walleye warrior Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 I am considering (very seriously) purchasing a rebuilt Tekcast caster. I am looking for comments, suggestions, personal experiences, advice, etc. I am curious of the learning curve on these machines. And many other questions I am sure I have not even thought of yet. I am currently pouring over 15,000 walleye jigs a year and believe it's time to speed up the process and take the next step. Looking forward to your help! Thanks, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshng2 Posted July 1, 2017 Report Share Posted July 1, 2017 (edited) Wow with that many Walleye jigs I bet they look ding dang good! I guess you could say that you're "Gettin Jiggy Wit it" Edited July 1, 2017 by fshng2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy1976 Posted July 1, 2017 Report Share Posted July 1, 2017 I'm working on a 40 cavity mold mold. I think I can keep up with a spin caster but time will tell. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted July 1, 2017 Report Share Posted July 1, 2017 (edited) 18 hours ago, andy1976 said: I'm working on a 40 cavity mold mold. I think I can keep up with a spin caster but time will tell. Andy, nice looking mold what cad software do you use? Edited July 1, 2017 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlaery Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 On 6/30/2017 at 3:59 PM, walleye warrior said: I am considering (very seriously) purchasing a rebuilt Tekcast caster. I am looking for comments, suggestions, personal experiences, advice, etc. I am curious of the learning curve on these machines. And many other questions I am sure I have not even thought of yet. I am currently pouring over 15,000 walleye jigs a year and believe it's time to speed up the process and take the next step. Looking forward to your help! Thanks, Steve It takes hard lead, to work best. I use lead with 6% antimony. when i try to use lead with less antimony I get more rejects. the fill gates in spin casting molds are thinner and hard lead allows the jig to break off of the spru instead of bending back and to break off. this leaves a cleaner breakoff point. I have used wheel weights but they on have about 1% antimony. learning curve is not bad but that depends on the complexity of the part you are casting. your slowest part of spin casting will be loading hooks. If you have 8 molds and 3 people loading molds you could pour 15,000 in 1 day. molds don't last forever. heat wears them out, so having 3 or more molds will spread out the heat a little and dumping out of the mold as soon as possible to try to keep the mold from getting too hot. the molds don't get very hot anyway. If you have 3 molds and 1 person loading hooks and pour all day the molds would not get too hot, as long it is not a 2 or 3 oz jig. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy1976 Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 On 7/1/2017 at 3:56 PM, cadman said: Andy, nice looking mold what cad software do you use? Sorry haven't been on. SolidWorks. It will have a channel running across the top connecting them all so they can be removed together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apdriver Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 That isn't laid out like the spin cast molds I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy1976 Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 3 hours ago, Apdriver said: That isn't laid out like the spin cast molds I've seen. If you're referring to mine it's a regular cnc mold. Don't want to do the spincast thing but I want to do a lot in a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshng2 Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 (edited) On 7/3/2017 at 8:43 AM, dlaery said: Your slowest part of spin casting will be loading hooks. If you have 8 molds and 3 people loading molds you could pour 15,000 in 1 day. After walleye-warrior gets a spincaster, what is he going to do with all his spare time? Edited July 4, 2017 by fshng2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 On 7/3/2017 at 5:43 AM, dlaery said: It takes hard lead, to work best. I use lead with 6% antimony. when i try to use lead with less antimony I get more rejects. the fill gates in spin casting molds are thinner and hard lead allows the jig to break off of the spru instead of bending back and to break off. this leaves a cleaner breakoff point. I have used wheel weights but they on have about 1% antimony. learning curve is not bad but that depends on the complexity of the part you are casting. your slowest part of spin casting will be loading hooks. If you have 8 molds and 3 people loading molds you could pour 15,000 in 1 day. molds don't last forever. heat wears them out, so having 3 or more molds will spread out the heat a little and dumping out of the mold as soon as possible to try to keep the mold from getting too hot. the molds don't get very hot anyway. If you have 3 molds and 1 person loading hooks and pour all day the molds would not get too hot, as long it is not a 2 or 3 oz jig. I was just going to suggest he ask you since you've always been helpful to me about spincasting and casting information. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 10 hours ago, andy1976 said: If you're referring to mine it's a regular cnc mold. Don't want to do the spincast thing but I want to do a lot in a day. I'm actually surprised you are doing well with such a large mold. My experience has been that larger plates tend to wick heat away from the castings to fast. I had to leave them on a hot plate turned up pretty high in order to get mostly good castings. With big stuff like large bank sinkers its not as bad, but with small stuff its always been difficult for me. Graphite coating and then a light dusting of talc helps, but I still have to actively heat the mold. Is there a secret trick you are using? I've found I can cast a lot faster than I figured with just a 4 cavity even. The killer is the time to pick and place parts. Its not to bad if its just a large hook, but if its thin hooks, with insert pins, and wire keepers it can be quite tedious to get them all placed and close the mold without any jumping out of place. If I have to keep the mold hot then its worse because I have to work with my gloves on, and use pliers to pick and place. Then again I don't pour like some of you guys. I mostly pour to test molds, and a few of my own personal designs for my own fishing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye warrior Posted July 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 6 hours ago, fshng2 said: After walleye-warrior gets a spincaster, what is he going to do with all his spare time? Inject Plastics, tie bucktail and paint spinner blades for crawler harnesses. If any time left I may cut the grass and find an hour or 2 to go fishing. Dont let my wife know please 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye warrior Posted July 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 On 7/3/2017 at 8:43 AM, dlaery said: It takes hard lead, to work best. I use lead with 6% antimony. when i try to use lead with less antimony I get more rejects. the fill gates in spin casting molds are thinner and hard lead allows the jig to break off of the spru instead of bending back and to break off. this leaves a cleaner breakoff point. I have used wheel weights but they on have about 1% antimony. learning curve is not bad but that depends on the complexity of the part you are casting. your slowest part of spin casting will be loading hooks. If you have 8 molds and 3 people loading molds you could pour 15,000 in 1 day. molds don't last forever. heat wears them out, so having 3 or more molds will spread out the heat a little and dumping out of the mold as soon as possible to try to keep the mold from getting too hot. the molds don't get very hot anyway. If you have 3 molds and 1 person loading hooks and pour all day the molds would not get too hot, as long it is not a 2 or 3 oz jig. Thank you very much for all the info. It was very helpful.Now to get the Tekcast sales rep to return my call and maybe I can get this process started. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshng2 Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 5 hours ago, walleye warrior said: Inject Plastics, tie bucktail and paint spinner blades for crawler harnesses. If any time left I may cut the grass and find an hour or 2 to go fishing. Dont let my wife know please Yesterday my wife was looking for me and wondering where I went......yep fishing . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshng2 Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 5 hours ago, walleye warrior said: Thank you very much for all the info. It was very helpful.Now to get the Tekcast sales rep to return my call and maybe I can get this process started. Amen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
