making weights

is there a way of making a home made mould for weights about 4 oz

cheers
trigger

Hi trigger

If you use the "Search" facility above (third option in from the left on the top line below the forum title between the pictures) you will find loads of advice and tips on the subject. Collect old spark plugs for starters :wink:

Tight lines

Trigger,

Read up on lead casting etc where Kieran suggested above as it can be a very dangerous undertaking. Welders gloves would be a very good investment in addition to any other safety advise you come across.

As to how to make a mould...
Here's two tips on how to make homemade moulds, neither need to be preheated before use:

1. This first method is particullarly useful for making a mold for a large weight as these moulds tend to be very expensive:

Get some fire cement, you should be able to get a tub in any hardware.
Take an existing weight you want to make a copies of. Fill some sort of oven proof vessel such as a tin can with fire cement, bury the weight in the cement as you go making sure it's upright in the centre and relatively near the top. Shape a little funnell down to the top of the weight (for pouring), bake in an oven for a few hours by gradually increasing the heat every half hour up to the max heat on the directions on the fire cement. (Better to do this when the misses is out as the fire cement stinks while baking :wink: ). When finished baking turn off the oven and leave it in there letting it cool down more gradually with the oven. Next day, take your new fire cement "rock" and carefully cut it in half with a hack saw (It might be easier to remove the can from around it first), cutting down through the centre line of where the weight is (This is going to be slow work, but it doesn't have to be perfectly cut), take out the two halves of the weight and volla you have your mold.

2. This one is handy for making a mould for casting multiple weights at the same time, handy for junk leads. A low level of woodworking skills are necessary depends how nicely finished you want your weights.

Get two scrap pieces of hardwood such as teak, mahogany etc, they need to be fairly big like two pieces of 4X2 or 3X2 at least 6 inches long, each piece needs to be fairly square. The easiest way is to make a mould for a pyramid shaped lead. Line up the two pieces side by side and mark the positions of the pyramids, the base is a square and one corner to corner will be lined up with the gap between the two pieces of wood, basically each half should end up with a corresponding triangle long side lining up with each other. Take each half and draw another triangle down the side draw an identical one on the other half. You should now be able to remove the waste piece of wood from each half with 2 saw cuts, finish as required with a chisel or sandpaper. Your cuts should line up and you can make a number of moulds along the length of the wood.
Make sure the new mould is very very dry before use (not just the surface), I suggested the hardwood above as it will not be as prone to absorbing moisture as softwood. Clamp the two halves together with clamps or a vice etc before use, insert a wire loop for attaching before pouring. Store in a dry place when not in use, the bottom of the hot press is a good spot.

Fair play Adrian, but reading that broke my heart.

A bought mould is the only man.
For me its just.....

-Shed
-Blow Torch
-Ladle
-Lead
-Vice/Clamp
-Mould
-Thick Copper Wire
-Snips

One hour later.......40 plain weights or 25 grips

sin é

Yea I know, :D I meant to mention ebay US is great for getting moulds, but search for Mold (not Mould as it's spelt over here) in the sports goods section then click on the fishing subsection.

The wooden one is handy for junk leads though and not hard to make if you're handy with a saw or chisel, easier to fill and you can make them any size you want by partial filling. I've seen some bigger pirk molds going for over €100 so the fire cement tip could be useful. :wink:

He did ask how to make a mould after all. I could have told him with one line where to buy one. :D OK my hand's sore from all this typing.

No, you're dead right, no disputing that.
Just reading the effort needed to make your own moulds was a killer.

Forget about ladles and clamps and all that jazz. Spend a few quid on a Mould on ebay, preferably do-it as they have wooden handles and make up to 4 at a time . Buy yourself a bottom pour lead melting machine from Lee . If you get this equipment between a few mates or a club it will cost about 5 quid each (based on a club of 10). You melt up to 20lb of lead at a time in about 10 minutes and will knock out about 100 4oz leads in an hour.
I've made 1000 plus leadheads in a day (about 6 hours) using this equipment. I've a shed full of moulds and 2 Lee Melting pots and I'll never have to buy leadheads or weights again.

Also, get in with the local hoods and get them to steal lead of local chimneys (pay them with cider ) :D

The end bit is a joke just in case anyone takes offence.

What's that

a bottom pour lead melting machine from Lee . If you get this equipment between a few mates or a club it will cost about 5 quid each (based on a club of 10). You melt up to 20lb of lead at a time in about 10 minutes and will knock out about 100 4oz leads in an hour.

Conor? Sounds nifty.

Have you got a link to an example?

Make your own boat mould out of a bucket filled with damp sand with the shape of the weight you want pushed into it. Simply heat the lead and pour into the space and hold the wire loop at the top until the whole thing is solid and then dip in water to cool.

Gerry I'll PM you the link , dont want to give too much away.

Nice one Conor, very interesting.

:wink:

Here's a whole load of moulds that don't cost much.
http://www.fishingmegastore.com/acatalo ... html#a3051

I make model soldiers for a living and these are cast in pewter (lead/tin alloy) which has a higher melting piont than lead and we only ever use rubber moulds.

The metal moulds made for making fishing leads are unnessissary you can easily make moulds for the size of leads you are talking about out of silicone rubber.

With the price of the moulds you can buy of the shelf it probabably isn't worth it but if you want something unusual that you cant get a commercial mould for it might be worth a look.....like my home made 2oz gripper leads for my light rods, the mould for that cost me about £2 in rubber.

If you are interested try a search on google for "making silicone moulds" or something along those lines.......as with many arty farty thing it's easier to do than explain.

ZM,

I done a search, very interesting, I would have never expected rubber not to burn for such an application.

Few question though...

1/no one else seems to have mentioned this, an old timer once told me when making moulds always "heat" the mould, otherwise it will spit and could have your eye out, does the silicone not spit?

How many times

Shot the above post off by mistake :oops:

2/ How many times can the silicone mould be used.

3/ I take it the mould will stretch, if not them you have to use a 2 piece mould, right. if so, that seems to be a much harder job with the silicone, is it?

Tom.

The reason metal spits is moisture in the moulds, so you have to make sure they are totally dry, the best way to do this is a light dusting of talk which also acts as a dry lubricant. Also the moulds do work best when hot as them metal flows better, the first couple of times you run the mould it is cold so the metal cools as soon as it hits the mould, after the fist couple of runs the mould temp. is up so this doesn't happen.

You can get away with usng one piece moulds for plain leads but for grippers you do need to use two part moulds.

Like I said I only use them for weights that you can't get commercial moulds for as I am a lazy git and hate mould making.

I have never had a silicone mould wear out through use with metal, its the age that gets them, after 2 tears or so the rubber dries out and the mould becomes unusable.

If you are thinking of having a go Tiranti should have a booklet on what you need to know.

http://www.tiranti.co.uk/indexhome.asp

Sounds good, thanks.

Hang around, I may need to call for help once I make a start.

Tom.