Casting Lead Baits (tons of pics)

[Mike Bucca]

Guys another hobby of mine is lure making. Not only to save a few bucks but to also tinker with things to make them more effective to my liking. I have been casting lead for ages. My dad and I used to be heavy into competitive muzzleloading in my younger years and he taught me how to cast lead bullets for muzzleloading. I just carried it over to my fishing which is no different.

The beauty of lead casting is it costs almost next to nothing compared to buying the same bait at full retail price. I also mod my molds to my liking as well to accept bigger hooks or wire forms where needed.

I get most of my lead casting supplies either from jannsnetcraft.com or www.staminainc.com Both of these places have almost everything you need for making baits which also include add on components.

Here are direct links to molds and molding equipment from Stamina.

www.staminainc.com/meltingpots.html
www.staminainc.com/molds.html

Here are direct links to Janns Netcraft

www.jannsnetcraft.com/do-it-molds/

It pays to shop between these 2 as some prices are better at one than the other. Namely the pot I have is 29.95 at Janns but 34.95 at Stamina. The Pot I have is OK. The only pain is you have to keep loading it with lead as it gets low and it won't allow your ladle to get full of lead because it is a fairly small pot. The good part is it takes mere seconds to melt new lead but you will have to clean it up and get the impurties and scrap metal out of it.

As for the lead I use I get mine from tire places ie tire weights. Any tire company will be glad for you to haul off their tire weights if you ask them nicely. My last trip I easily got 20lbs of lead at no cost and this will probably last me 2 years or so. It's not the prettiest lead to use but it works fine. The best lead to use is soft lead but it's somewhat a pain to find.

The first picture here is of all the supplies I use. This is a basic lead melting pot, a candle, a mold, a ladle, lead shears (wire cutters in a pinch) and of course lead. The one thing I am very partial to is that ladle I am using. Due to the design of this ladle I am able to pour heads that I wouldn't otherwise be able to pour because the ladle force feeds the lead throughout the mold and prevents partial pours. I had an open face ladle and I hated it. I like the closed face ladle with the spout. I also think it is a little safer. I had to buy this ladle from a shooting supply house.

Here is the link. It's a little on the expensive side but man it's worth it to me.

www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1702.htm



The second picture here is me fluxing my lead with a candle. Just dip the candle into the lead very quickly and then stir it with the ladle and this will cause the dirt and impurities to float to the top. This will help your lead pour a little better.



This next picture is a basic shot of the sprue holes in the mold where you pour the lead into and the ladle.



The fourth picture here is me pouring lead. Granted I took these pictures in the summer when it is super hot in the garage. Always pour lead in a well ventilated area. I have 2 fans blowing on me to keep the fumes from stagnating. I also highly reccomend glasses, long pants, shoes, long sleeve shirt and gloves. I know I don't have my gloves on and my long sleeve shirt on but this was for demonstration purposes. I do most of my molding in the winter time when it is cooler and easier to wear long pants and sleeves. I can't emphasize safety enough. I have had so many accidents and weird things happen. Trust me wear all of the above items. I have 3rd degree burns on the back of my hand and that happened 15 years ago. I got splatter marks all over my arms as well. Don't be like Mike here!



This is a picture of a custom hidden weight spinnerbait mold I had made several years ago. As you can see I have the wire form and the hook in place before I close the mold for it to be poured



Here is a picture of the head after pouring it and opening the mold.



Here is a picture of the head out of the mold. All you do is take your pliers and cut the sprue area off flush. YOu can use a grinding wheel to make it smooth if you like.



Here is a picture of a mold of a round ball jig head loaded with a hook. I thought with this bait being a popular bait I would show how easy they are to make for the cost of a hook ie less than a nickel a piece



Here is a picture of the jig head poured but still in the mold.



Viola a jig head that needs some attention on the grinding wheel.



Here is a spoon mold loaded with a wire form and ready to be poured. Actually Hrus uses this same exact mold for his spoons.



Here is a bunch of spoons that I poured in less than 10 minutes. Total cost .06 cents a piece



Even the striper guys can gain something from this and mold some of their own downline weights for the cost of the 2 swivels at either end of the bait.

Painting is pretty easy as well especially if you do the power paint process. And there isn't anything a spray can can't fix. One thing I have never been able to master and that is air brushing. I am the worlds worst at airbrushing LOL. I have bought 2 air brushes and compressors only to end up trashing them.

I hope this is helpful to some of you that like to tinker like I do with new baits. It's always cool to catch a big ol spot on something that you designed and made yourself. It gives you some exclusivity if you want to call it that. It's a cool and fairly inexpensive hobby to get into. Some people take it to the next level and sell their goods. I just like to do it to have fun and save a few bucks.

Mike

[dawgfish]

Great information Mike! I too am a tinkerer and enjoy making my own lures. I have not graduated to pouring lead but I have carved various topwater lures out of cedar(I get for free at my work) using my mini lathe. I have made templates that I can just attach to my lathe that are the exct dimensions of lures like zara spooks, devil's horses, and poppers. My next project will be a jointed swimbait. It will be a challenge for sure.
I have not purchased an airbrush yet but that will be the next step. For the time being I am keeping it very simple. I have learned alot from www.tackleunderground.com . Check it out, the guys on there are unbelievable. It is definately addictive!!

[harleywizard]

I also my make a lot of my own tackle. I have 3 lathes I will try turning some plugs. I have made my own molds for hand poured worms. I made do-nothin worms back in the late 70's early 80's. I have molds for crappie jigs, worm wts, walking sinkers, dropshot wts, egg sinkers. I buy from Stamina Tackle my components. I am planning to make some drop shot worms next. As soon as I make the mold. Glass etching is my main pastime now.

[harleywizard]

[Mike Bucca]

Wow Harley, Thats pretty cool stuff. I have a Jett Mini Lathe that I use alot as well. I used it primarily to make rods with a few years ago. I do make some swimbaits from wood myself. I hand carve them for the most part. Maybe I'll do a tutorial on that next . Easy to do the hardest part by far is getting the ballast right

Mike

[fishtale75]

Hry Mike, can I ask you where you got that spinnerbait mold machined at? I have been looking for a hidden weight spinnerbait mold, I have looked in Barlow's, Stamina and several other places.

[Ron288]

what does the candle do ?

[Mike Bucca]

fishtale, I got this one machined by someone up in North GA. Darn if I can get them to answer an email . I told Do-it at ICast that they need to make a hidden weight spinnerbait mold. Maybe one day we will get our wish I wish I could get a hold of the guys that did mine as I have a few others that I would like to get made..

Ron288.. The candle (wax) makes the dirt and impurties in the lead float to the top of the molten lead so that you can scoop them out. It makes the lead easier to pour and keeps your ladle spout free and clear.

Mike

[harleywizard]

I use a candle to smoke my molds to make them release better. Nice to know about the fluxing, Mike thanks

[Mike Bucca]

harleywizard, I do that as well. Also makes the lead pour a little smoother in the hard to get areas by smoking the mold. The blacker the better

Mike

[Killian]

this would be a good hobby to get into. It would make losing those weights while drop shotting a little easier.

[bfriendly]

Where are you getting the Hooks? RU BEnding them? I really need to get into making them shaky heads..........Those are perfect looking jigheads, but is there a flat headed Spot Remover-Like Mold out there?