[siebler_custom_baits]

How long do you wait until you remove the casted piece from the mold. I am pouring 1/8 &1/4 oz stand-up heads ( no weedguards)

[tomcat]

around 10 to 15 sec to hot to handle but they've set up .i cast 1/2 oz sparkie for bass.
justin

[siebler_custom_baits]

see i was thinking like 1 minut w/o you i might never get a lot poured. Do you put them in cool water? or just on the counter?

[jigmaster]

Takes only a few seconds for the lead to harden. That does not mean that it is cool to the touch.

Grab the head by the gate sprue with a pair of pliers, and at the same time, twist the sprue off, and put it back in the pot. That way, you dont have to handle the heads twice.

Then simply place the head on your work surface, and let it cool off. YOu do not need to wait for each head to cool prior to removing it from the mold. If you did that, you would get very few done.

If you get accomplished at it, you can pour 4-5 heads a minute, from a single cavity.

[Fat Ratz]

I normally wear a welders glove and remove the jig as soon as I cast it with a pair of needle nose pliers and hold it with the glove hand, break of the sprue and get ready to pour another one. Doesn't take but a few seconds to pour and remove.

[siebler_custom_baits]

Thanks. I think i am gonna bolt down my hot pot because i have heard of them tiping over. You ever place the molded head in water to cool? What if i took the head out of the mold and diped it in powder paint asap you think i would get good results, i mean the lead will be hot.

[Celticav]

Intresting question about the powder, has anyone tried this? It may be just my area of the country but I have to control the heat with surgical precision to get powder to work for me and am still working them with a heat gun with some colors. I know what you mean about bolting your hot-pot down, the stand on those things could stand a little re-engineering, JIM

[jigmaster]

I tried that awhile back. Took the head, right after it hardened, broke the sprue and dipped. the lead would harden and cool too fast, and I would not get a good coating on the paint. Would not cure well enough. Now, if you could figure out a way to do this, it would save ALOT of mfg time downstream, that is for sure.

It may work on bigger heads, but small heads, cooled down too quickly.

[deadlystreamer]

I melt a lot of lead and the only thing that gets almost to hot to hold is my mold with the rubber covers on the handles. I do a couple hundred at a time and this is the way it happens. Hold mold in left hand, set hook in close mold, position mold under spout, lift handle on pot, open mold, remove hook with fingers and lay it down, and place another hook and so on. I just line them up on my table and then when I'm done, I use my fingers and pop the spur off and drop it in my pot to melt as it cools. I get a real production line going. Works pretty good for me except that handle does get awfully hot.

I did try to take the body out of the mold and take the spur off and dip it in the powder paint. Don't work, the lead cools to fast. It cools in seconds.

It's probably a good idea to bolt your pot down. I don't because mine has a good stand on it and it's pretty hard to turn this one over.
I even C-clamped an added board to get it down so I don't have to reach up to high. I'll pop a pic of it here so you can see what I'm trying to discribe.

[gaspumper]

A newbie here reading through the posts,I pour 1/8 oz.up to 2 oz.jig heads in round,walleye,and banana heads,I probably pour minimum 7,000 heads a year,I only pour 1 jig at a time break of the gate and dip it in the powder paint right away and never have had any problems with the lead cooling down,I have a home made rack made out of steel with threaded rod (1/4 in.) to hold the hooks in place,800 heads depending on the size, clean out the eye with a eye cleaner on the ones that need to be cleaned before baking,then put them in a stove oven to bake,(not the good stove)saves a lot of handling and reheating of the heads doing this