My melting pot and 1 oz. mold came yesterday - and I made my first jig heads!  Cool.  I have the wrong size hooks right now, but the 90 degree 4/0 Gamagatsu's have been ordered. 

One question:  my experience suggests that I do a pour or two without hooks to heat up the mold before I start make a run with hooks - is that right?  The lead cooled before it filled the cavity the first time through, but the there was no problem after the mold heated up - is that typical?  Or do you preheat your mold some other way?

Can't wait to make the first cast...

Ask your dentist. I am starting to pour my own and I just got a couple of pounds of CLEAN Lead from my dentist. It is stockpiles of the lead foil from x-ray film.

Dave Altier over at Coulee Playland has been pouring his own for years. You can buy them in the store there.

Give him a hollar at the store.  He'll hook you up.

btw - Dave is a former WBC president, and lifelong member.

If there's any to be found - old printers lead type is not bad either!!

Be wary of the tire weights, as they are not a real clean source of lead, but they do work. Seemes that the best lead that we have found is the sheet lead that some of the framers use in the hospital rooms around the XRAY machines. It is good stuff, as there are not a lot of contaminates in it. Just be sure that you have a spoon handy to skim of the junk that floats to the top of the pot, as thathere will be a lot when using tire weights. Anyone with kids, be sure to keep them away from the lead, as it will affect them the most. Our club has been having a "Lure Making Party" every year since I can remember, and we will meet at someones house, share the molds (plastic and lead), and have a potluck. It is a great club function.

I have a ventilation system that I use for my plastics that will serve me well with the lead too.

Personally, I'm not so much into saving money, as just the extra enjoyment of catching fish on something you made yourself.

Bassaholic  - As to the leadcore - thanks, I'll gladly take it!

I have a bunch of lead core that was given to me by a salmon fisherman. You can have it if you want.

You can make a shaky-head jig for about 30-35 cents a piece.  I am just using this as an example because of the shaky head craze and the price of a bag of these jigheads.  The mold is made by Do-It and costs about  37 bucks.  A 100 pack of Gamakatsu hooks for these are about 28 bucks.  So if you don't count the price of the mold, you can make them quite a bit cheaper.  These are also one of the more expensive hook models too, so other jigs will be even cheaper.

Chuck,  as suggested, Tire Stores are a great place for picking up lead.  A friend of mine pours his own and that is where he gets 99% of his lead.  Also, do wear a mask because the lead fumes can be very very harmful.

My lead cents worth,

Chuck P

I'd be interested to see how much money you save per jighead.  i love making my own worms, and each time you loose a gami jighead its pretty much $1. 

troy

WCCT - Did you buy your molds, or make your own?  (Do-it, or Hilt?)  Satisfied with them?

Chuck, I pour my own weights.  I pour dropshot weights, ball head jig heads, and spinnerbait heads when I am not too lazy to paint them up.   I get my lead from various sources, such as Les Schwab, but have found it to be less of a hassle to get it from Bass Pro, or better yet, Ebay.  There is always a guy on there selling lead, and from what I have purchased, it is very clean.  If you pour plastics, then you will not have any problems pouring lead.  It is way easier.  I would suggest that you wear a ventilation mask when you pour if you don't already.  Good luck!

Owner makes some great jig hooks just for this purpose Chuck.

Smitty

I've been pouring my own plastics for some time now, but now I want to pour my own lead weights and jigs.  I've just purchased a Lee Production Pot and my first mold (for pouring 1 oz football head jigs - a Ron Hobbs special).  Does anyone else in the club pour their own lead?  I wouldn't mind picking your brains about the best way to do this.  Also some suggestions and sources for getting lead.