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1. Whats the best way to preheat the mold and keep it that way?
2. Whats the best way to heat the jigs to the right temp to paint?
3. Wheres the best place to get custom molds?
4. Oh yea the pot leaks at the spout, any ideas on how to fix that?
The following may not be the best but its what works for me.
1. For preheating I just lay my mold on top of my Lee bottom pour pot.
2. I paint in small quantities so I just use a small heat gun.
3. Can't help you on custom molds there are some here that can though.
I preheat my mold like Hays does, but I also pout hot lead into it 3 or 4 times without any hooks and return the poured lead back into the pot after taking it out of the mold.Your mold should stay hot after pre heating. I like to have all my hooks laid out before pouring so I don't have to fumble around trying to get them out of the pack.
I use a cheap ($20) toaster oven for painting my jigs. I preheat 10 (you can do more) at a time. Then I swish them in the paint (1 at a time) and return it to the oven to finish flashing the paint and grab another one.
Custom molds can be hard to come by. Check out Tackleunderground's site.
Welcome to Tackleunderground.com ... go to the wire baits section and read the sticky's on pour and fluxing lead and visit the sponsors for custom molds.
Lee bottom pour pots are notorious for leaking at the spout. The plunger has a screw driver slot in the top of it, use the screw drive to turn your plunger a little one way or the other and it'll stop. Fluxing your lead will also help with the leaking and keep your lead, pot, and spout clean.
Hope this helps.
When I put my lead into the mold it would harden before it got to the barb. I was assuming the mold wasnt hot enough. I was laying it on my pot but it worked better when I heated it with a tourch. Doing this heated my hooks up to the point of color and im sure thats not good. Not sure if my heat was the problem with the lead not flowing tho. First time ive tried this and just dont have a clue as you can tell by the uglieness of the first batch!!!
Like I said, pour your mold 3 or 4 times without hooks to preheat it.
Also, your lead prolly isn't hot enough... increase the temp until you get a good even pour without any or minimal flashing (fins).
Great advice from GDC....
I use a candle and a count method to heat and paint my jigs then cure in a convection/toaster oven...unless I was doing more than 30 of the same color at a time that's the best way IMO. An alcohol burner works well too.
I will try that.
Also pour without hooks like he said but leave them in for a minute or two then repour...this will let the mold soak up all the heat. Make sure everything is well up to temperature too.
Pure lead pours a lot better than wheel weights. Wheel weight metal has to be super hot to completely fill the cavity.
Check what hardness lead your using!!!! Some of the smaller jigheads require pure lead at the right temp to make complete heads. I know I use a 2 to 1 mix on my Pony Heads (2 parts soft to 1 part tire weight). Others require pure, soome will take tire weight. I mark which will take what.
Most of the smaller jig head molds have what looks like a submarine hole under where you pour the jig heads. Like everyone else pour plain lead a few times and the mold will warm up.
The Lee pot can be a pain in the butt but if you flux properly, keep pour bar tightened down and I use a small metal pot under the pour spout in case of leaks. Mine usually leaks when I put raw lead in it to fill the pot back up.
I heat my jig heads in the oven in trays I made and then I dip them in the powder. You just have to get the feel for how long to heat them to get a proper dip in the powder. Lot's of us are using fluid beds.
Try these and if you run into any more problems let us know and we'll help you out.
Fatman