Lee Lead Melter / Gemini Breakouts
Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:55 am
After gathering some lead flashing and doing some online research on the easiest way to make weights, I decided on the Lee Pro Lead Melter and the Gemini breakout system.
Sourced the Lee Pro from USA for about £100 after watching a video on YouTube, and have to say it is well worth the money, makes smelting and pouring the lead absolutely effortless, simply put the lead into the pot and watch it liquify, and simply pour out the bottom using the handle. No need for ladles or gas rings etc. See here: http://leeprecision.com/xcart/PRO-4-20LB.html
Spoke to Gemini and negotiated a bit of discount on tail wires/nose cones/tubing to make 100 weights and a mould/clamp for £80. Again, dead easy to make the tail wires and nose cones and just screw them onto the weights.
Managed to make 20x 4oz, 20x 6oz and 6x 8oz. Was a bit of a learning curve in the beginning but got the hang of it as time went on, hope to do the other 50 odd tonight
Might sell the melter and that'll leave the weights at less than a quid each, hard to beat
Sourced the Lee Pro from USA for about £100 after watching a video on YouTube, and have to say it is well worth the money, makes smelting and pouring the lead absolutely effortless, simply put the lead into the pot and watch it liquify, and simply pour out the bottom using the handle. No need for ladles or gas rings etc. See here: http://leeprecision.com/xcart/PRO-4-20LB.html
Spoke to Gemini and negotiated a bit of discount on tail wires/nose cones/tubing to make 100 weights and a mould/clamp for £80. Again, dead easy to make the tail wires and nose cones and just screw them onto the weights.
Managed to make 20x 4oz, 20x 6oz and 6x 8oz. Was a bit of a learning curve in the beginning but got the hang of it as time went on, hope to do the other 50 odd tonight
Might sell the melter and that'll leave the weights at less than a quid each, hard to beat
Re: Lee Lead Melter / Gemini Breakouts
Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:14 pm
lead melter looks top notch i made few 60z grips in summer a nightmare to make gemini ones look way easier to make given the bottom just screw on no messing with poking wire throught moulds ect..
Re: Lee Lead Melter / Gemini Breakouts
Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:21 pm
Yeah the traditional moulds and wires etc looked very fiddly so I paid a little extra for the convenience and have to say am glad I did.
Re: Lee Lead Melter / Gemini Breakouts
Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:32 am
I have being eyeing up one of those lead melters for ages just a note you probably already know they are design for clean lead so just be careful using sheet lead make sure to remove as much oxide and dirt from the top as you can as it can clog the nozzle and is hard to get out
Re: Lee Lead Melter / Gemini Breakouts
Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:39 pm
Just to through my two cents into the mix, I got a Gemini lead kit last year seen below.
While I agree 100% that they are very easy to make and the fact that you can alter the size of the mould to make 4-7oz makes it a very attractive option. However I found some major flaws in the leads themselves as well as the kit.
Firstly the assortment of gear you get limits the amount of leads you can make with only a few of the wires that go into the middle of the weight included. You did very well by the way getting the extra gear from them for that price. It can be pricey buying the screw on tops for the leads afterwards. I've paid €9 for a ten pack.
Also I found that the wire that goes into the middle of the weight, where you'd clip on your rig to is very long and tends to bend very easily. Not a big deal as it will bend back but it's just another job between casts. A big problem though is the griper wires on the leads. Sand, muck, grit etc gets into the groves very easily on retrieving your gear. The wire will not click back into place when this happens, and it happens often! I found myself cleaning out the grooves with a bait needle all the time to clip the wires back into place. And as there are four independent wires on each lead you can have to do it four times. On top of bending the wire back straight this becomes a real hassle you don't need.
Lastly I found that casting these leads much harder then the normal bullet shaped Breakaway style. Very often the lead goes into a spiral or a wobble during the cast and then spins the trace around in flight. This definitely has cost me distance during casting and some very mixed up snoods.
All in all I have decided not to make any more leads with the kit as they have proven too time consuming while fishing unlike normal leads which give no trouble at all and are easily managed in comparison.
While I agree 100% that they are very easy to make and the fact that you can alter the size of the mould to make 4-7oz makes it a very attractive option. However I found some major flaws in the leads themselves as well as the kit.
Firstly the assortment of gear you get limits the amount of leads you can make with only a few of the wires that go into the middle of the weight included. You did very well by the way getting the extra gear from them for that price. It can be pricey buying the screw on tops for the leads afterwards. I've paid €9 for a ten pack.
Also I found that the wire that goes into the middle of the weight, where you'd clip on your rig to is very long and tends to bend very easily. Not a big deal as it will bend back but it's just another job between casts. A big problem though is the griper wires on the leads. Sand, muck, grit etc gets into the groves very easily on retrieving your gear. The wire will not click back into place when this happens, and it happens often! I found myself cleaning out the grooves with a bait needle all the time to clip the wires back into place. And as there are four independent wires on each lead you can have to do it four times. On top of bending the wire back straight this becomes a real hassle you don't need.
Lastly I found that casting these leads much harder then the normal bullet shaped Breakaway style. Very often the lead goes into a spiral or a wobble during the cast and then spins the trace around in flight. This definitely has cost me distance during casting and some very mixed up snoods.
All in all I have decided not to make any more leads with the kit as they have proven too time consuming while fishing unlike normal leads which give no trouble at all and are easily managed in comparison.