un_led_ed Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 Question from a new member:Does anyone have any experience of this mold? I love the jigs, but they are a pain in the **** to remove from the mold. Sometimes they come out by pulling gently on the sprue, but more often this breaks off and I have to grip the lead with pliers, which leaves marks. It doesn't matter if they are for my own use (the fish don't mind!), but when I sell them I want them to be perfect. I've tried smoking the mold, which helps with pouring but not with removing the jigs. So, any ideas? By the way, lots of great tips and ideas on this forum, guys, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFoot Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Question from a new member:Does anyone have any experience of this mold? I love the jigs, but they are a pain in the **** to remove from the mold. Sometimes they come out by pulling gently on the sprue, but more often this breaks off and I have to grip the lead with pliers, which leaves marks. It doesn't matter if they are for my own use (the fish don't mind!), but when I sell them I want them to be perfect. I've tried smoking the mold, which helps with pouring but not with removing the jigs. So, any ideas? By the way, lots of great tips and ideas on this forum, guys, thanks! You came to the right place. I use do-it molds. Have you tried a release agent yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ute Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 I have poured this mold for about 15 years. Mold release agent helps a great deal, but the best method that I have found as far as removing is to use a pair of 90 degree needle nose and grab the sprue from the top. Wobble the mold slightly as you pull and this helps. As your mold wears in { about a thousand or so pours} it will improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
un_led_ed Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I have poured this mold for about 15 years. Mold release agent helps a great deal, but the best method that I have found as far as removing is to use a pair of 90 degree needle nose and grab the sprue from the top. Wobble the mold slightly as you pull and this helps. As your mold wears in { about a thousand or so pours} it will improve. Thanks for the replies guys. "A thousand or so pours"! only about 900 to go then! I've been gripping the sprue from the side which is probably why it's been breaking off so easily. What can I use as a mold release agent? Some kind of lubricating oil like WD40 maybe? Another problem I had with this mold was that the tolerances were so tight the air couldn't escape quickly enough, leading to incomplete pours. I solved this by placing a thin piece of paper on the face of the mold (another tip I picked up on this forum). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ute Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I use Frankford Arsenal Drop Out for the mold release. It is available from several sources, but I usually get it from Barlows. If you coat your mold with it, it helps a great deal with solving the incomplete pour issues, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) My orange handle Wobble Jig mold is tight, but releases lead OK with a pliers sprue grab removal tekneek like "ute" describes. I'm using a 95% soft lead - 5% tin alloy. If lead castings are locking the mold might be defective. I've had this problem with newer black handle molds, tho not particularly the Wobble Jig. It is indeed curious but true that molds pour better after a break in period. Edited March 9, 2011 by hawnjigs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly Posted March 11, 2011 Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 If your sprue's are breaking off so easy I would assume you are using wheel weights for your lead. Hard lead with to much anatomy will actually get bigger when it cools. Pure lead shrinks when it cools letting it slide out easily. There are some molds that say right on them to use soft lead only. This is one of them. If your were using soft lead you would do quite a bit of bending the sprue before it snapped off. If you fill you have soft lead find some one to test it or buy a pure lead from a reliable source and see if you have the same results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 Kelly is right about this being a soft lead mold. However, pure lead is too soft for the skinny collar barbs to have any structural integrity, so I add 5% tin to tuffen them up a little. I also nip off the top 1/4 - 1/3 of the barbs so they don't bend as easily. Tin metal shrinks when cooling, and doesn't seem to significantly affect the pouring quality of soft / pure lead. EZ alloy to make,19 or 20 parts soft lead to 1 part tin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
un_led_ed Posted March 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I've read the replies to this thread with great interest and today I had another go. I got hold of a graphite spray (sold as lock lubricant) and coated the mold with it. And I have to say it worked - I poured about 40 jigs with only a couple of incomplete pours, and they all came out of the mold fairly easily with a bit of jiggling. My lead is a bit of a mongrel mixture of old fishing weights, roofing lead, wheel weights and battery lead (never again!), probably wasn't the best idea to mix it all up but it pours ok if I have everything warmed up nicely and play around with the melting pot temps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
