New Jig and Lure Molds

You can pour lead into silicone??  Never even concidered that.

Hey G!  A lot of the commercial high detail,high quality metal castings are done in silicone molds(usually spincast). Lead casting temps are at the limits of the silicones range.And you can cast items with undercuts in them unlike the hard molds. I believe plastisol for rubber worms can be cast into silicone molds also.(Papa Bill question)

 I remember kids buying silicone gasket goo in a tube to make molds of "Dungeons and Dragons" figures. They smeared it all over the figure then made 2 part plaster molds to support the "glove like" silicone mold for casting the pewter. Then just peeled the silicone off the cooled casting.
 Am I old?

RAMBLE ON MATT, I'm learnin a thing or 3.

DITTO

Can lead be poured into a wood mold?

Can lead be poured into a wood mold?

It might work for a couple castings but is risky. Because of the wood being combustable you have a good chance of the molten lead spitting out of the mold. A well dried plaster of paris (POP) mold would be better.
I would make the pattern out of wood, sand and paint it, coat it vaseline then make a POP mold.

  Well I got the jig head and flutter jig head molds.  I spent the rainy afternoon casting a few.  I had to drill the sprue hole out a little more on both molds.  I was having trouble getting them to fill all the way unless the mold was smoking hot, but they work great now.  The larger sprue comes off easy with the gate shears.

The flutter jigs look great!  They have great detail and cast nice.  I played around with the spires jigs, filling in the collar with aluminum foil, it worked ok for the 20 or so heads I did.  i will weight them tomorrow to see how much weight I lost.  I also did a few with the full collar.  I considered filling in the collar with JB weld, but like being able to tie up some bucktails.  The aluminum foil will work for now to make the mold dual purpose.

I made a drying rack and dipped the heads and jigs in some paint.  I did 50/50 white and candy red on the jig heads, and white/grey and chrome on the flutter jigs.  I will let them dry over night and try the netting scales tomorrow.  I have some greys and blues to try for over spray coats. 

I tried some of the poly sparvarnish on some heads and it works great.  We will see how durable it turns out to be.  I will try some epoxy coats as well.

I got some google eyes and some faceted plastic gems from Wally World.  I dabbed a little black model paint on the gems to make a pupil.  The google eyes are cheaper, but may crush under the water pressure.  I will try a few and see how they hold up.  I can always paint eyes on as well.

I will post up some lure pictures when I get a chance. 

Fishshim, what was the best way you found to spin the jigs on the BBQ?  I am thinking just stringing a few across between some centers.  I will have to play around with it.  I have been hanging them and it makes a little lips on the end as the coating drips down.

Great rainy day projects.  Matt

I considered filling in the collar with JB weld, but like being able to tie up some bucktails.  The aluminum foil will work for now to make the mold dual purpose.
Fishshim, what was the best way you found to spin the jigs on the BBQ?  I am thinking just stringing a few across between some centers.  I will have to play around with it.  I have been hanging them and it makes a little lips on the end as the coating drips down.

Matt you could make a removable plug for your mold out of hi-temp silicone gasket silicone. Squirt the silicone in and let it dry. Then use a razor blade to trim what you need.

If you are getting huge drips there is too much paint. Hang the jig from the hook end and put a piece of rubber tubing over the hook eye so it doesn't fill with paint.Or buy an eye-buster tool to clean the dried finish out. For painting I just dip or spray and hang from a wire. There will be a drip on one end that you can wipe off as it drys.

The reasons I use the rotisserie is to get a heavy even coat of epoxy in one application.I used cheapo paint so it needed protection. If you use vinyl lure paint or powder coat you don't need to clear. My lures are hung on a jig I made for my rod dryer. The lures are kept parallel to the shaft, hung between wire hooks using whatever will work.(paper clips,rubber bands)

Well I started painting this first batch and think I will try the powdered paint next time for a little more professional look.  I used exterior enamel to dip the baits and then rattle canned the rest.  I used some old screen I had to spray the scales.  I want to play around a little with some different netting and see if I can come up with a better scale pattern.  These aren't as pretty as I would have liked, but I think they will work fine.  The next batch I will spend more time with and be a little more creative.  I am not sure yet if this jig style is designed to be fished head up or down for the best action.  Here is a flutter jig right from the mold:



I let the jigs dry for a few days and then epoxy coated them.  I thinned the epoxy slightly with alcohol to help it flow.  The colder temps here make the epoxy a little thick in the shop.  I also dipped some into the poly spar varnish as well.  I find the coatings have the same shine, and the spar varnish is much easier to work with.  Likely the epoxy is more durable, but I may stick with the poly for right now for ease of use. Here they are on the drying line:





I tried to paint a bleeding gill on the jigs, but found the red paint didn't really want to stick to the metallic paints, making it look a little sloppy.  I doubt I will use the red paint next time, as red really isn't visible below 12 feet anyways.  It is a learn as you go adventure.

I used cheap googly eyes on the lead heads.  They may crush at pressure, but they look good.  I used plastic gems for eyes on the lead fish.  I really like the look it gives the jigs.  When I order some of the powdered paints, I will order some different decal eyes to try out.





I have my spires mold setting right now.  I used some silicone to make a removable plug to cast the heads without the collar.  I placed a hook into the silicone, and will cut the hook out when cured.  I can then just insert the hook, place the plug into the mold and pour.  Should work well and less permanent than JB weld.  Thanks fishshim!  I found that with the collar filled in, I only loose about 3/4 of an ounce per head.

Thanks for the pictures and advise, it really gives me some great ideas.  Amazing how much there is to learn in different aspects of this hobby!  Now I need some pictures with a fish on the end of these jigs!  I really like this pattern, I think it will be a Lingzilla killer at Gimme Shelter III!



Matt

Nice job Matt, those look sweet!
Glad to hear you are going to GS III, I plan on taking my truck also, so maybe we could caravan over there.
Thanks for the gear loan offer, I should have have a workable Rod and Reel by then, as all my rigs are trout/steelhead set ups. I would be interested in buying a few of your lures and jigs (if you want to part with those beauties) when the time gets closer.
Stay in touch, Tad

RTV works great for Plastisol, great detail and last a very long time. I also use Durhams Water putty a lot for prototyping. No shrinkage and you can bake it in the oven to make it super hard. Before you bake it you can clean it up with anything metal, like a knife or get very detailed like a dental pick.

Great Job Matt
I'll be watching in May for the Pic's of those fish you and Banjotad catch
Geno

If you dont mind me asking how Much did the mold cost...

31 dollars + shipping from Barlows Tackle.  The wire inserts are 2.50 for 25.

I just finished painting evolution 2 of the jigs.  They turned out very nice.  I spent more time on them and learned some new trick for scales and blending colors.  I will let them dry and hopefully epoxie coat them tomorrow.  I got some denatured alcohol to thin the epoxie some.  I still plan on ordering some powder coating for my future lures, but I have all the paint on hand, and saving money is the idea behind this project.

I did some sardine/anchovie patterns and some mackeral patterns, along with good old blue and white.  I will post some pictures soon.

Matt

RTV works great for Plastisol, great detail and last a very long time. I also use Durhams Water putty a lot for prototyping. No shrinkage and you can bake it in the oven to make it super hard. Before you bake it you can clean it up with anything metal, like a knife or get very detailed like a dental pick.

Thanks for the tips Bill!

Z

31 dollars + shipping from Barlows Tackle.  The wire inserts are 2.50 for 25.

I just finished painting evolution 2 of the jigs.  They turned out very nice.  I spent more time on them and learned some new trick for scales and blending colors.  I will let them dry and hopefully epoxie coat them tomorrow.  I got some denatured alcohol to thin the epoxie some.  I still plan on ordering some powder coating for my future lures, but I have all the paint on hand, and saving money is the idea behind this project.

I did some sardine/anchovie patterns and some mackeral patterns, along with good old blue and white.  I will post some pictures soon.

Matt

Thanks man good luck with future batches.

Well here is Generation #2!  I think these turned out much better.  It is hard to photograph them with the epoxy coating, as they are so shiney.

I used a nice netting I found at Walmart for the scales.  I just put the netting in an embroidery ring to help hold it.  I like the straight lines on the lures better than the spikes.  I cut spikes into some cardboard to make spikes on the lures.  It looked great on the orange background, but not as nice on the others.  I will stick with just a straight edge next time.

I found some glitter paint which i like.  It adds a little more shine and flash, especially to the chrome colored lures.

All the lures are just rattle canned and then epoxy coated.  I will get some powder paints eventually, but I have a lot of rattle can paint left over from my decoy repaint this year to use up.

The silicon plug worked great to remove the collar.  I just cut a slit in the plug, so I can insert the hook right into the slot.  The plug removed easily to make the mold multipurpose.







Here are some of my recent plastics.  Much smoother finish now.  I need to pour up some white plastics soon.  I still need to trim the flashing, but these give you an idea:



I tied up around 20 jig assist hooks yesterday using the link on a past post.  I used some 50 lb dacron line I got at Walley World.  I used heat shrink tubing over the hook eye.  I had trouble with the dacron wanting to melt while heating the shrink tubing.  I found that simply dipping it into boiling water worked great.  Much below the melting point of the line, but shrunk up the tubing nicely.

Thanks for all the ideas and help!  Suggestions or tips are always welcome.  Thanks, Matt