Silicone Molds for Lead Jigs

[Hardy Boy]

I used a actual jig for the mold (don't tell anyone). You can add some detail to the plaster mold after if you like by carving with a dremel as the plaster can be carved, I made the slot longer for the wire for the hook as I bend it into shape after pouring. I pre bend the wire for the eye. All of my jigs are through wired.


Cheers:

Todd

[gstours]

 Mr. Toddy,   you are inspiring me to show you all a new Octopus jig lead head i,m working on.  Its cause of all of your pictures and every bodys help.....  Of coarse ill show how I made the mold.    Stay tuned.   Go huntin,  make a pie,   make a fire,  cause its rainin,  and dark at 5ish.    Butt thats ok.

[Cor]

 I've gone fishing and am back, still waiting for the amazing lure art coming to this site!

[Hardy Boy]

Gary: I would love to see it !! If its sweet I may need to make a copy myself !!!.................. . Are you carving a prototype or

Todd

[gstours]

Toddy Boy,  I,m getting stuff ready to make my first of.  Thanks for your help and to help others on this topic I found a earthy person who is sharing some of his how to,s shown below.   Lots of us still don,t know it all.    Butt we now have inspiration.

[Cor]

No doubt will work and its the same process to make mould from silicone.   However silicone makes so much nicer and more accurate mould that I would rather spend the extra $15-00 and go that route.

It's a fun project.

[gstours]

  Thanks Mr Cor,  im just starting to get going with this jig mold stuff,  ive made some aluminum molds back when I had acess to a milling machine.  Ive cast a ton of cannonball and bank sinkers to float the boat,    Butt never mad a mold from silicone nor plaster o paris.
    Tell us more of your silicone recommendations and where to get the supplys in small quanitys,   I dont want to buy a gallon at first.
I am going to make a Master for the clay/ plaster for starters.  Its low cost.  I,m not at home.  I got no shop.  Just lucky my daughter has a garage!    The first cast will be a start.  I,m learning from all of you.   thanks.

[Cor]

A person that can catch But can make moulds.  

Just think about the mould and how it has to release the solid metal part inside it.   Make the mould with care as that is the most important part for a successful cast.   Here flexibility of the mould is a major plus factor.    

Remember when you make the first half of the mould you don't need to worry too much about the silicone sticking to anything and you can cut it or modify it slightly before casting the second part on top of it.    REMEMBER before you cast the second half of the mould, you need to cover every bit of the first part with a release agent otherwise you will never again separate the two silicone halves!    Petroleum jelly is the cheaper release agent, but cover every tiniest mm.

I've done this fairly frequently and have always used products from Smooth-on because its obtainable in small quantities.
this is the silicone I would use for the mould.    https://www.smooth-on.com/products/mold-max-60/
Unfortunately it ends up being fairly thick and pours a bit slowly & with difficultly but nothing you cant manage.   Just read instructions carefully and measure quantities you need to mix so as not to waste the products.

Silicone does not stick to anything other then more silicone!

[Leerie18]

Hi all, excuse the basic question, but I was wondering if there are any special considerations for the through-wiring?
Currently my loops are cropped close to the ends and bent-in... no failures yet, but then there is a dearth of large fish in my life!

[Cor]

"......... no failures yet, but then there is a dearth of large fish in my life!

I see only Katonkel. (Bonita)

[rogan]

Gary, 

Try a youtube search for "Splish Splash" and "Solar Baits".  Both of these gentlemen specialize in making silicone lure molds and their work is amazing. They don't cast lead in them, but the methods for making a silicone mold are the same.

The aforementioned Paul Adams, aka "the Handmade Fisherman", is one of the best on youtube.  Lots of great videos covering a variety of fishing topics and his editing quality is first rate.  He makes a lead head "skull jig" using plaster molds, could be sized up for what you want to do.  Hope this helps.

Rich

[gstours]

Others may correct me butt I can't imagine anything you could drag in pullin the wire out of the jig if you're using lead,  if it were me I'd bend the tag end of each to a 90 or 180 bend so it could never pull straight up,  just my 2 cents worth.🚣‍♀️
   What are you using for a release agent?  Others can chime in too.🙅‍♂️

[gstours]

  Here is a fairly simple way to make a lead jig master copy of a large uncomplicated pattern.  It might be interesting to some.

   Inappropriate in the silicone section,   Ino!!!

[jurelometer]

Hi all, excuse the basic question, but I was wondering if there are any special considerations for the through-wiring?
Currently my loops are cropped close to the ends and bent-in... no failures yet, but then there is a dearth of large fish in my life!

As Gary noted, if you have a decent bend in the wire, pull-out in cast metal lures is probably not going to be an issue.    If there is any doubt, tie one end of a lure to the top of a stepladder/ heavy tree limb/etc, and the other to a heavy weight (A five gallon pail of water is 40 lbs).   Come back in the morning.  You shouldn't see any pull-out.

If you are casting plastics or thinner metal lures,  you can lose fish when the lure breaks in half, or the ends crack or chip, and the eyes pull out.  Some metal alloys for lower temp casting can be pretty brittle.  If the lure in your photo is on the thick side, you are probably in good shape.   If it is a bit thinner, you might want to go a bit farther in on the the ends to protect from a chip/crack.

BTW:  I have had more success pouring long flat jigs, especially thinner ones by having the sprue at one of the long ends of the jig.   More of the part is pressurized from the weight of the molten metal from above, there is less turbulence when filling, and as the part cools and shrinks, it tends to create less pocketing.  A deep generous sprue helps as well.   If the jig is fairly fat, this matters less.

  Thanks Mr Cor,  im just starting to get going with this jig mold stuff,  ive made some aluminum molds back when I had acess to a milling machine.  Ive cast a ton of cannonball and bank sinkers to float the boat,    Butt never mad a mold from silicone nor plaster o paris.
    Tell us more of your silicone recommendations and where to get the supplys in small quanitys,   I dont want to buy a gallon at first.
I am going to make a Master for the clay/ plaster for starters.  Its low cost.  I,m not at home.  I got no shop.  Just lucky my daughter has a garage!    The first cast will be a start.  I,m learning from all of you.   thanks.

I have a feeling that it is going to be tough to get RTV silione shipped to Alaska.    Most of the sellers in the US do continental only.    Not sure how the stuff would handle winter shipping to Alaska either.     Smooth-on does list a seller in Wasilla  AK, a mere 19 hour drive from Juneau

A lot of the web advice/tutorials for mold making and casting metal lures is for smaller items. 

Realistically something as large and lumpy shaped as a 12 oz octopus head doesn't need the detail or sharp edges you can get with a silicone mold.   And I would suspect that the silicone mold for a big roundish 12-16 oz pure lead jig head is not going to last that long anyway.   Some specialized casting alloys can get to a pour temp as low as ~350F,  but pure lead has a recommended pour temp somewhere around 700.   The better high temp silicone molds are rated in the 500-550 range, and a big roundish jig head is going to hold a high temp for a long time.

I am still pretty squeamish about plaster,  but it looks like it is working for Todd and other folks.

[...]
I was melting lead in my Lee bullet pot, which probably contained about 5 lbs of liquid metal.   I had poured one lot and bent down to the ground with my back to the pot to shake 3 sinkers from the mould.    I had placed another mould on top of the pot to keep it hot.    Suddenly an explosion took place in the pot sending the one mould flying about 3 ft in the air and spreading molten lead over an area of about 6 ft from the pot.

I got a huge fright and my first thought was that a primer got in the metal but that was not possible.
I can only think that some of the lead I was melting somehow contained a bit of water in a hollow pocket somewhere.   Some were old sinkers that had been in the sea a long time.   I don't know if that is possible.

Luckily I escaped with only one tiny burn mark, but can imagine what could have happened if I was looking in to the pot or even just standing a bit nearer.

Sometimes we need a reminder to be more careful, safety glasses, heavy gloves etc.

Cor:  thanks for the scary story and safety reminder.    Anybody who thinks "it won't  happen to me"  is just increasing the odds of something bad happening.     I watched some of the videos referenced at the beginning of this thread, and one guy is pouring molten metal with Crocs for footwear (eek!).  Hopefully he still has all of his toes...

  Here is a fairly simple way to make a lead jig master copy of a large uncomplicated pattern.  It might be interesting to some.

   Inappropriate in the silicone section,   Ino!!!

Sand casting seems like a lot of work to pour each jig,   now if you were pouring an aluminum mold...

...and the guy in the video is pouring molten metal in a pair of shorts and sneakers.    Not even a pair of socks.   Arrrgh. 

-J

[gstours]

   Thanks for the recent reply.   I,m trying ti do a easy mold to cast a 'Pattern" that I can use as an origional,  and possibly share to others as they can make thier own mold their way.   I,m learning.  the sand cast might be gppd for something simple like what i,m planning on.   Just saying.   I hope others can learn from my mistakes. 
   Currently i,m making several octipus heads Masters, different sizes,  when finished i will post stuff.  everybody likes a laugh!