Jig pouring help and questions

toppwatr · 12-14-10, 05:31 PM

Ok so i just started making my own jigs. but i have a few questions.

One: i have an order of 10 pounds of soft lead ingots coming in the mail from ebay. I had used some wheel weight home made ingots in my pot just to experiment for the past few days, so there is some junk coating the layer of lead on the bottom of the pot, but i cant skim it off its too hard to reach. when my pure soft lead comes i dont want ANY junk in that at all! how do i totally empty out my pot, i want nothing in it. I just dont want any hard lead and other junk mixed in with my soft lead. right now theres about an inch of hard lead in it. how do i totally empty it out??

Two: can you use this paint to paint jigs? I plan on using a base color and then going over it in a clear coat to make it glossy. Powder paint will not work for me.

http://www.lurecraft.com/catalog.cfm...vinyl-1oz:2617

Three: also, can anyone tell me approximately how long a 1 oz. paint can will last me? a 4 oz.? i plan on buying a 4 oz. in black being that that is a pretty good color to have alot of.

Thats about it. i really appreciate anyone who answers im pretty new to this. Thanks alot.

BigBassin144 · 12-14-10, 06:37 PM

First of all, there shouldn't be any junk on the bottom of the pot. Since lead is so heavy, all the debris and other metals it may be mixed with will float to the top.

If your lead pot is the kind with a lever and pour spout on the bottom, you NEVER want to completely empty it. This will get small debris in the pour spout which is extremely hard to get out and it won't close all the way. This causes lead to leak out, even when the handle lever is down... Which drips and splashes, trust me, it's not fun...

If that's the kind of pot you have, I'd get an ingot mold and pour some ingots until you've got about 1/4-1/3 of the lead left in the pot. Add your new lead along with a pea sized piece of candle wax. Do this outside or in a WELL ventilated area because it will smoke. Now you should be able to skin the junk off the top.

Don't worry about the small amount of "hard" lead left in the pot, as you pour and use up lead, it will become such a small amount you won't notice it. All lead, even the soft lead, will have some impurities, so you'll need to skin it occasionally anyways as well as fluxing it with a small piece of candle wax.

As for painting with vinyl paint, I can't help you there... I use powder paint.

BB

toppwatr · 12-14-10, 06:45 PM

ok thanks. here is why i have to use the vinyl paint. i bought the lee production pot IV and a football mold off of t warehouse. the mold only accepts an fb-12 size fiber guard, and it is too small for a base pin. how do i resolve this problem? i have to mold in the fb 12. thats why i cant apply heat. what do i do?

toppwatr · 12-14-10, 07:17 PM

what can you do to resolve the leaking problem?

BigBassin144 · 12-14-10, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toppwatr

ok thanks. here is why i have to use the vinyl paint. i bought the lee production pot IV and a football mold off of t warehouse. the mold only accepts an fb-12 size fiber guard, and it is too small for a base pin. how do i resolve this problem? i have to mold in the fb 12. thats why i cant apply heat. what do i do?

Ok, so I guess I hadn't read this when I replied to your PM about the base pin...

Unfortunately, your mold, the FBW-4-AF does not accept base pins because as I said in the PM, they only make 1/8" base pins. You could try finding a brass rod or something to fit the hole and make some homemade base pins. The other, more difficult, option would be to CAREFULLY take a dremel to the mold to enlarge the hold for the weed guard to fit the base pins. Like I said though, be careful not to make too much out. If you go this route, I'd take a tiny amount off at a time. The last option would be to buy a different mold. Let me know if you want to go this route, I'll hook you up with a link to the FB jig mold I use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by toppwatr

what can you do to resolve the leaking problem?

It's tough to fix completely. But the best way to do so is to unbend a paper clip to form a "check mark" with the longer of the two end sections making the short side of the check.

Now you can bring it up through the pour spout (with something underneath to catch the lead that runs out) without burning yourself since your hand (due to the check mark shape) is above where the lead is flowing out. I can try to get some pics tomorrow for you if you'd like.

BB

Bender · 12-14-10, 11:24 PM

I have that same Football jig mold and I ground it out with a Dremel to accept base pins. It wasn't too bad to do but I don't think, I can take a look if I ever get home.

I've also read about people wrapping the weedguard up in foil or something for when they heat it for powder paint. You might look around and see if you can find anything about that technique.

For cleaning out the spout I do what BB said. If it is really nasty then I use a small drill bit held by a set of Vise-Grips. When it gets REALLY bad I just replace the pot. Parts are super cheap from Lees and I think that the whole inside pot part is only $6 or $8.

carolina-rig-01 · 12-14-10, 11:24 PM

You can flux your lead and bring a lot of the nasty contaminents to the top where you can skim them off. Get some lead in your pot and get it hot, then hold a lit candle over the lead and let a drop of wax fall into the melting pot (be ready for a small flame to pop up in the melting pot). This will bring that stuff to the top where you can skim it off and get rid of it.

toppwatr · 12-15-10, 07:57 AM

Do I have to skim it off with something thin? That pot isn't exactly wide so it's hard to get down there. Or do I just fill it up all the way. Oh and wherecan I get a new replacement pot?

toppwatr · 12-15-10, 07:58 AM

Oh and what's a dremel?

LSLURES · 12-15-10, 11:24 AM

Yea i couldn't answer the question about the paint at all. I use powder paint and its so durable. I still have jigs from last year that i powder painted and they dont have a chip in them. Pro-tec is awesome. Toppwatr, a dremel is just a name of a tool that will drill and do all sorts of shop like jobs. Some use it with a drill bit to drill out the hole for the fiberguard. I honestly have found a solution somewhat for the heat with the fiberguards. I powder paint my jigs and while its still drying (which you have to be quick) i take a drill bit by hand while the paint is soft and hollow out the fiberguard hole. After all my finishing touches are made I epoxy the weedguard in. I honestly couldnt think of any other way other than buying those heat resistant tubings from Do-It fishing.com Hope this helps you out!

carolina-rig-01 · 12-15-10, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toppwatr

Do I have to skim it off with something thin? That pot isn't exactly wide so it's hard to get down there. Or do I just fill it up all the way. Oh and wherecan I get a new replacement pot?

You'll just have to look and see what you can find that you can get down there to skim it off. I haven't ever got my melting pot empty so when I needed to skim that stuff off it was up towards the top of the pot. If I were you I would just add some of your ingot and heat them up and get ready to pour, then I would flux it before pouring and after I skimmed all of the stuff off that I could get to I would call it good and start pouring. After a while you can flux it again, and continue to do it every once in a while after that. Eventually you should get it under control.

Bender · 12-15-10, 07:01 PM

I use an old teaspoon for skimming. I welded a little piece of bar to it so that the handle is longer it doesn't really matter. Just kind of push all the junk on top off to the side and slide the spoon up the side of the pot. That way the crusty stuff stays in the spoon but the liquid lead goes back down into the pot.

toppwatr · 12-15-10, 07:19 PM

ok thanks, i think ill buy that heat guard. that should do it yea i would really rather use powder paint so hopefully this works.

toppwatr · 12-19-10, 01:28 PM

Oh and sorry to bring this back, but i just have one more question. i found a suitable base pin for my mold, but i tried to glue the fiber guard in with Krazy Glue but it didnt work. What is a good epoxy or glue to use?

Bender · 12-19-10, 08:26 PM

Most all people talk about Devcon 2T, but I have never, ever seen it in a store. I use the Loctite 5 minute epoxy for jigs to sell and usually the gel Loctite glue for my own. The gel works pretty well but they can fall out if there's not enough glue in there. For my own I don't mind but the 5 minute epoxy holds pretty well.

I mix up the epoxy, then pull off the "hair" from tge weedguard if it has any, then dip the end into the mix and give it a turn to pick plenty up. Now stick it all the way down into the hole, align it, and let it sit overnight. I do drill every holeout first with a 1/8" bit.

toppwatr · 12-19-10, 09:09 PM

Where can I but these locktite products?

Bender · 12-19-10, 10:02 PM

Home Depot or any hardware store has 2 part epoxy. It comes in the little syrenge thing so both parts come out together. Mix it up good amd try not to get too much air in it, I use a nail. I like the 5 minute stuff but the 20 minute type should work too.

everettvet · 12-20-10, 01:34 AM

Never put wet lead into a pot of hot lead. It will not be pretty. The molten lead will go all over the place and you. One night, I made that mistake and we got very lucky that our only injuries were some scrapes from diving for cover.

toppwatr · 12-21-10, 04:42 PM

Can you only use the mixing epoxy once? Will it dry in the syringe after you epoxy it in? Also, I found this thing I had it's called elmers stix all and it's a gel glue. I used it and the weedguard is firmly in there but it wiggles around if I wiggle it, like it's in there securely, but it is moveable side to side. Is this bad?

carolina-rig-01 · 12-22-10, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toppwatr

Can you only use the mixing epoxy once? Will it dry in the syringe after you epoxy it in? Also, I found this thing I had it's called elmers stix all and it's a gel glue. I used it and the weedguard is firmly in there but it wiggles around if I wiggle it, like it's in there securely, but it is moveable side to side. Is this bad?

The weedguard will eventually work itself back and forth enough that it will fall out. The epoxy is absolutley the way to go, just mix some up on a paper plate and dip the end of the weedguard in it.

12-14-10, 05:31 PM	#1
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	Jig pouring help and questions Ok so i just started making my own jigs. but i have a few questions. One: i have an order of 10 pounds of soft lead ingots coming in the mail from ebay. I had used some wheel weight home made ingots in my pot just to experiment for the past few days, so there is some junk coating the layer of lead on the bottom of the pot, but i cant skim it off its too hard to reach. when my pure soft lead comes i dont want ANY junk in that at all! how do i totally empty out my pot, i want nothing in it. I just dont want any hard lead and other junk mixed in with my soft lead. right now theres about an inch of hard lead in it. how do i totally empty it out?? Two: can you use this paint to paint jigs? I plan on using a base color and then going over it in a clear coat to make it glossy. Powder paint will not work for me. http://www.lurecraft.com/catalog.cfm...vinyl-1oz:2617 Three: also, can anyone tell me approximately how long a 1 oz. paint can will last me? a 4 oz.? i plan on buying a 4 oz. in black being that that is a pretty good color to have alot of. Thats about it. i really appreciate anyone who answers im pretty new to this. Thanks alot.

12-14-10, 06:37 PM	#2
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	First of all, there shouldn't be any junk on the bottom of the pot. Since lead is so heavy, all the debris and other metals it may be mixed with will float to the top. If your lead pot is the kind with a lever and pour spout on the bottom, you NEVER want to completely empty it. This will get small debris in the pour spout which is extremely hard to get out and it won't close all the way. This causes lead to leak out, even when the handle lever is down... Which drips and splashes, trust me, it's not fun... If that's the kind of pot you have, I'd get an ingot mold and pour some ingots until you've got about 1/4-1/3 of the lead left in the pot. Add your new lead along with a pea sized piece of candle wax. Do this outside or in a WELL ventilated area because it will smoke. Now you should be able to skin the junk off the top. Don't worry about the small amount of "hard" lead left in the pot, as you pour and use up lead, it will become such a small amount you won't notice it. All lead, even the soft lead, will have some impurities, so you'll need to skin it occasionally anyways as well as fluxing it with a small piece of candle wax. As for painting with vinyl paint, I can't help you there... I use powder paint. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

12-14-10, 11:24 PM	#7
carolina-rig-01 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Webb City, MO Posts: 6,387	You can flux your lead and bring a lot of the nasty contaminents to the top where you can skim them off. Get some lead in your pot and get it hot, then hold a lit candle over the lead and let a drop of wax fall into the melting pot (be ready for a small flame to pop up in the melting pot). This will bring that stuff to the top where you can skim it off and get rid of it. __________________ You only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough.

12-14-10, 06:45 PM	#3
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	ok thanks. here is why i have to use the vinyl paint. i bought the lee production pot IV and a football mold off of t warehouse. the mold only accepts an fb-12 size fiber guard, and it is too small for a base pin. how do i resolve this problem? i have to mold in the fb 12. thats why i cant apply heat. what do i do?

12-14-10, 07:17 PM	#4
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	what can you do to resolve the leaking problem?

12-14-10, 11:24 PM	#6
Bender BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Brighton, MI Posts: 2,414	I have that same Football jig mold and I ground it out with a Dremel to accept base pins. It wasn't too bad to do but I don't think, I can take a look if I ever get home. I've also read about people wrapping the weedguard up in foil or something for when they heat it for powder paint. You might look around and see if you can find anything about that technique. For cleaning out the spout I do what BB said. If it is really nasty then I use a small drill bit held by a set of Vise-Grips. When it gets REALLY bad I just replace the pot. Parts are super cheap from Lees and I think that the whole inside pot part is only $6 or $8.

12-15-10, 07:57 AM	#8
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	Do I have to skim it off with something thin? That pot isn't exactly wide so it's hard to get down there. Or do I just fill it up all the way. Oh and wherecan I get a new replacement pot?

12-15-10, 07:58 AM	#9
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	Oh and what's a dremel?

12-15-10, 11:24 AM	#10
LSLURES BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Leesburg, Ohio Posts: 32	Yea i couldn't answer the question about the paint at all. I use powder paint and its so durable. I still have jigs from last year that i powder painted and they dont have a chip in them. Pro-tec is awesome. Toppwatr, a dremel is just a name of a tool that will drill and do all sorts of shop like jobs. Some use it with a drill bit to drill out the hole for the fiberguard. I honestly have found a solution somewhat for the heat with the fiberguards. I powder paint my jigs and while its still drying (which you have to be quick) i take a drill bit by hand while the paint is soft and hollow out the fiberguard hole. After all my finishing touches are made I epoxy the weedguard in. I honestly couldnt think of any other way other than buying those heat resistant tubings from Do-It fishing.com Hope this helps you out!

12-15-10, 07:01 PM	#12
Bender BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Brighton, MI Posts: 2,414	I use an old teaspoon for skimming. I welded a little piece of bar to it so that the handle is longer it doesn't really matter. Just kind of push all the junk on top off to the side and slide the spoon up the side of the pot. That way the crusty stuff stays in the spoon but the liquid lead goes back down into the pot.

12-15-10, 07:19 PM	#13
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	ok thanks, i think ill buy that heat guard. that should do it yea i would really rather use powder paint so hopefully this works.

12-19-10, 01:28 PM	#14
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	Oh and sorry to bring this back, but i just have one more question. i found a suitable base pin for my mold, but i tried to glue the fiber guard in with Krazy Glue but it didnt work. What is a good epoxy or glue to use?

12-19-10, 08:26 PM	#15
Bender BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Brighton, MI Posts: 2,414	Most all people talk about Devcon 2T, but I have never, ever seen it in a store. I use the Loctite 5 minute epoxy for jigs to sell and usually the gel Loctite glue for my own. The gel works pretty well but they can fall out if there's not enough glue in there. For my own I don't mind but the 5 minute epoxy holds pretty well. I mix up the epoxy, then pull off the "hair" from tge weedguard if it has any, then dip the end into the mix and give it a turn to pick plenty up. Now stick it all the way down into the hole, align it, and let it sit overnight. I do drill every holeout first with a 1/8" bit.

12-19-10, 09:09 PM	#16
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	Where can I but these locktite products?

12-19-10, 10:02 PM	#17
Bender BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Brighton, MI Posts: 2,414	Home Depot or any hardware store has 2 part epoxy. It comes in the little syrenge thing so both parts come out together. Mix it up good amd try not to get too much air in it, I use a nail. I like the 5 minute stuff but the 20 minute type should work too.

12-20-10, 01:34 AM	#18
everettvet BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Paducah, KY Posts: 730	Never put wet lead into a pot of hot lead. It will not be pretty. The molten lead will go all over the place and you. One night, I made that mistake and we got very lucky that our only injuries were some scrapes from diving for cover.

12-21-10, 04:42 PM	#19
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	Can you only use the mixing epoxy once? Will it dry in the syringe after you epoxy it in? Also, I found this thing I had it's called elmers stix all and it's a gel glue. I used it and the weedguard is firmly in there but it wiggles around if I wiggle it, like it's in there securely, but it is moveable side to side. Is this bad?

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