Does anyone make fishing sinkers?

[Rockchucker]

While I'm casting boolits I thought I start making some sinkers as well. I'm looking to make some 3/8s and some 1/2 oz slip sinkers and thought I'd ask here . What are some of the types of molds and the best place to order them?

[fourarmed]

Last time I looked, Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops both stocked a reasonable assortment of sinker and jighead molds.

[dk17hmr]

There are a number of Do-It-Yourself sinker molds on Ebay. You could just go to the hardware store and pick up a bunch of little lag eye screws. Cast up a bunch of bullets or use the rejects and screw one of those eyes into the base of your bullet and you have a fishing sinker.

[docone31]

I tried that.
Back in the '80s, I actually had spare time. I got a full compliment of salt water weight molds.
I made some good lures, and weights. Got me a bottom pour 10lb pot, made a mess of that by melting in the pot, but, got me some good lures and weights.
Never thought I could cast boolitts.
Bass Pro has a pretty good selection of molds. There are others out there, but it is a good place to start.

[Leadforbrains]

Wheel weights into fishing sinkers???? BLASPHEMY! HERESY!
:kidding:

[oldtoolsniper]

I cast my own. I use do it molds. I do split shot and jig heads for the most part. Here is the secret to getting wheel weights.. Cast the jig heads in popular sizes for your area and when you pick-up your wheel weights drop a hundred off for the tire guys who fish. 1000 hooks run about 28 bucks and you will be number one in line for those wheel weights. For even more bang for the buck get the powder coating dip color and dip the jigs after heating in different colors and they will call you to come and get the wheel weights. If I offered them 2 or three bucks for a pail of wheel weights they would be offended, If I give them 2 or three bucks worth of jig heads for a pail of wheel weights they think I am the greatest guy ever and they common sense tells them no wheel weights no jig heads. Who do you think gets the wheel weights?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/oldtoolsniper/jigheads001.jpg

[quack1]

I cast my own sinkers and jigs. Do-It molds are the best IMO, and they have molds for just about anything you can make out of lead for fishing. I also use some Herters molds that I pick up at garage sales. They are OK, but not even close to the quality of Do-It. I make my sinkers and jigs out of any questionable lead I scrounge up and save the wheelweights, lino and pure for boolets.

[Rockchucker]

I'm gonna give jig head making a go, My second love is fishing in the spring, summer, and fall.
That's a great idea bout giving some jigs away for ww's. I gonna have to give that a try, thanks.

[oldtoolsniper]

Adding feathers is easy too. Just get some fly tying bobbins or thread winders or whatever name they give them and wrap them on. Use finger nail polish as the cement or lacquer it's the same as the fly tying stuff only cheaper. Strips of rabbit fur make for some very active jigs and it’s tough to tear off. Fly tiers call them zonkers for some reason. I tie them on Johnson silver minnows instead of pork rinds. They don’t turn to leather when they dry out.

[ghh3rd]

Why not save up our Zinc wheel weights and pour them into fish sinkers molds. Since Zinc WW are increasing, and with the rising cost of fish sinkers ($4.50 lb at Wally World), we could be supplementing our shooting income :-)

Sinker molds don't seem as precise as boolit molds, so I wonder if Zinc would really work. Has anyone tried this?

Randy

[oldtoolsniper]

Sinker molds are not hard at all to use. The one with the big cavity is designed to be preheated by filling it. They are aluminum. You have to cut the sprue off by hand but it still goes fast.

I would give it a shot but I don't get many zinc wheel weights here in Iowa. I suppose you could market them to the green crowd and charge three times as much!

[AZ-Stew]

Zinc would be OK for jig heads, but it's too hard and brittle for split shot sinkers. When you try to crush the shot closed, it would break at the "hinge".

Regards,

Stew

[Rockchucker]

I just ordered a 7 cavity 1/8th and 1/4 oz jig mold and some coloring and while I was looking over all the different ones I noticed the split shot mold, hummm may have to get one of those too. I've got 27lbs of lead dive weights than are surly going down under again.

[Gerry N.]

Another problem with zinc sinkers, especially in clear running water is that the cotton pickin' things clang like a bell. Wanna drive a fish into the second county over? Drag a zinc sinker over a rocky bottom.

Gerry N.

[Down South]

I cast several sinker sizes. I buy my molds from a local fish net company but I'm sure they can be found online easily. I use the stick on WW for my sinkers since I seem to aquire a lot of it lately. I also use some of my range scrape for sinkers. Best of luck, Sam

[OLPDon]

My vote Do-It molds are by far the best. Ebay has been most of my resorce for them. Just don't get cought in a bidding frenzy. Take your time set your limit on what you want to pay. There is no need to rush for a mould, they keep showing up for bids all the time.
Heck sinker moulds are not boolit moulds I think after you have cast 50 to 100 lbs you and six of your fishing friends are set for about 20 or 30 yrs. And that my friend is why they are alway up for bid. You can also share some of the cost with them.
I belong to a fishing club it all cops and firefighters and we have a sinker party once a year.
Hmmmmm now I must tell you that we hold this sinker party at a K of C which perchance has a pretty nice bar. I must say it is funny to watch some of the antic in the fine art of casting.
The tincle fairy is hard pressed to keep up with her wand. I have seen two mould (large) after casting was done and not yet quite cooled down melt right through a very nice table. So it is posible to drill a square hole.

Don

Note: Fishing Club obsorbs the cost of Bev. I will leave it at that.......................

[rbuck351]

I cast 2 and 3 lb halibut sinkers for people. They bring the lead and I make half into sinkers and keep the other half for my bullets. We both win. Just had a guy drop off 374 lbs of wheel weights. Gotta get busy.

[NSP64]

Boolits? I don't cast boolits![smilie=1:

45 cal 450gr boolit going 600fps, now there's a sinker.

[Rockchucker]

Thanks to everyone for all the replys, I've got some molds coming in. I'm getting to be such a lead bum, yesterday I was given 40 lbs of wheel weights and I was given 28 lbs of pure plumbing lead today. I think it pure, After making it into ingots Scratching them with my finger nail was easy.
Ron

[TaylorTN]

Grizzly Jig (www.grizzlyjig.com) in MO carries ALL of the Do-It molds at a good price. They also carry all the hooks, rings, etc that you need for any of the molds.

That is kind of how I got started in this mess in the first place.........I went to thier store to buy a couple of the strap/ingot molds for making duck decoy anchors.

That's where all my stick-ons go.......:)

[KCSO]

What!!! Lead sinkers !!!! Don't you know EAGLES eat fish? Are you trying to poison the Eagles. Shame on you.

Actualy here on the river the most popular set line weight is a spark plug. Only thing is the last time I threw my line in a fish threw it back and accused me of tryiing to start something.

I have a set of cast iron moulds that have been in use for over 70 years.

[xd shooter]

http://www.barlowstackle.com/lead-molds.html

This is the place I have used. I cast plenty sizes of splitshots, jigheads, standup jigheads, spinnerbaits, & arky style jigs to make the shakey style jigs.

It's fun & I do use the stickon weights for fishing.

The spinnerbaits are alot of fun to make, but cost alot to get all the supplies to make them.

I have about 50 or 60 spinnerbaits made up & haven't been fishing in over a year. Maybe I should swap a few of them for some brass?? PM me if so.

[357maximum]

I actually started this obsession ever so innocently by buying a sinker mold. I have a bunch of different sinker moulds now..lost count :roll:. DO-IT is the way to go...Not to sound too "BASHY" but if you buy a palmer made mold...you have not heeded my warning and deserve what you get...they are a waste of time and money...I gave all my palmer molds to a feller that did not know any better. He took the molds for free and I feel like i got the better end of that deal. They make lee 1 or 2 cav boolit moulds look like a Rolls Royce....palmer moulds are rubbish waiting to be taken to the dump. The Palmers will get the job done, but so will filling a spent casing with lead and a paper clip.

***all of the proceeding is one mans opinion...feel free to disagree with him....just note that he is hard headed and set in his ways on the subject matter and is very likely to look at you with suspicion if you tell him differently***