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Those of you who use a Lee Production Pot IV to pour jigheads. Do you flux your lead in the pot or do you use another pot to keep your Lee pot cleaner? Also what do you use to clean the slag out of the Lee pot? The pot is rather small with the rod in it and my ladle won't fit. Should I get a smaller ladle or just use a spoon?
I'm still working on those issues too, I flux in the same pot I use and old long spoon to clean out the trash...I flux with wax ,soon as I drop it in a stir real quick to try to avoid the flame up (hardly ever do). I pour 200+ heads a week...sometime my pot just does not pour like I want and sometimes it does. I use x-ray room reclaimed lead...I clean my pot when I just get tired of a lower than 75% perfect heads... which right now (last 2 pourings) were just above 75% it get frustrating sometimes.
I use wax and allow flame to burn off. I then flux with a spoon. I keep it very hot. Remember to smoke your mold.
Ok I'm the weirdo around here when it comes to my Lee pots. I flux my lead in the Lee pot, using candle wax from old fancy candles. I use a large flathead screw driver to stir around the inside of the pot and then put another chunk of wax in and stir again. I use an old table spoon and scoop out a little at a time till its gone.
Now I clean out my pot after EVERY USE!!!!!!!!!! Some leave lead in it but I won't, before I had to replace my last ones they were 24 and 27 years old!!! and I cleaned them out after every use, I also used them to clean up lead and they lasted that long.
The few minnow heads or ball heads where the barbed collar doesn't pour complete, I just cut the collar off!!! My last pouring session I did close to 500 jigs and I don't think I had more than 10 that were bad enough to remelt.
This is what I do but may/may not work for everyone. First thing I did was to drill out the bottom of the pot (Just a little) where the lead comes out. This gives better lead flow. I do use candle wax everyonce in a while. To me, Most important is heat and smoking the mold. I try to pour 5,000 per week. I use spoon to clean off excess trash/impurities from the top of the pot. I clean pot bout once a month or when it drips little too much for me. Dripping is not much of a problem....I cut hole in table where I pour and any drips goes thru the hole in the table into a 5 gallon bucket. I clean out bucket about twice a year. Pouring 1000 hooks, May have to remelt 10 -15 that are not perfect. The 3/32 pours the best with very few that are not perfect...........That's kinda how I do it........been do it for probably 10 years.
litewire, never smoked my molds...please elobrate? smoke with what? The supplier of the molds I buy say it's not needed..if it helps I'm all for it!LOL
I use candles from wedding. Lite the candle, hold about inch below the cavities and get soot all over the cavities......and the top where you pour. The lead will flow and fill out the cavities......This is my #1 solution when cavities don't fill out........and be sure lead is hot. Be careful.....it will flow like water on wax paper.
Quote:
Originally Posted by liftbite56
Quote:
Originally Posted by lightwirehooker
x2
I guess I'm lucky with my pouring I've never had that problem. I probably pour more jigs than I'll ever use, but I trade for other styles of jig heads, and put them in material swap box's. I'd probably try a Mold release agent instead of smoking them. I will say that some of my newer molds from Do-It are really ticking me off!!!!! Used to be all I had to do was smooth the spot from the sprue being removed. Seem to be cleaning up more and more flash and this is from new molds not older ones.
For the amount of trimming I'm seriously thinking about going to custom molds when I want a new one.
My custom molds work much better than do-it molds.
x2 on the custom molds work better. All my molds are custom made.
I use casting release spray on all my molds and don't have any trouble with them.
I have found that if I try to run my pot at to low of a setting I have more trouble out of the pot than if I keep my heat setting at 8.
Is a spray release a special product or can something else subsitute just as well? thanks
You can order it at Barlow's. I spray my molds as soon as I get them. Smoking the molds with candle smoke works well also just doesn't seem to last long for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by liftbite56
Here is the link
Casting Release Spray
I followed a cleanup thread FatMan posted a while back about cleaning pots. It made a world of difference in my pouring. Couldn't believe the trash that was in the bottom of pot.
does everyone flux your melted lead everytime you do a pouring session? cleaned out my pot this weekend and fluxed hot lead and smoked my molds that did it..98% better the barbs even came out sharp...thanks everyone
I flux my lead everytime lead is added. This is just what I do. And the heads are shiny and clean looking. I use 99.99% pure soft lead
I work with a major jig pourer and we never ever flux our lead or use any kind of release agent unless we are using the sling caster. We pour down to 1/80 and watching the temp and pouring angle is how we control the flow. We pour several 100 thousand jigs a year. In my personal experience I have never found it necessary to flux my lead for my custom molds.
What temp range works best?
Lee Pot's have numbered settings as you know, but I have never seen them compared to a temp chart.
****What do you mean when you say pouring angle...??? ****
Thanks in advance.
NightProwler
The fluxing keeps you melting pot nozzle clean also. If you have dirty lead you will spend alot of time cleaning it out. Every mold pours different with different settings. The hotter the lead the more smaller crevases the lead will flow into. Causing alot a flashing to be trimmed. Alot of molds in my opinion and pours best for me around 6-7. But thats just for me.
Angling your molds from what I understand allows the air to escape out allowing the lead to fill the mold, and not causing pits in your heads. This is just my opinion
I run a 2/1 mix (2 parts tire weight/1 part pure) and I pour down to 1/32nd with no problems. I flux the lead every time I add more, and I run my pot between
6-7. I use no mold release and don't smoke my molds. Like I've said before I clean my pot after every use, but that's my choice others do it differently.
Just like me fatman.
Nightplower,
What I mean by angle is sometimes the off gasing of the lead prevents the cavity from filling. Especially around the barb. Sometimes I tilt the mold at 20 to 30 degree angles and try to find the best pour. Some molds are prone to not pour well and these are customized by opening up the air vents a little .I run my pots on the highest setting all the time.The buisness runs RCBS Pro Melting pots exclusively on the highest setting.
ifish,
When you mention using the sling caster, were you talking about spin casting jigheads?
Charlie
FishAction,
Yes I am talking about spin casting. I have designed jigheads and cut the molds and spun them out. Very interesting process. Can put out a lot of jigs very fast. Expensive process!
If I'm out of line forgive...but what does a custom mold cost????
depends on the maker, usually between 150-500 bucks..I have seen a few surpass the 1000 dollar mark.
would love for someone to pm me some contact # and name of someone to talk to? thanks
to make you a mold? Contact your local machine shop and have the jighead you want to copy, and a blank mold they should be able to help you.
liftbite what kind of jighead you want made? If you want PM me with it I may be able to help you.
crappiejigmaker
Are you cutting your own molds???
I have been known to make some molds. Getting ready to start making all of my own molds. Got 2 heads I think my have a major impact on the jighead world.
Smoking the molds works well for the few that I pour compared tho some here. I poured about 35 1/8 in a mold that I hadn't used yet and fought with it for a short. mold wasn't up to temp and hadn't been smoked. got it hot and it still gave incompletes til I smoked it, and that was using pure I usually use WW for 1/8 and up but wasn't going to change it out for the few I wanted. Once it was smoked I was done in short order. The pro molds I have from do-it cast well and break off the excess easily with very little flash. My want list has a few customs that the wallet wont allow.
I get some scrap lead in different forms. Battery terminals, lugs and post. The rest of the battery isn't worth going after the lead. Wheel weights, spent bullets and plumbers lead. I save the pure, plumbers lead for pinch-ons and split shot sinkers. I melt this in a cast iron pot outside on a fryer base. After the lead is melted, trash removed with a large slotted spoon then a large spoon, I flux with any kind of wax. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to remove more trash. Flux again, scrape bottom and sides of pot again. Pour into ingots.
When the lead is melting and the Lee pot is full, I turn the heat down to 5. Let it sit for about 20 minutes. Add wax to flux again. At the lower heat, zinc will float to the top. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to remove more trash and zinc. Zinc will be the fluffy stuff that floats at low heat. It's not a real problem with pouring sinkers, but makes a harder bullet and can mess up a barrel. Then I turn the pot up to 8, let it set a few minutes and start pouring.
crappiejigmaker
Are you cutting with a cnc machine, pressing, bondo etc. Hard to find people who do mold work!!!