elect1960 Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 I was wondering what you guys are using for weight in your plugs. I am using lead sinkers. I mold them with a pair a pliers to fit a 1/4" hole I drill in my plugs. I am new at this and have not made a complete plug yet but I have alot of blanks made and Im waiting for my order of hardware to start putting them together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out2llunge Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 I melt down old lead wheel weights that are used for balancing car wheels. They are cheap or free - just visit a local tire shop and ask them what they do with their old weights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elect1960 Posted January 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 You melt them down and do what do you have a mold you put it in or do you pour it direct onto the holes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out2llunge Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 I usually pour directly into the holes because I don't have any molds. What I've done recently though is drill (with a forstner bit) a variety of different diameter holes in a wooden block and fill these with the molten lead. I pop them out of the holes and re-use the wooden mold. I then have a variety of different sized weights to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 I'm surprised that some of you guys actually take the time to melt lead to pour into the plugs, now that's dedication! I buy pencil lead which comes in rolls, cut off the section I need, drill the hole, and slide the piece in. If I didn't have pencil lead I would probably just use splitshot. Lead is easily shaped, you could take almost any sized weight and quickly hammer or squeeze (I use my leatherman) it into a configuration that meets the hole you have drilled. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out2llunge Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 Jed, I'm making BIG muskie baits and pouring the lead into it to ensure that there's no undesired air cavities anywhere in the bait. It's really not much work at all. I thow a few wheel weights in a ladle, turn on the heat, and once melted...it's a straight pour - about 1 min. total time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 Wow, well sounds like you have the ticket then. The last time I melted lead it seemed like it took 20 minutes just to get the stuff into liquid form, could have just been the candle I was using to heat it. Take care. jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMAXX Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 Im using mojo weights you just have to drill the hole a bit bigger to get the wire thru the 1/4 oz fits a .25 hole perfect,however Im not familiar with pencil lead riverman though Im interested where would you buy something like that ? Sounds like a mojo weight minus the hole. Vmaxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out2llunge Posted January 12, 2004 Report Share Posted January 12, 2004 Pencil lead is popular with the trout and salmon boys. A piece of pencil lead and surgical tubing and you have a nifty drop sinker that gets hung up less on the bottom. It's really just long, thin, cylindrical lead, very cool actually. As to buying it...I'll leave that up to Riverman, I haven't bought any in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elect1960 Posted January 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2004 I found some lead wire in the Mc Master Carr Cat that im going to try here is a link http://www.mcmaster.com/asp/DisplCtlgPage.asp?ReqTyp=CATALOG&CtlgPgNbr=3396&CtlgEdition=&RelatedCtlgPgs=3396,1374,693&sesnextrep=401321520038969&ScreenWidth=1024&McMMainWidth=812 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
