redear
Active member
I'll do that heath, the wife wanted me to make a grocery run at walmart tonite after work, so I didn't do anything with the mold tonite.
mold questions for redman
- Thread starter redear
- Start date
Fatman
Active member
Looking at your pic, of the pinkie I might have just left it alone, great looking head. course that stock is expensive and if sanding it down saves that leaves you more for different ideas. I showed a guy at work this thread and he wants me to bring my mold in to show him.
Picking up grub is important!!! and you need a break from the shop every so often - keeps the ideas flowing.
Picking up grub is important!!! and you need a break from the shop every so often - keeps the ideas flowing.
redear
Active member
fatman, the pic of the jig looked good because I hand bent the hooks shank to match the head, it only took a little bend but I had to do that with every poured jig to look right. I worked on the mold today for a couple hours and have the faces shaved down, but it's taking alot of sanding to get the faces paralell, it'll work out tho, but it would have been easier probably to just make a new one, but like you said I'll save that stock of alum. my problem is it takes a near perfect mold to satisfy me, especially with the hook alignment because you can spot a crooked jighead right off. does that guy at your work do any fishing? maybe you can get him interested in making some molds if he's got a drill press, and maybe a welder, for the frame.
Fatman
Active member
No he does a little fishing but he's more a gun guy. He instructs and does reloading. We're going in on a buy of bulk lead some lady had on craigslist, about 200 lbs. Just waiting for her to call and he'll be picking it up and he'll drop it off to me at work.
redear
Active member
ok, worked on the pinkie mold today and repressed the head blank about three times, refacing the mold surfaces in between, same goes for the hook slot,, and also re established the sprue hole. It still needed a refacing but I couldn't stand it and poured a test head. the hook is straight this time. didn't expect to get that far today but it just flowed. oh yeah, I reshaved the hook bend areas and also the hook eyelet areas. the short pins need to be made now, sprue hoke smoothed out in the transition area at the bottom of the cone, I do that with a pocket knife, and a few strokes across the sandpaper to knock the burrs down. I tied up that test head, but painted it with powder paint for a quikie, I really like the looks of the vinyl more, I can control the look more.
Fatman
Active member
I know some like the vinyl paint but for me it's just not worth the migrains I get. Even with plenty of ventilation and a mask it still gets me.
redear
Active member
I worked on the pinkie mold this morning after getting home from work, and made the short alignment pins. after adjusting them a little as far as how far they stick out from the mold face, the fit was pretty good. so just a little minor tweaking and it will be good to go.
Fatman
Active member
Amazing how far you get when things are going good, but I wouldn't count on it all the time!!!!!!!LOL Glad to hear that you're not going to have to bend any hooks. Thats gonna be a good mold when you get it finished up!!!
redear
Active member
yeah doug, this mold ain't quite as purty as some of the others, with an extra set of unused pin holes, and machine marks in some places on the mold faces, but it will be one of the favorites.
redear
Active member
haven't worked on the mold for a couple days because the night shifts have had me feeling tired. but it won't take but a little work to get it in top pouring order. the pins fit perfectly into the opposing holes with no slop, and they are still easy to separate. I prefer making the pins so that the protruding ends are rounded and aren't sticking out very much, maybe 3/16" or a hair more, and I countersink the opposing hole a little, after that all that remains to be done is adjust the pins as to how much is sticking out. If the mold has slop or play in it when it's closed then one or both pins need to be adjusted out a little more, determining which pin needs adjusting is the trick. I tried using longer protruding pins and they are hard to get apart because they tend to wedge and get stuck, which makes it a pain when pouring. the long pins I use to press the jighead blank with will do this, and require me to use a stiff putty knife to separate the mold halves after pressing.
Fatman
Active member
So once the pinkie is done, are you gonna get some pouring done or start another project??
CrappieHappy
Moderator
here are some updated pics from kip of the pinkie mold... Nice work Kip..
redear
Active member
ok, I worked on the pinkie mold after getting home this morning, it didn't take but 20 minutes to finish it up. got the propane torch out and poured a few heads and they were real good. the sprue hole isn't dead center of the top of the head but that doesn't make any difference, a couple strokes of a file after snipping the sprue and they are perfect. I took a couple pics when pouring the heads. doug, I want to pour some heads for sure, also need to go fishing sometime soon because the weather is starting to cool off just a little, and those shellcrackers are calling me. haven't decided yet just how fast I'll start another mold, haven't really thought about it yet. I have enough softer aluminum for three more molds and it's cut lengthwise and sanded smooth on the edges, still needs to be cut in peices.
redear
Active member
thanks for the pics heath!!
CrappieHappy
Moderator
redear said:
your welcome Kip....
Fatman
Active member
Very NICE!!!!!!!! Looks like it pours really well. Hope you get out to fish them soon!!
redear
Active member
yeah it does pour really well, haven't poured with the lee pot yet but I'm not getting any flash with the ladle, don't know if that'll change with the pot being as it has more downward pressure while pouring, we will see. the head has a horizontal hang to it so it's balanced that way. those old timer buddies of mine are gonna be happy about that feature. those black nickel vmc size 4 hooks I really like them, only thing I see with the hooks is one time you order them you get a premium honed point, and the next time you order you get the old style point, still a good sharp point, but I don't like those kinds of surprises. I also have some size 6 gold with the premium points, and just got 750 new ones with the old style point. anyone else noticed this?
redear
Active member
don't know if ya'll have noticed the little T I stamp on top of the mold, it stands for top, this helps each time you take the pins out and put them back in which is alot, when you are making the mold, you also need to mark the holes and the pins with a sharpie so you get the same pin in the same hole each time, after the mold is done you just wipe all the sharpie marks off with acetone.
CrappieHappy
Moderator
yes, I noticed the T, and the C.H. on mine.... thanks again Kip....
redear
Active member
your welcome CH you deserve it! got home from work this morning and messed with the large chunk of lead I was given, and after sawing, chiseling, burning with a torch etc. I came to the conclusion that I needed a cast iron pot and a burner to deal with it, so I fired up the propane torch and poured 35 perfect heads with a little ladle, the only one that didn't fill completly is because the ladle was getting full of slag. this was with the newest pinkie head mold. had painted up the eight heads from the other day with pink vinyl and cleaned up the sprues on the 35 heads from today, so will start painting them tomorrow, this will give enough jigs to fish with for a while and try them out. Is there any treatment for this illness? lol