Lead shears- Worth it?

[thill]

When making jigs, I've tried using nippers and diagonal cutters, with so-so results. The best results come when I grab, bend and twist the slug off, which gives almost perfect results. But it takes time and energy, especially if the lead is hard.

Are the shears quick with good results? Which do you recommend and where would you recommend I buy them? Are they capable of cleaning jigs up to 4 ounces?

Thanks.

-TH

[BLT]

For small jigs, I love the Xuron shears. Nice clean cut. For large jigs/sinkers, I just use a small pair of snips, file down the rough edges. I just cast 400 2oz. bank sinkers, after snipping all them off, the 'ole wrist/hand was tired lol. I wish I had a small band saw with fine teeth to cut them large sprues off.

To answer the question, I say yes for small jigs, you can get by w/o them for the larger jigs.

[Basseducer]

Thill,

I find that the gate cutters are straight and most of the jigs are rounded. The cutters leave an edge with two points that I have to polish off. I prefer to do it like you and bend off the sprue. I take a large pair of pliers and hold the sprue and wiggle the jig back and forth in small increments for the best results. The small wiggles reduce the chance of making a hole.

TJ

[HookUp]

Use gate cutter, then a file or a dull old xacto blade to clean them up.

[SWO]

Thill,

I find that the gate cutters are straight and most of the jigs are rounded. The cutters leave an edge with two points that I have to polish off. I prefer to do it like you and bend off the sprue. I take a large pair of pliers and hold the sprue and wiggle the jig back and forth in small increments for the best results. The small wiggles reduce the chance of making a hole.

TJ

I use the exact same method. I have two pairs of lead cutters that I don't use anymore because I've found that bending the sprue off with pliers makes a cleaner break.

[cadman]

For you guys that bend your sprue off. I've tried that, and everytime I did that I started pulling holes in my jigs. So now when I file it to the curve of the jig, I can't get rid of the hole because it's too deep. It could be that I use harder lead than most, and maybe the sprues don't break as cleanly. I contour all my jigs I sell to my customers. It just looks more professional to me. JMHO

[Ogajiga]

Its also possible to use the gate shears to scrape off sprue residue. But, its kinda hard on the hands, wrist, & forearms for commercial production amounts. And you need band aids to prevent blisters or nerve damage at pressure points. Filing is probably faster, but the dust makes me nervous.

[LedHed]

For big stuff, I weaken the sprue with flush ctters then rock it off. Small stuff - just rock it.

Don't think you can have too many tools.....

[thill]

For you guys that bend your sprue off. I've tried that, and everytime I did that I started pulling holes in my jigs.

I've just gotten my method down pat. I bend back and forth, and as the sprue starts to release, I twist the last part and it detaches flush every time. Perhaps 1 in 20 will have a little nub, and I just shave it off with a knife and move on. I'm pleased with this method, but was hoping to find something faster.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE FOR THE REPLIES!

-TH

[Ogajiga]

Like "cadman" says hard lead and big gates are more likely to pit when bend-twisting off sprues, whereas soft lead and small gates often leave a relatively clean and level sprue mark. For example 1/8 soft lead round heads are often good to go after twist off, but every blessed one of my wheel weight bank sinkers have a sprue indent.

[Ogajiga]

Correction, my soft lead is 4% tin, so pure soft lead might leave a little tail after twist off.