Molds for fishing jig heads

I didn't know where to post this so I chose this sub forum.
I recently started to pour lead into jig heads molds. The process is the same as casting bullets. There are few differences though as inside the closed mold there is a hook carefully placed. Some molds require aside from the hook a bent wire or an eyelet. At first I followed the well known procedures of heating up the mold and make sure the lead is clean etc. It was not uneventful to be honest. I had to heat the living hell out of the molds as the jig heads were wrinkled and I knew all so well about the cause. I raised the temperature to 750F while using Mr Hatch PID so I made sure I work by the book. Still was not enough. Now I know I am iffy with my results as I can't stand wrinkled bullets. I won;t even mention a cavity not properly filled.
I'm having an issue in the area around the hook where that very tiny space should get filled with lead and wrap around that hook properly. That area is essential as there will be added the future skirt or a bucktail tied or feathers or whatever. I didn't have enough time to play with as I had to hit the road but I tried few good hours every time. I either have to heat the mold and the pot really bad or change the hooks with skinnier ones or modify the mold and enlarge the hook slot.
Anyone had these issues yet?
Thank you

They are designed for a certain brand and size hook. Using a larger or different brand hook can sometimes be a problem. Even when using the recommended hook you must heat the heck out of everything. About 30% of mine don't fill out properly but I use mostly plastic jig tails so it's not a real problem. Heat Heat Heat!

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Originally Posted by RustyReel

They are designed for a certain brand and size hook. Using a larger or different brand hook can sometimes be a problem. Even when using the recommended hook you must heat the heck out of everything. About 30% of mine don't fill out properly but I use mostly plastic jig tails so it's not a real problem. Heat Heat Heat!

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Also most fishing molds are meant to be used with pure lead

I have been a "Do-It" mould man for years. Three things I may suggest include the necessity of having hooks &/or wires 100% grease/oil free, as is your mould. 2ndly, the heat often needs to a tad on the high side, with the 3rd being of most importance (to me). To wit, I've learned from doing that the best bullet casting alloy is NOT the best for sinker/jig moulds. I have used "bad" bullet alloy to make 8-pound down-rigger weights which work, but surely would come out in last place at any beauty contest. The best "alloy" is no alloy at all -- as pure lead as you can obtain. My #1 cast mould is basically an egg-sinker with a long length of piano wire cast through it, bent in an "L" shape, to use as a bottom-bouncer. Both Net-Craft in Ohio, and Barlow's in Texas purvey not only the moulds, but have charts designating the correct wire/hook to employ. That they match is paramount for success.
BEST! A PDF of the Do-It catalog which may be helpful may be downloaded at https://store.do-itmolds.com/do-it-catalog.php
geo

Yes I realized after I filled the promelt with alloy that what I was using was not apropriate which is COWW. I have lots of SOWW and I plan on changing the tune on this respect. Also I never thought of degreasing the hooks before inserting them in the molds. Other than that I just removing the PID alltogether and cranking that thermostat to it's max. I already heat up my molds before using them and try to keep them hot. I realized pretty fast the mold cannot not get as hot as a two cavity Magma mold due to it's size so I brought back the good ole single eye electric burner. I have to be honest and admit that I would have not expect bad results from someone who poured tens of thousands of beautiful bullets. But I guess I have to take it like a big boy and admit it is a different animal I have to deal with.
Can't wait to get back home and start again.
The ones that they game out good are looking marvelous. I have multiple molds for sinkers and jig heads. I amassed quite a few way before I first started. The heavy sinker molds cannot be filled using the bottom pour as the cavities are huge and the ladle is the queen on this respect.
Now I realize how easy is to cast bullets, ha ha.

I also found with my jig and sinker moulds that they sometimes required a little venting to pour the best. A square and sharp scribe or awl will give a vent line that may help. Also play with angle when filling. I found my jigs were best ladle poured fast and strong. I loaded hooks from a plate on top of the pot ( preheateted the hooks some), This was a domed piece of metal to hold hooks. I used mechanics tweezers to load. Cast fast and hot

Sooooo, you are HOOKED on casting ? :)

I'm hooked since a while. Pouring sinkers also is not new to me. But casting jig heads with the same critical approach as bullets is different.
the good part in the whole experience is that I will never ever have to rely on fishing stores to buy jig heads that I need. Most of the times they don't have what I want or the size isn't something I'm happy with etc. Not even mentioning that most of them are painted with some cheap nail polish that at the first rock bump will chip. Powder coated jig heads rules. I built a fluid bed and the painting process is a breeze.

Like George in #4 I'm a Do-it guy.

I've stayed away from jigs though. Easier to buy good ones on amazon, ebay, etc at a price I can't beat if I have to pay for both hooks and lead.

I have a Do-it walking sinker mold I've used for decades.
Recently added a Do-it finesse drop shot mold. Took me a couple of times to figure that one out. Finally watched a youtube video and saw that they were putting the swivel further up in the mold than I was. Hey presto, no time flat I had a bag of assorted sized drop shot sinkers with the nifty little V swivel that just clips on your line.

Tips, use EXACTLY the hook they specify.
Use a pair of fine tweezers to place hooks.

For problem area's I gave up on smoking molds several years ago.

Liquid Wrench Dry lube. While the mold is still cold dampen a q-tip with the liquid. Work and polish those problem area's.
This drys, leaving a thin "dry" film behind. Does not migrate, works awesome for molds with a sticky cavity.
But I have found for spots that need a little help with fill that it seems to help.

Last I would be using pure or range scrap with 1/2 to 1% tin or pewter added for fill.

Save the wheel weights for bullets unless you have no other choice.

Stick with it, you'll figure it out.

I have never made "lead head jigs" because everybody and his brother makes them here in central Wisconsin. With that being said, I can tell you to use good hooks because you don't want your big walleyes to straighten out the hook on you.
And If I were making them I would tin the hook with solder before casting. That way you wont have any problem with the head not clinging on the hook well.
Also. powder coating is a MUST. We used to just paint our jigs and it doesn't stay on. Powder coating jigs heads is as much a boon to these as it is bullets. Once you get some light colored powder coat (white) on there you can paint them any color you want.

One spot where I fished in a salt water bay was under a bridge. Rocks and a lot of steel cable and you were sure to loose an anchor. I gallon paont cans from a paint shop full of anything heavy and some cheap 1/2" plastic rope. Used to scrounge the dump behind where I worked. lotta cable sheathing and cut up bars of tinning solder. Saved the solder but cut up the sheathing for a throwaway anchor. Sounds bad but only lost one lead anchor.
then we got smart. two 25" lengths nylon rope. Tied off one side for the incoming tide and the other for the outgoing tide. Slack tide used to run the engine to keep the lines straight. those fish were good. Those aluminum molds we used a old gas flame thrower torch to keep them hot. Made the old style sinkers egg type with the whole through the center which was usually a nail. The regular tear drop and hex style or triangular ones had to be kept hot because of their sizes. The lead was poured when it was about 800 degrees. Frank

I can't remember the last time I cast sinkers. I bought a cheap aluminum mold from one of the advertising magazines that would come in the mail, like s Sportsman's Guide or some such. I was maybe 20 years old, had never cast anything, but wanted some cheap sinkers to lose in Lake Eufaula.....
The end results were mostly useable. They weren't pretty, and I can't say that I saved any money, but it was my official start on the long road of casting.......

I buy my jigs plain, I prefer the Matzuo sickle hooks. They just D O N O T B E N D.

I have 2 main colors of powder coat. A pearl White and a Chartruese green.

Go into the kitchen stove with a small pair of forceps and an old pot/pan. Grab the eye of the hook with the forcepts. (Keeps the PC out of the eyes) Heat it in stove flame from 5 to 10 seconds depending on size, dip it into the PC, turn it sideways and tap off excess. Hang the hook on the pot to cool, release forceps.

One of those cheap Harbor freight hole punch tools. Punch out 3-4 sizes out of sheet foam 1/8th inch thick Super glue to the head of a finishing nail or a match.

Big one is used first, dip into a couple of drops of black fingernail polish, stamp an eye on one side Repeat for the other side.

Once done with black you go to a smaller size. I like white but have used a variety of colors. Same process, dip, apply, leaves a nice white dot in the black looks just like an eye. I have played with other colors but the black and white is my favorite.

On a good morning an hour will powder coat and eye something like 30-50 jigs in various sizes. Enough to keep me busy tieing for a week or 2.

Tips for tieing.

A Gartside secret stuff. Google it.
B Angel Hair sold at Amazon. Under 5$ lasted me one whole spring and half is still there. Has a really nice look. Love it for bellys on minnow imitators.

I see the price has gone up, suspect it will drop after the holdiays.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ohh and also comes in silver and gold but those are more expensive and do not have the irredescent look of the pearl.

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Originally Posted by GhostHawk

I buy my jigs plain, I prefer the Matzuo sickle hooks. They just D O N O T B E N D.

I have 2 main colors of powder coat. A pearl White and a Chartruese green.

Go into the kitchen stove with a small pair of forceps and an old pot/pan. Grab the eye of the hook with the forcepts. (Keeps the PC out of the eyes) Heat it in stove flame from 5 to 10 seconds depending on size, dip it into the PC, turn it sideways and tap off excess. Hang the hook on the pot to cool, release forceps.

One of those cheap Harbor freight hole punch tools. Punch out 3-4 sizes out of sheet foam 1/8th inch thick Super glue to the head of a finishing nail or a match.

Big one is used first, dip into a couple of drops of black fingernail polish, stamp an eye on one side Repeat for the other side.

Once done with black you go to a smaller size. I like white but have used a variety of colors. Same process, dip, apply, leaves a nice white dot in the black looks just like an eye. I have played with other colors but the black and white is my favorite.

On a good morning an hour will powder coat and eye something like 30-50 jigs in various sizes. Enough to keep me busy tieing for a week or 2.

Tips for tieing.

A Gartside secret stuff. Google it.
B Angel Hair sold at Amazon. Under 5$ lasted me one whole spring and half is still there. Has a really nice look. Love it for bellys on minnow imitators.

I see the price has gone up, suspect it will drop after the holdiays.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ohh and also comes in silver and gold but those are more expensive and do not have the irredescent look of the pearl.

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Sounds like some very fine jigs you are doing there. What size are you making? Are they for Crappies? We use just painted lead head's with a minnow on them for walleyes. A minnow is almost essential for walleyes since they are mainly taste feeders.

I make a few different jig heads. All for my own use, although I have from time to time shared them with a buddy or two. I tie a few bucktails but mostly use plastic tails. I grab the hooks to heat when powder coating. Punch out the eyes with an ice pick before curing. I use stick on eyes after the ppaint cures and cover them with a coast of slow cure clear epoxy. If you go thru a lot of jigs each fishing season, which is all year around here, then it is much cheaper to make your own plus you can adjust the hook type/size to meet your own needs. Like casting, its just another part of the hobby.

Attachment 249232

I have over 100 Do-it molds and that many more custom jobs and other brands. Seeing that it's not a temperature issue it must be your metal. On barbs, collars and other fine detail the bogger is usually zinc in the mix. When it contacts hook it solidifies instantly and causes voids. #2 cause would be in the pour. It has to be a steady stream or it can cause voids. The smaller stuff under 1/32oz I pour with bullet ladle. I have Hilts molds down to 1/100th oz and that's only way I get them to come out. The Do-it's are color coded for a reason. The Black handles are professional grade and harder for beginners to pour. The spruce is smaller leaving less to clean up on jig head and easier to break off. This also backs up air and will cause voids if not poured right. This will happen with all Do-its to some extent. The trade off is you have no flash with Do-it's like on cheaper molds. I was in tackle business and have poured a jig or two as well as spinners, spoons , ect.

I've got well over 100 Do-It molds.

For jigs with a hook and a insert make sure to degrease the inserts. I've never had a problem with the hooks. I all 1% tin to my pure lead. It helps with the surface tension of the lead.

Now the big secret. Do-It jig molds, for the most part, have indented surfaces. I fill those with lead 2-3 times on each side. This heats up the mold quite well.

Run your pour hot. I normally cast jigs at 775-800°.

The most difficult jig I've had to cast was the 1/16th ounce BAT jig. There's a hook and insert in the little guy and it was really hard to get the collars filled out. I had to smoke the mold and up the tin a bit to get it to pour.

The most important thing is that if you're pouring for personal use they don't have to be perfect. The fish don't care.

You can get the hooks/wires etc. set in place , clamp the handle closed and carefully lay the mould on a hot plate to pre heat , I turn it over so both sides get warmed up....after that the mould and hooks/wires etc will be all hot and ready to be poured .

If the mould and hooks aren't preheated the lead doesn't flow and fill out the small spaces .

Casting with soft lead....cast hot try 800 degrees .

Gary

Traffer mostly bluegill and crappie jigs, although I have tied some in bigger sizes for walleye or bass I have yet to seriously fish them. 1/32nds, 1/16ths mostly a few 1/8th and 1/4 oz but not many.

About feb to early march the tieing bug bites me hard, and I'll tie anything, but it probably won't look like anything anyone else has ever tied.

I caught that tip about mass producing eyes off youtube and it sure works slick once its setup and running.

Powder coat paint in a small jar works real slick the way I described it. I got my first ones on closeout at my local Fleet Farm.
Then went looking on Amazon for the pearl white and Chartreuse.

For bluegills I've had my best luck using about 1/3 of a 1" gulp chartruese minnow. Just a chunk or a tail. Its the smell, there is something in that stuff that is magic. My was fishing with chunks of crawler, we had near identical jigs some 3' below a small bobber. I had 5 keepers in the boat and she had 2 little silver dollar sized ones. She turned and pinned me with the evil eye. "what are you doing? How are you doing that!" LOL after that I set her up the same and hardly had time to fish I was so busy takeing her fish off the hook. Ohh well.

Thanks to all in this thread for all the tip of casting fishing molds.Some realy good info here.A true look that many shooters love to fish.It is all about the outdoors.I know I know this is a site about casting and shooting your own bullets.It is sad the fishing mold can not be in S&S.

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Originally Posted by GhostHawk

Traffer mostly bluegill and crappie jigs, although I have tied some in bigger sizes for walleye or bass I have yet to seriously fish them. 1/32nds, 1/16ths mostly a few 1/8th and 1/4 oz but not many.

About feb to early march the tieing bug bites me hard, and I'll tie anything, but it probably won't look like anything anyone else has ever tied.

I caught that tip about mass producing eyes off youtube and it sure works slick once its setup and running.

Powder coat paint in a small jar works real slick the way I described it. I got my first ones on closeout at my local Fleet Farm.
Then went looking on Amazon for the pearl white and Chartreuse.

For bluegills I've had my best luck using about 1/3 of a 1" gulp chartruese minnow. Just a chunk or a tail. Its the smell, there is something in that stuff that is magic. My was fishing with chunks of crawler, we had near identical jigs some 3' below a small bobber. I had 5 keepers in the boat and she had 2 little silver dollar sized ones. She turned and pinned me with the evil eye. "what are you doing? How are you doing that!" LOL after that I set her up the same and hardly had time to fish I was so busy takeing her fish off the hook. Ohh well.

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I don't fish anymore. My brother has a boat and fishes bluegills, crappies yadayada. He is rigged up with 2lb mono and uses ice fishing jigs. Right under the boat in deeper water. Kills em. He has a ant lead jig. Wants me to put black hackle on it...I keep forgetting. I think he uses ice fishing grubs on the jigs too.

IME,
1. Fish could care less about wrinkled jigs
2. Powder coat covers a lot.

A small piece of raw or cooked shrimp works good to on the Ice gigs too.

I've got several Do-It molds - after using the finely machined jewelry we are used to casting boolits, these molds are just poorly designed sand cast garbage. Still, they work in a pinch - I always pre-heat on a hot plate, use pure lead and cast at 800 to get decent results.

I wouldn't call Do-it's junk. They are cast and mating surfaces machined and precision of a bullet mold is not required. The next step down are investment cast molds and bottom shelf molds are just cast. I have a Do-it mold that half is machined out like a shallow pan. The other half is cut out leaving just border like a window frame. Fill bottom half with plaster of Paris and suspend a form 1/2 depth and let cure. Then place top 1/2 over it and fill with plaster. ( form has release agent on it) when this cures take apart and remove form. Use die grinder to cut sprues and relief for hooks, wire ect. Then use this dummy plaster mould as form in sand box to pour a mold of cast Alumilum. They have to be cleaned up and mating surfaces machined but usually come out pretty good. Once in a while get a reject because of sand pits.

After fiddling extensively and trying everything I could think of about pouring jig heads I came to few conclusions.
The alloy temperature has to be minimum 750F.
Pouring a bunch of times with no hooks inside is a must to heat up the mold.
When both the alloy and the mold are hot the cavities will fill perfect even around the hook in that tiny space left.
Not sure on other melters but on my RCBS I can adjust the flow and that is also very important. The bigger the flow the better fill and the smoother surface the jig head will have. Big/heavy sinkers will not fill properly without a fast thick flow as the alloy will solidify fast in a big cavity.
Closing the mold perfectly is important. I have a mold and I don't have the proper hooks for it so I modified the eyelets to be able to close the mold. Even a tiny imperfection will keep the mold a bit open and the result is ugly jig heads.
Sinkers that require inserts need the inserts greased with anti-seize properly. Otherwise the insert cannot be pulled out.
Molds with handles(Do-It) are the easiest to work with. The ones with no handles are a pain but some of them are worth the hassle are they are awesome.
Before buying molds from Europe make sure you can find the appropriate hooks that can be bought here otherwise you'll end up modifying the molds and some modifications if not done properly will ruin the mold.

Jann's Netcraft has all the 'do-it' molds, and hooks & inserts for them as well as all manner of other rod & lure making stuff.

I've bought from them a few times, and they couldn't be much better to deal with.

Zeiners.com has the best selection and prices I've found for DO-IT molds.

For jigs I use a B&D 2 temp heat gun, medium forceps, a wire rack and a bottle of powder paint. I set the heat gun to high, grab the hook with the forceps, rotate the head it in the heat guns air stream to warm both sides for a short time. Too much and the paint clumps because the lead is too hot. Too little and the paint is too thin. Swish the warmed jig in the powder, tap off the excess and then back into the heat until the powder turns shiny. Hang on rack to cool. You can bake them to set the paint but usually the reheat does it. I don't have an airbed so I just shake up the bottles of paint periodically to fluff it up. I can do about a 130 an hour. You can still bust the eyes with an eyebuster and don't have to drill them using this method. I dont worry about wrinkles the fish have never complained and the guys I fish never look a gift horse in the mouth. I get my hooks from DoIt to fit the moulds. By the way reusable split shots don't work well with hard alloy.:cool:

I made some fluid beds for my powder but soon found that stirring up the powder periodically worked just as well and was much less labor intensive. I hold the jig with a hemostat and pass it through a small alcohol flame several times & then dip in powder. Chartreuse, pearl, & yellow serve most of my needs for crappie & walleye jigs.

Bob

I tested your method of dipping many many times and for me there is no comparison between the classic dipping method and fluid bed. A fluid bed that function properly gives way better results. More uniform and no paint dripping while curing the jigs in the oven. But that's just me.