buckdawg

Ahhhh...I see says the blind man. Thanks for the info!

ok...i give up...what's a laminate?

look great! glad things worked out for ya!!!

JOdowd is right, you can buy it online. Personally I'm lucky enough to work with a packrat. I told him I was interested in pouring my own jigs and needed some lead. He said, "How much you need?" I said three or four pounds. Next day he comes in with 36 pounds!!!! of lead buckshot!!!! LOL Needless to say I'm set for the forseeable future. I forgot about pouring the blanks like cadman said, this helps too. but it does sound like your lead may not be hot enough if everything else isn't working. i usually let it sit for 20-30 minutes after i turn it on. Also if you are close to a Lowes, go to the plumbins section and see if they have any lead flashing. it looks like a small traffic cone but and it's made out of soft lead. the Lowes here has them for 49 cents a piece so you may want to try there. not sure what shipping costs will be if you buy a whole lot online. i also know that bass pro and gander mountain sell lead ingots.

Yep. This is a big help. I just started pouring myself a couple weeks ago and it definitely helps to pre-heat the mold by letting it sit on top of the pot for a few minutes. Also I've heard that if you 'smoke' the mold with a candle too, to the point the mold is black with soot, it helps. I haven't had a chance to try this yet though. Obviously you need to make sure you're making a nice even pour, no hitching in the middle of it. I catch myself doing that sometimes.

Tried this yesterday with the engraving bit that came with the set. Works like a champ!

Hi Chris. I'm an Ohioan too!

thanks! it is easy to take apart and it creates a nice seal too. and i was suprised at how far you could still screw the adapter on with the paper bag on.

the paper is porous enough to let the air through. you can also use coffee filters and pillowcases (with the right fiber spacing which i cannot recall right now). eventually i am going to give the pillow case a shot but i'm going to take a break for a little while. my head hurts from thinking about this for four days in a row!!

Sorry for another fluid bed post guys but I tried a new design tonight and it seems to work. Here are some pics of what I what I came up with:

I actually have some moderate success tonight using a couple 2" pvc adapters and a new (bigger) air pump. I'll make a new thread with pics so everyone can see what I did. It probably would have been cheaper to buy one but it's been fun!?!?

two thumbs up! looks great!!

I am completely new to this hobby and after giving up, initially, on making my own fluid bed I went to dipping directly in the cup. It didn't take me too long to realize I need to try a little harder on getting the bed to work!!! If I can't get it to work I will be buying one.

yes, you're right. i thought about it and am going to shelve the idea for now. i went and bought a couple smaller fittings @ Lowe's over the lunch hour. I was using a 3" system before and I just don't think using the aquarium pump was enough. Hopefully the smaller chambers will do the trick!

I see what you're saying. I would enclose the unit within the PVC similar to the most common designs I've seen on the board. I'm thinking if you drilled a hole in the side for the wires and made it a tad bigger than necessary to pull the wires through then that would be sufficient for air intake and still create the pressure necessary. but who knows? i may give it a whirl tonight and see what happens.