Thank so much for the advice...

[sac-a-lait]

Well my order materials are starting to pour in...Got the Do it pony head jig mold, Hilt's round jig head mold, and another Do-it mold to make some bell sinkers to use for spiderriggin...Went thru capt hooks as I couldn't make up my mind and I could look thru their inventory 24hrs a day. I got several thousand hooks in everything from a 2/0 for 1/2 oz. round heads to a #4 is as small as I went. In regular round head jigs, I'm using 2/0 for 1/2 oz., 1/0 for 1/4 and 1/8 and #2 for 1/16. I'm using regular 570 bronze hooks for these.

After tinkering with the Pony head mold, I will be using the Matuzo sickle in all the pony heads. I started out with red but I noticed it chips off so I'm glad I only ordered 100 of those and reordered 500 of the NON RED. The 3/8oz will get a 2/0, the 1/4 and 1/8 get a 1/0, and the 1/16 will get a number #2 regular hook non-sickle (1/16 only).

I was able to use hard lead for the larger sizes during my initial testing, I did have to open the top hole just a hair (I only did this to the bell sinker mold and don't want to change the opening on the pony mold) with a drill bit but if I get the hard lead hot as a fire cracker it will pour almost all of them. I'm in the market for some soft lead if anyone has some they want to get rid of...

Got the 3MM butt rings like someone discussed. Got 1000 for $1 on ebay. Bought 1000 Colorado blades, 500 nickel and 500 brass in a #1. #12 swivels for the ponies also.

Hard working with the small stuff when the mold is hot. One thing I found out REAL QUICK is a pair of chop sticks or just one of them is a great tool for placing or moving around the small parts on the hot mold that have to go in some of these jigs, like the swivels and hooks.

I'll post some pics of what we got going on ASAP. Just been mostly testing and not wanting to jump the gun and plunge right in feet first at least not into molten lead.

Thanks again and anyone who has something more to help me make the process easier please reply.

I thought building your own structure and going back to it and catching fish was pretty rewarding but this is like Christmas morning...

[LedHed]

Small magnets - the type that are the handles of small screwdrivers -are very handy for picking up hooks and small parts. Have a pick-up tool that is a magnet mounterd in the end of an antenna - great for picking up hooks off the floor.....
Pour a couple of molds at a time - they won't be so hot - but hot enough to pour.
Check out your local junkyards for lead.
Pour slow and be safe.

[Fatman]

Sac

You sound like you got a good handle on it. Like you said with so many sizes going on take your time and you'll do fine. With the large sizes use the tire weight lead and for the bell sinkers.

I've got three times as much tire weight lead as pure so I have a small batch made up of 2 parts tire to 1 part pure and it works out great for me.

Let us know if you run into any problems and have fun and be SAFE!!!

Fatman