Wheel weights for making sinkers

they work really well as long as you melt down the lead and clean it up good.

 

I use wheel weights for making most of my sinkers! Once the lead melts the little clip things float on top plus other debris. Carefully scoop the clips & debris off and you are good to go. If you do business with a particular tire shop some will give you the weights for free, others charge by the pound.

 

thats all i use, but i dont poor anything. i just smash an end and drill a hole,and they are ready to go. they fish like a prncil weight and dont roll. get them while you can price of lead has been going up too!
yeah i know thats getto,"rider" lol

 

I'd been thinking about making my own weights for some time now but I've never gotten around to it. I'd thought about tire weights as a source for the lead and also just using the weights without melting them down, too. Got a good source... my nephew owns a salvage yard!

 

does any body no where or how to make molds to make sinkers

 

The BOC library has a section on sinkers and sinker making. Here is the link just scroll down to the sinker section.

http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showpost.php?p=546076&postcount=2

The BOC library is quite large and packed full of good useful information.
Here is a link to the start of the table of contents

http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38576

 

Wheel weights for sinkers? I also cast them into .38 SPL and .357 wadcutters. :big_smile:

 

Ahahaha... good one!

 

The best molds you can get is the do it molds they work really well. You can look them up on the web.

 

Do-it molds are the absolute best molds on the market for sure

 

I'm not sure if this was told but when ever you melt the lead and make your weights be sure there is no water in the mold or or whatever you are use. Water and lead does not mix. Plus lead if spilled on your skin will burn you until it's cool or until you dig it out your skin. So the new people wear your gloves and maybe safety glasses.

 

I havent ever used them but hopefully this year i can start making my own

 

YES! YES! YES! In face, that's so important, I recommend that you heat your mold way too hot to touch before you ever pour in that first bit of melted lead. I can show you lead on a 10' high ceiling from not doing that. I cooled off the molds with water, dried them well with a towel, and even warmed them up before pouring in the lead. Melted lead blew out all over my hands, arms, face, and even the ceiling.
And be careful that you don't drop in a wheelweight that has moisture on it. It won't splatter as badly as moisture in a mold, but it can definitely splatter. If you really must use some wet or damp wheelweights, hold them with pliers and just barely touch one end to the melted lead; as the wheelweight gets real hot, the moisture evaporates, and you can slowly lower the wheelweight into the melted lead. Yeah, that's time consuming, so your best bet is to make sure your wheelweights are dry before melting them.

 

I use wheel weights about 99 % of the time for sinkers and any bass jig I will be painting. I do have a 5 pound chunk of lead I got at a plumbing supply house I use every now and then for jigs I bass fish with and won't be painting.
But, the wheel weights are the way to go. I got a battery box full (totally full) of wheel weights one time. It took me years to make a dent in that many weights. Just be careful if you have never used these if some of them have a lot of grease on them. I have had a number of flame ups with those, but mostly the greasy one's just make a lot of smoke. You can skim off the little metal clips and old slag with a kitchen spoon before pouring sinkers.
good luck
ccat

 

I've used wheel weights for making sinkers for years, and yes they work just fine. They have some tin in them which makes them harder & less malleable than pure lead. For everything other than split shots you should have no problem.

However, there are several things to be aware of.

A: Ventilation, lead is nasty stuff in the human body, and melting down wheel weights without good ventilation is not a good plan. Personally I use our kitchen stove, open both windows and the door, and aim a small fan to bring fresh air in the window and over towards the stove.

B If your going to melt them down, might as well do a bunch of them. Pour your clean lead either into an ingot mold, or you could cut the tops off half a dozen pop cans. Fill to the desired level. But make dang sure there is no trace of moisture anywhere.

When water turns to steam it expands many many times over the original volume it occupied. If a single drop of water is covered by hot lead, it will flash to steam, then blow that lead up & out in what is basically an explosion.
Sending droplets of hot lead flying that will stick to and burn anything they touch.

Hot lead and water do not mix ever.

Anything that hot lead is going to come into contact with should be clean, dry, and preheated before you pour.

Equipment can be as complex as an electric furnace with a bottom dump, or as simple as a cast iron fry pan and a ladle or spoon.

My favorite mold is a Do-it, well designed, trouble free, its a joy to work with.

The egg type sinkers are in my opinion harder, as the steel pins have to be pulled before you can repour. These can slowly get harder and harder to do.

I have experimented with a smaller rod and a wrapping of aluminum foil. This does work, and it let me setup several rods ahead of time. So I could pour more sinkers while the lead was hot without wasting time.

But it did take a bit of time to wrap the foil around the rods and remove the foil after, while cutting sprue's.

 

Try melting wax into your lead before you pour. The lead doesn't seem to stick to the molds that way. I found any mold that needs a rod or pin I spray the rods or pins with pam cooking spray.sometimes I even spray enough in a can and soak the pins.

 

I use wheel weights and do it molds. I prefer plumbers lead for some reason it seems purer and easier to work with, less cleaning.

I use WD40 on the pins for the egg sinkers, and even the molds themselves, I don't wait for them to cool down, just keep pouring, I personally think the molds work better warm! If they aren't burning through my leather glove I keep going!