Just came across a couple of vintage E.L. Sweet & Son from Tonawanda NY. One is in excellent condition and the other has a broke hinge but still works. Anyone know much about theses molds?
lightwirehooker
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Just came across a couple of vintage E.L. Sweet & Son from Tonawanda NY. One is in excellent condition and the other has a broke hinge but still works. Anyone know much about theses molds?
lightwirehooker
no would love 2 see a pic though
Not a jig mold but a old inexpensive cast aluminium mold for egg and bell sinker molds. Collectible to some one, one man's junk is another man's treasure. To bad you don't have the rods for the bottom mold. Those make good catfish weights.
Redman
Sweets Molds during those days gone by, were excellent molds ... Rember the cover of their catalog, had a Kid with his fishin pole over his shoulder .....
Not Old ... Just gettin Older
JSC
Tonawanda NY right up the road from where I grew up!! Wish I had all my Uncle's old molds that I casted with when I was a kid. They made a lot of good sinkers. The egg sinker mold you can try using a metal coat hanger or even nails they were a pain but they worked.
Fatman
JSC Sounds like you and Fatman are a Geezers like me. We have seen a lot and at that time there were many regional manufactures. I was very luck to grow up in the Mid-west. We had Do-It who when they came out with the wood handles we thought that they were better than sliced bread. Then there were Amet who would make you a custom mold for the enormous price of $35. These had rubber air hose over steel rod handles and we were in heaven. Had to be we could cast all day and not get burn hands. I still have a old Do-It than is from the early 1960's ( bank sinker mold ) and I still use it on occasion to make up some catfish weights.
At our age its darn fun to sit and reminisce. Some of these young tiers will be doing the same thing one day just hope that I can catch a glimpse from the great beyond. You know that I will be smiling and remember how it was in there day.
By the way Fatman coat hangers were the thing to use in the egg sinker mold as they had a enamel finish on them and would pull out easier.
Redman
Here are the cavity images for 3 EL Sweet molds I have.....
Attachment 63516Attachment 63517Attachment 63518
UG
Uncle Grump looks like one might have be a salt water the other two freshwater. Top left is early barbed for sure. Any idea of the year of manufacturing ??? My favorite is the bottom left looks like a very mixed bag of jig heads could be made from it. They are SWEET and that is a pun.
Redman
Redman
I've no idea as to how old these are, nor salt/freshwater use. I was given these about 2-3 years ago by a guy in my area who no longer pours. Back when, he used to pour/tie alot. These may have been his dad's for all I know. If one of these is a "saltwater" model - it is very light - I don't think any of these will pour much heavier than 5/8 - 3/4 oz.
Was also given a Herters mold, a Palmer mold, and one custom mold by the same guy.
I've tryed pouring w/ all of these - they all do, but there is alot of flash.
UG
I poured some for old times. Used a coat hanger and it worked pretty good. I never used this type sinker so these molds will hang on the wall and one day someone may post about them again. Thanks
lightwirehooker
Hi guys
In regards to the wire ... if you will "Drag" it thru a bar of soap before using it, will release like a champ. (Learned this from one of my customers back in the 70's who poured all of their Egg & Pyramid Sinkers for sales at their store).
Ament was a great mold maker .... His "Percision" Molds (with the Rubber hose for "grips") were outstanding and I have several that I use all the time ... they were custom made ... he charged me a whopping 15.00 for each (I bought a lot of molds from Paul both for Lead & Plastic ) .... For the percision stuff he would take your model and make a steel copy of it then press it into the Alum. All the other molds were cast Alum .. his everyday molds would flash a little as did every ones at that time (I bought molds from Paul starting in the early 60's till he passed away in the early 70's ... his son kept the business going for a while) ... He built molds for most of the big companies at that time .... He made a trip to Florida in the early 70's dropped by to see me but I was out on the road and no one was home .. he left me a note in the mail box ... I really hated that I missed him.. we had a lot to talk about ..
Things have come a long ways since back them with all the Computer Programmed "Cuttin" of molds ..
But you know I think the fish still keep us fooled just like they did when I was growing up.
Have a Good One ... These trips down "Memory Lane" are good for me to reflect on.
JSC
JCS You are right Paul was a real gentleman. Think he did more for the jig and tackle industry than what he will be given credit for. One of the unsung leaders. Just like Paul Gilmore of GEM rods one of the pioneers of the graphite rods. Jim Stone one of the very first Jig mold makers. But then there are the Giants Like Berkley Bedell who started Berkley and Company first on his dinning room table then in the back room of the local Masonic Temple in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Can't forget Marvin Hamilton who was by his side and kept the company running threw the dark days of WWII until Berkley shut it down and told Marv to go to war.
We kind of hijacked this thread and hope the mods will understand. Some of these facts and memories need to be kept in these threads. If we don't know where we came from we never will know where we are headed.
All the Best
Redman
That's a 394 on top isn't it. Been looking for one of them . I still use and make the old lures . Yea a little more work but yesterdays old knowledge can be today's new thing for some.Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Grump
Wow I remember that top left one - the ball head. My Uncle probably had me pouring that thing left and right. He always had plenty of buddies to buy them but I always ended up casting them LOL. Now the geezer part I'm only 49 but I'm gettin there LOL
Fatman
"Not Old"
Just gettin OLDER (in a hurry) ...
@49 .. Now how many years ago was that ?? .. been so long I have forgotten =:^)
Enjoy them
JSC
Always good to remember the past. My daddy poured some sinkers for River Fishing when I was much younger (64 now). I have been pouring lightwire hooks for bout 10 years. My hobby has just about became a full time job for the summer. Thanks for your posts.
lightwirehooker