mold kicking my tail

[slammingjack]

I have the Do-it JG-6-A flat grub mold. Can't get the barbs part to pour without voids. Poured 40 jigs last week and only got 19 good ones. Tried 20 today and only 9 came out right. Tried pouring hotter and cooler. Smoked the mold. Tired tilting mold first toward the front then I tried a little to the right. This thing the fill hole is on the side not in the center. I'm using EC 635 hooks The 5/8oz 4/0 comes out good the rest 1/8,1/4 and 3/8. Which I use mostly are the ones not coming out. I heat the mold by pouring all cavities three times. I use scrap lead which was cleaned and flux in a different pot. I remove the dross and flux before and after pouring. I'm using a 10# lee bottom pour pot. Is there something I should be doing that I'm not? Thank you for your time.

 

[LedHed]

WOW! covered a lot of bases...

Might try scratching some vents round the problematic area. Just make sure they are positioned up when you are pouring lead. A straight edge and a hard scribe should work.

Heat up the hooks????

 

[Fatman]

Looking at a pic of the inside of the mold
http://store.do-itmolds.com/Flat-Gr...-58-34brHk-630-or-635brCollar-Barb_p_460.html

it looks like it has grooves set up for venting. Wondering if you scrape them a bit deeper if that will help vent it more - using the tools Led talked about

 

[Kdog]

One thing I found that often helps is to dust the cavities with baby powder I am not 100% certain as to why it works but it has gotten me out of a bind several times. Even using drop out, I have a couple molds that still have issues but sporadic which leads me to feel it is a metal quality/temperature issue. Also mold temperature can be a contributing factor.

I would try baby powder first. Simply dust it on heavily, brush off excess then cast. Usually good for several pours and the first couple will have a whitish tint to them.

 

[toadfrog]

If you are using the mold I think you are , you got to throw some lead at it . Might invest in a bullet ladle with a pour spout . Not one of those spoon jobs . There are times when it is faster to hand pour and avoid misfires .

 

[Hawnjigs]

I too think "metal quality" meaning your scrap lead other component metals are causing premature hardening before the barb fills out. I first started with battery lead and nothing would fill out. Then got some scrap sheet lead and understood the difference between hard and soft lead.

I think softer lead might solve your problem. Some inexpensive sources are scrap roof flashing, some telephone cable sheathing, construction sheeting, plumbers blocks, and stick on wheel weights. Wheel weights with metal clips are typically hard lead - the soft lead type has connected adhesive back segments marked with weights on each.

Some molds can be poured with hard lead, I suspect your flat grub mold requires soft.

 

[Thump Huntin']

Try leaving your mold opened on top of the pot while it's heating up. Maybe pouring through it 3 times isn't getting it hot enough.

 

[JSC]

Pre Heat Hooks .. I place mine under a 60 w light bulb

 

[hookup]

After a few 1000 pours I had to clean out the hole in my pour spourt with increasing drill sizes.

 

[Streetwalker]

If you are using the mold I think you are , you got to throw some lead at it . Might invest in a bullet ladle with a pour spout . Not one of those spoon jobs . There are times when it is faster to hand pour and avoid misfires .

That's good advice, along with using soft lead.

When I switched from my problematic 10 lb Lee pot to the 20 lb Lee pot every mold I had been having problems with suddenly worked.

The pour spout on the larger pot is much bigger than the smaller pot. Also having that much more lead in the pot adds pressure.

 

[slammingjack]

I want to thank everybody for the tips and advise. I think I know what caused the problem. When I cleaned and fluxed the scrap lead. I had two batches or types of lead. One was all roof sheet lead and the other was scuba belt weights. I took the two and just put them in the same box. I think I just put them together and melted them in the same pot. Won't have time to empty the pot and try just the sheet lead until this weekend. Just wanted everybody to know they didn't waste their time posting. I will try every thing and will post what fix it. Again thank you all.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Belt weights are typically hard to very hard, to better resist wet corrosion especially in the ocean. Roofing lead is generally very soft, and the tin solder at the joints improves the alloy. You'll be fine, frustration is usually a door to learning. Since I sourced from anything meltable, even after over 15 years was still learning.

Biggest booboo I made was forgetting that some 5 oz. leadfree sinkers I had lying around were leftover from an old cancelled order. So, over $200 worth of leadfree metal ended up mixed with lead for sinkers with a value of under $40 for that weight.