pouring my own jig heads...a little confused

[KrappieKing]

Hey guys this is my first season to pour my own jig heads and its going well i've poured over 300 just trying to figure out the best way to do things. My problem is with my hand me down Lee 10lb production pot it continually drips and splatters molten lead everywhere and i adjust it but it dosent stop. Does anyone have any fixes for that? Also i try to warm my molds up with a propane torch prior to pouring lead in but i still only get about 4 complete ones out of my siz pony head mold and the same with my round ball mold. Being new to this i was wondering if there are any little tips and tricks to this. I bet i've waster 50 or so hooks and swivels on ones that didnt pour completely. My lead splatterd arms are ready for some good advice and not wearing my welding gloves! Haha

[Crappie Dave]

I know where you are coming from. The best thing for the pot would be to completely empty it and clean it. That is the only way that I can get the one that I have to stop. As far as the heads it sounds like the lead may not be hot enough. You really need to mess with the temp. I suggest to pour the lead in the mold over and over until you get a good consistant jig head then add the hooks and swivels.

Hope this helps.

[Goldeneye]

I know where you are coming from. The best thing for the pot would be to completely empty it and clean it. That is the only way that I can get the one that I have to stop. As far as the heads it sounds like the lead may not be hot enough. You really need to mess with the temp. I suggest to pour the lead in the mold over and over until you get a good consistant jig head then add the hooks and swivels.

Hope this helps.

I agree with Dave, after you have poured in the same mold 3 or 4 times it should be hot enough. I set my heat pretty high starting out then drop it a "little" not very much though. Like Dave said, it sounds like you got some junk in the valve seat, and the only way to clean it is to empty it, take your torch, heat it up,and clean it out. Inspect the needle point and make sure it isn't damaged. more than likely it's just has some crud on it. Good luck!

[M R Dux]

I take a large soup spoon and stir and scrape the bottom of my production pot often, even when using very pure quality lead. If the pot temp is hot enough, try taking a screwdriver and slightly turn the screw on the top of the spout plug. You are probably getting trash from your lead. This is why I NEVER use any wheel weights or low quality lead in my pot. I save that crap for making decoy mushroom weights or large sinkers.

[KrappieKing]

i do adjust the top with a screw driver and i have to keep working it all the way across the arm it works good and quits and the more i use it the loser it gets and i have to do it again. One side tightens it and then other times it loosens it. It varies by each time i use it. Also this is a hand me down pot from my father-in-law he did send me with a large coffe can full of old wheel weights and other misc. lead junk. I skim the stuff off the top but never the bottom. I think the enxt tiem i will use it i wont replace the lead i use and try and comepletly drain it and really clen it up. Thanks for the info.

[billybones]

Get you some pure lead. Old wheel weights don't work to good for me

[slabbandit]

Hey Krappieking, I had the same problem with incomplete moldings, especially on my 1/32 oz jigs. What you have to do is to put the spout of the melting pot right into the cavity of the molds to get complete jigheads. It may take a few pours before the mold becomes warm enough to produce good pours.
Also, anything that doesn't make good just dip back into the pot and the lead will come right off of the hook.



Good Luck!

[BleuGhill]

Besides what's been said (all correct), one thing I've found with the Lee pots is that the base they are mounted on puts the spout too high above most molds. Also, the base is too narrow left-to-right and it's difficult to slide the mold across and get the lead evenly dispensed into each hole in one smooth motion. So you're left with raising the handle and lowering it in a dozen cycles instead of lifting it once (nice flow of hot lead) and doing all cavities in one fell swoop.

So, to fix both problems (which affect pouring success), you should take the pot off the base and find a foot-long piece of old 6" angle aluminum (like used to make dump truck beds) or something to mount the pot on. Drill holes (slots are better) in the back of the angle so that you can adjust the height of spout above the base (and therefore the mold). Adjust the height of the pot (spout) so that the mold just clears by only a quarter inch or less. This keeps lead from cooling (and splattering) from the long drop down.

As for clean lead, you gotta clean it in an old kettle/pot outside on a fish-fryer or Coleman stove. Add some kind of flux (powdered rosin from Brownells works great) to get all the gunk to float to the top. May have to do it twice to get it clean. Pour clean lead in a an old mini-muffin pan and make little biscuits of lead that you can drop back into your lead pot. Wheel weights work fine but you have to get it clean and HOT.

[walleye.dan]

fill the pot half way helps on the led ouring use acandle to preheat your molds it also helps on the release the spoon is great for dippin out the trash in the lead pot do it quite often good luck

[KrappieKing]

here ya go guys....here are some finished products! Thanks for all the great advice. I'm going to pour some more tomorow night and im not going to refill my pot and clean it out.

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