Richoc

I use mobil one , one drap last a long time and it doesn't smoke and burn up and leave the black in the hinge area. You will only need to oil the hinge like 1/10th the times as before. You can feel the diff. insantly. No burning smell when the mold gets hot. Really will make a huge diff. just try it.

Lead type............ This is hard lead. It will have a high content of antimony. It will foam to the top of the pot and will need to be slagged out. I would not run it through a bottom pour pot. It will work for larger jig heads and buzz'spinner bait heads.

It sounds like your lead is way to hard. Where did it come from?

I think it is still it may be air borne particules. I know for shure it is not late breaking bubbles.

Jed, Take a Q-tip soaked with laquer thinner, and clean the spots. Do not leave any fuzzy though as the finish will get gooey. Make shure to let dry to touch as not to trap any of the thinner. Then patch coat them.

Trying to repaint a bunch of jointed shad raps. Came up with the ideas to glue a bead in between the section to hold them stil during the painting. That way they would just be like working with a solid crank. Then I would just cut out the bead with a exacto. Just not working that hot the crazy glue keeps letting go. Any body holding them together to paint. This is fast high volume get them all done in in a few air brush cleaning type work. Any ideas????

Put in a vent to the area of the short. Will work wonders for you.

These vents do not have to be large at all. I first will cut one with a razor blade. You hit the cav. where the short is. Come out at 1/8 inch the turn a" z ", then make shure the vent leads to open air not a place where the mold fills in when you pour. The lead will never pass the change in direction, but the trapped expanding air will. If you make it right it will never even need to be trimmed of at the vent. Only do one face. Start tiny and work up to small. You can make the vent as large as you like after the "z". Use needle files......dremel can get away on you. Use the triangle file and draw it away from the cav. Files only cut in one direction so rubbing it back and forth is useless. Work tiny to small. Start at the cav. and work to out side. Heck draw it on with a pencil for a pattern to follow. Also this should all be done on a cold mold. When warm you will rase the edges, and cause flash.

I use water based paints and they react with the carbon wax coating. Finish on the casting also suffers. If I must blacken it is only on the gates. I polish out the cavities. The shortys are caused by the trapped expanding air in the cav. If you blacken a vented mold you can block the venting and make it worse. You will get better pouring by venting and polishing the molds. Once done right you will get 100 percent good pours using the correct lead mixture.

Put a tiny vent to each area of the mold where is shorts out at. Do not smoke it.

Guess some of us have faster hands than others. I can pour and open my molds faster than the lead cools. It is best practice to cover the bench with sheet metal. Cooling the castings on the cardborad not a good idea, I know I can set off a smoke alarm that way. Waiting to cut off the sprue is the best way to make shure that you do not end up with loose hooks or wires. Handle the parts with a pliers, try not to contact the mold, hot alum. will scratchs real easy. For god sake do not eat or have any water near you while working with melted lead. One drop of forehead sweat will blow up on you. Vent the exhaust!!!!!! Keep the temp only as hot as it needs to be to pour full casts. Baby sit that pot as it heats up!!!! When done pouring. Wash your hands before touching any thing..............

I use high heat tape that is used for power coat masking. Build it up to where it holds the hook,Both side a layer till even, then it handles the heat well.

The channel is how I like them. When I have a pouring mold cut from alum. I have it done that way. For spin casting it would be diff. story.

It will work better if you make them right to begin with. Cut gates never have a perfect flow.

Pour in end is 0.300 To bait is .050 This is one my 1/64 commercial mold.

Get a small needle file for that. You will be happy with the end result. Just take your time , you still want it to hold thewire in place for you during the pour.

May I suggest you make the gates a bar with ports. It will pour much much faster. I cut alot of my do it molds this way. Cjt the sprues back to form a bar. Just one long pour to make. The gates are really not round, hard to measure, but I will pull out the caliper.

They are better matched, flash is almost nonexistant. Gates are smaller, and break off better. You will need a bottom pour, and will need to pour good soft lead. I love them.

I have done this so so so so many times..... Auto-cadd/proE you name it. It never works right because the lead poured varys so much. Pure lead will not work. Get it close as you can. Design and size is what matter.

I can pour you some.

Guys, Please be careful.......... The thinners are flammable, all of them!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!No got burned up today degasing a baits finish horror stories.

Some one can make the changes for you. Do-it all the time............... The 1/16 will be hard to pour. It will take some extra venting and a increase in gate size to get that cav. to pour good. Are you looking for just small production for your self? Because if not I would say you need production molds. Other wise you can just about get it done with just one mold. Hook eye length will control that. I have been pouring over sized hooks like this since 88, for walleye fishing. Heck I might have one to do that size now...

If they are soder....use electric contact cleaner. Brake cleaner will work, they are near the same stuff. Might be a little harsh. I clean mine in dishwashing liquid to get all the flux off. I put them all in a jar with hot water , dawn , and then shake till clean. 2 rinses and paint them.

I use the plastic with size up to #9 blades. The differace in the clip design keeps them on.

Only use the casting model. The trolling ones drop the blades.