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Homemade Jig Molds?

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I want to replicate a few jigs for personnal pouring and don't want to spend the $$$ on a custom aluminum mold.Is there anyone who can comment on the Hilts Perfect Replica Mold? I've also read about RTV silicone for molds but don't know where to buy it. Also heard about the Bondo technique...any suggestions on these??

Appreciated as always!

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How would the Hilts work for a Jig with dual weedguards?

I make my own molds out of silicone and getting a two part mold to accept dual brush guards would be very difficult. Are you talking about like the Snag proof Grabber jig? It could be done but it would need to be a mold that has two separate parts not hinged. If it were hinged, then when being opened, the base hole pins would open the holes for the brush guards. After a lot of thought, the best way to do it home made would be to have a two piece mold that instead of using aluminum brush guards, it would need to be molded with silicone that would create the holes for the dual brush guards AND be flexible enough to slide out. The large hook in that Snag Proof jig (if that is kind of what you are talking about) would be another issue because it would require a very thick mold to accommodate the voids for both hooks. But all in all probably could be done

Edited by Paxamus
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With a single hook like that and those weed guards at those angles you could make a two part silicone mold that opens top to bottom instead of left and right and cut a section out for the hook to ride up through the top and then it could be possible(difficult), but with the hilts mold it would nearly impossible since it is not very deep.

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Where I buy my RTV RUBBER for making molds is at, MICRO-MARK... I have made and used this for making molds for a long time. Anything from jigs,buzz baits and spinnerbaits. I've got hundreds of pours out of one mold and it still is not done yet by any means. Good luck... Don't be afraid to ask more guestions on how to do this with RTV if you go that route. STEVE

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Time for another dumb question.

I'm confused.

All of the RTV silicone mold making stuff I've found is rated to the mid 400 degree fahrenheit temp. range, but lead melts at 600+.

How is it that molten lead doesn't ruin the RTV molds?

\

I don't know, :nono: but the lead doesn't seem to hurt it. I keep my lead at about 750 to 840 degrees and pour into several RTV molds and have never seen any damage to the RTV.

I spin cast into vulcanized silicone molds everyday and a mold lasts a long time. If it is 3/4 oz you might get 1000 to 2000 pours at 10 parts per mold. That's 10 to 20 thousand parts and then the mold is still not in bad shape. It will have a small parting line and then where it breaks off it will have spot similar to what it looks like when you hand pour. A mold for small jigs, 1/32. would do a lot more.

You ever notice when lead splashes on the table or you hand :pissed: how the lead "freezes" pretty quick? A metallurgist told me once that lead didn't have as much thermal energy like say for instance molten steel, Get a little piece of hot steel on you arm when you are welding or using a cutting torch and you feel the difference :eek:

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Should be, I use normal old modeling clay and have forgot to use any lubricant or grease and still had the mold pull away without issues

How thick do those silicone molds have to be. Can the molds be drilled - to get the pour holes and space for the hook. Looks like you back those molds with plywood, clamp, and pour the lead. Is that right?

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The thickness should be somewhere around 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the maximum diameter just to ensure a long mold life. I use a razor knife, like an exacto knife or scalpel to cut pour holes and hook spaces. I have found that screwing a cut piece of plywood to both sides makes it easier to pour multiple molds at once. You don't have to attach a piece of wood but it does displace the pressure from a clamp so you get a better pour

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The thickness should be somewhere around 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the maximum diameter just to ensure a long mold life. I use a razor knife, like an exacto knife or scalpel to cut pour holes and hook spaces. I have found that screwing a cut piece of plywood to both sides makes it easier to pour multiple molds at once. You don't have to attach a piece of wood but it does displace the pressure from a clamp so you get a better pour

thanks, sounds like silicone works way better than bondo i've been using.

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