seems to be pouring normally (no clog). I poured probably 30 times and only got 9 of them to turn out. Some would be missing half the side, some just a small portion. I don't see anything on the mold that's keeping the lead from getting to the bottom. I do pour them in my unheated garage, is that the issue? Any thoughts?

Kudos for the bravery of making your own jigs. I keep looking at it, but always chicken out. I have little time as it is and to drop some cash on the equipment and then not use it would be a bad idea. On the other hand I use a lot of jigs! Now you have me pondering again.....

[Sam]

These are all good suggestions, but I think maybe we're making it too complicated.

First off, I've been pouring good jigs and sinkers for years, and I use dirty wheel weights for my lead. Why? 'Cause my cousin owns a tire shop and I get 'em for free. Sure, pure clean lead would be better - but you can't beat free. I just melt the wheel weights and skim off the metal clips and junk that comes to the top, and they work fine.

Then it's all about temperature. Some of my molds have additional cavities to cast big slugs of lead - that's for heating the mold. If your molds have those, cast some slugs and dump them until the mold is hot enough to cast true. If not, fill and dump the mold cavities WITHOUT HOOKS and keep it up until you're getting nice round jigheads that are smooth and shiny. Then start pouring onto hooks.

I don't think the temperature of the room makes a bit of difference. When you start pouring jigheads with a cold mold, there's a progression. First, you'll get partially-filled cavities like you describe - and that can also be caused by pouring too slow. As the mold begins to heat, then you'll get jigheads that fill the mold but have wrinkles on the outside - still no good.

Then as the mold heats a little more and if you're pouring fast enough, you'll get what you want - perfect jigheads that are smooth and shiny. You'll be able to keep that going - but eventually the mold will get a little too hot and the jigheads will be frosty instead of shiny. If you keep going after that, the frosty jigheads will be a little soft and easily deformed as they come out of the mold. So - when the jigheads start coming out frosty instead of shiny, slow down and let the mold cool a little.

That's all I know about it - just my $.02 worth.

[Dutch]

I don't think the temperature of the room makes a bit of difference.

It does for me. I only pour my 1/16 and 1/32 minnow heads in the summer. Otherwise it is a big mess.

[Sam]

I don't think the temperature of the room makes a bit of difference.

It does for me. I only pour my 1/16 and 1/32 minnow heads in the summer. Otherwise it is a big mess.

I poured a bunch of 1/16 jigs a couple of nights ago, and I know it was under 40 degrees in my garage. No problem.

The only thing I can think of - I've got multi-cavity molds. In the 1/16 size I'm pouring 8 jigheads at a time, so that keeps the mold pretty warm. If your mold's not like that and you're only pouring 1 or 2 jigheads at a time, then the mold might not stay hot enough in a cold room. Maybe that's the difference?