TheKodiakWay Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 Just starting out, and have questions on lead. To save on headaches, I plan on ordering from Rotometals, but I'm not sure on what to order. It looks like I have three options. Pure lead Nuggets, Antimonial lead, and Pure soft lead. Should I pick one single option, or is a combination of the leads best? I'm pouring brush jigs, poison swingtails, and the swimbait head from do-it. Using a Lee bottom pour, if it makes any difference. Thanks for any and all help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 I always did the Pure Soft Lead. Depending on the mold you might get away with some of the others, but the Pure Soft will work on pretty much everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBehr Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 (edited) I use Rotometals soft lead except when I have issues with the wire bait keepers coming loose or the blade inserts on bottom spins coming loose. Then I use the antimonial lead. I use it in a Lee 4lb Lee pot and a small ladle https://www.rotometals.com/antimonial-lead-metal-5-pounds-3-5-antimony-lead/ Welcome to the forum ! Edited January 4, 2018 by DaBehr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saugerman Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 Welcome to the TU forum, TheKodiakWay. Always happy to see new members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKodiakWay Posted January 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 Awesome, thanks for the help and welcomes! Rotometals recommended the antimonial, as it's harder, but couldn't comment on ease of pouring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 (edited) I would start out with the soft, and as you learn, you can buy the one with I believe 5% antimony. You can also buy some soft(pure) and the mixed, and then you can experiment and see how they pour for you. This way you can learn on how to pour different lead compositions. Edited January 4, 2018 by cadman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 I buy pure soft, and add their hard lead ($5+lb) if needed. I buy all my lead from Roto because I can't afford to waste my time with junk lead... well... unless its completely free. Even then I rarely use the unknown stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpNoodle Posted January 5, 2018 Report Share Posted January 5, 2018 I'll be the outlaw here. I go to my local metal recycling place and pick out all the good soft scrap. At $0.70-$0.80 a lb plus some propane I get all the lead I need. Also one can head over to the Cast Boolits forum and pick up lead there for around $1 a lb. Rotometals, IMHO is the supplier of last resort. If I need/want some tin to help with fill out in the mold I'll go the the thrift store and buy some pewter. My average price for pewter, 95% tin, is under $3 a lb. If I need to harden the lead I'll use some wheel weights. I've been getting those in the $0.15-$0.25 a lb range. I had major surgery the 26th. I'm healing up quite well. I'm hoping this surgery, the third one last year, will "fix" me. If it does then my goal is to have over a ton of lead on hand by next fall. It doesn't take up that much space and I can process 300 lbs of scrap in an afternoon. Sorting the wheel weights takes a bit more time but it's well worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted January 5, 2018 Report Share Posted January 5, 2018 I don't know about outlaw, but versatile for sure. Most of us don't have the time, space, or ability to obtain random scrap lead. But, for those that do, and for those that pour in molds that will accept different quality of lead, your method will save lots and lots of money for sure. I use to use wheel weights as well, straight, (the lead portion of course), and for some of my molds it worked just fine. I prefered plumbers sheet lead, which I got from contractors that were remodeling old houses. It was often on roofs around vents and it was soft, perfect. It is tough to find now. All of the reclaimed lead needed more flux, left a lot of garbage on top when I melted it down, but it was workable, for most molds. But, if someone is new enough to the hoby that they are asking the question, I think we owe it to them to give them the advice that will be easiest for them to use. But, in the future, once they have mastered the craft, then recycled lead is something to be embraced, not feared. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 To be fair, I do have a different motivation for casting lead. I don't sell castings, and rarely cast to use them. My goal is to make sure molds work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EironBreaker Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I will second the use of recycled lead. But also agree with mastering simple pouring with pure lead and then if you get into it a little more, start to play with cheaper sources of lead. Of course not everything works out to your benefit and occasionally you waste your time and/or money. But for the most part, you can greatly reduce $$$ with little effort. I've sourced lead from contractors who take down old buildings, plumping fittings in old houses have good lead. The best score was 4x8 sheets of pure lead inside a dentist's x-ray room that was demo-ed. I wish I could have hauled more off that day, I'm down to my last sheet of that lead. Wheel weights, bullets, whatever. You just need to know what you have and how much pure soft lead to add to make it pour right. The harder the better is my opinion but needs to be soft enough to fill the mold. And every single mold I have is it's own critter. Some don't care if you use the worst crappy wheel weights, you get a perfect pour every time while others need pure lead. If you pour enough, you will figure out what each mold takes to make good baits with what you are working with. To clean recycled lead, I use a propane fish cooker and a big cast iron pot OUTSIDE away from the building. Prefer to do it when a breeze will take away the fumes. Fire it up and melt everything down but I like to keep similar stuff together, like lead that has impurities away from known pure/soft lead. Then I can mix them as needed on my bench to get the right hardness for what I'm pouring. I flux the big pot with wax outside before pouring into smaller ingots and again in my bench pot before the final pour. This is a fun hobby, enjoy yourself and ask questions as they come up. Great people on this site! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasilofchrisn Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 I also use scrap. I buy superhard from Rotometals and scrap pewter(for the Tin) to make my alloys for jigs or boolits as hard as I want/need . I have the lead hardness tester from Buffalo arms so I know what I have to start with and where I end up. This tester is nice as I can test ingots, sinkers, basically anything that will fit in it, which is a lot. In my area scrap lead sells for $1 per pound but I sometimes get it for less. I always pick through the lead and only buy what I want. I leave the junk behind. Wheel weights I only use if they are free. My big pot holds 196 pounds when full of clean lead. I use my high output turkey fryer burner outside on a breezy day. Triple flux then make ingots. My last batch of lead was 756# of clean lead stripped from some electrical cable that was new. A guy bought it at auction for the solid copper core and sold me the lead for $.90 per pound. I also routinely have people trade me scrap lead for jigs or sinkers. It works out for the both of us. Though I will say Rotometals is great to deal with and is a great source of good lead. Their free shipping on orders of $99+ is also a great deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKodiakWay Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Thanks for all the suggestions! I found 75lbs of magnum shot, 5% antimony, graphite coated... For $1/lb. Is it worth it? Or will the graphite be an issue with my bottom pour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpNoodle Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 If it's new shot I'd sell it, Shot is a lot more valuable than lead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 11 hours ago, TheKodiakWay said: Thanks for all the suggestions! I found 75lbs of magnum shot, 5% antimony, graphite coated... For $1/lb. Is it worth it? Or will the graphite be an issue with my bottom pour? $1lb for known good quality lead is cheap. Some guys swear they buy awesome stuff for half that, but then some guys claim to buy classic cars for 10% of what they are worth every day too. Maybe it happens, but not everyday for everybody. I'd buy it. Not sure about the graphite coated part. You likely be skimming all of that off as dross. 5% antimony will make it a little harder lead, but if its pretty consistent you should be able to pour it in most molds. Buying it and reselling it is not a bad option, but probably you need some lead to get started, and the price on that is decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBehr Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 As I mentioned above I use the Rotometals soft lead 4-5% antimony alloy and it really makes a difference in holding in the wire keepers. BUT, it does not flow as well and would probably be a poor choice for some molds that need that really good flow of soft lead (normally Do-it marks those with a big use SOFT lead warning). So far it has worked in all the molds I've tried it in, but I will probably run into a problems mold eventually. Antimony is less dense than lead so the weight of your jig is lighter, but it is very small. Maybe someone else has experience with other alloys, but from all my reading the lead- antimony allow is widely used. Rotometal has all the data to figure out the difference in weight of your jig if you are good a math! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 If you want to have fun, buy and mold Tin or Bismuth. Both are moldable in the same molds. But, if we are worried about the cost of lead, check out the Bismuth - ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLT Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 I have 2 molds that "need" soft lead. Other than that, I mix wheel weights with the good stuff. In the past 10 years of tackle making/selling, I have bought lead 1 time. Ballast weight for a boat, and paid $.50 a pound for 450 pounds. It was nice soft lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
