redear
Active member
thanks redman, I'm getting the picture in my mind. yeah redboy, tying your own jigs is one thing, and making the mold for the head, I wouldn't have ever thought this stuff up on my own.
mold questions for redman
- Thread starter redear
- Start date
Fatman
Active member
Ah grasshopper you must learn to walk before taking on this type of task LOL
redear
Active member
ah yes fatman, I'm takin baby steps. been tying for a long long time, and am excited about adding to the hobby. I'm sure there will be mistakes made, thats why I bought 48 inches of aluminum. lol Used to make custom made longbows for hunting until a nerve disease caused me to lose alot of strength in the arms and especially the legs, thats why I have this equipment in the shop. this will give me a new thing to mess with. It was raining yesterday so couldn't do any cutting or welding, like to do that outside so as not to burn the shop down.
Fatman
Active member
Redear - wish I had the skills and all the tools to even try. I would love to make my own molds - can't wait to see your first one's!!!! I will definately keep watching your progress!!!!!!!!!.
redear
Active member
welded up the frame this evening, I think it's gonna work. stayed out in the shop for awhile smoothing out the rough edges and using a wire brush on my drill to try and pretty it up a little. double checked it, and everything looks square and true. don't have a machinists vice to hold the mold in place on the form, but I think I can figure something out.
redear
Active member
the frame is finished I think and am now working on a blank, a flat sided 1/32, think I will do another one tho because this one didn't turn out quite right for what I wanted, but will save it. the belt sander makes quik work of even hard steel and it is so easy to take off too much material. need to get stronger reading glasses and better lighting while sanding the blank. a cylindrical blank would be easy compared to a flat one because it would be a different shaping process using the lathe or drill press and sandpaper. need to cut the aluminum blocks now too and place my 1/4" pins. with seven day work weeks and fishing starting to turn on good this is coming slow, but it gives me plenty of time between steps to think about what I'm doing. caught plenty of crappie the other day on my little hair jig with crappie nibble, and it's gonna be sweet when I can tie that jig on a balanced head that will enable the use of a loop knot and still hang horizontal.
redear
Active member
I'm calling the press frame, the redman special.
ScottV
New member
Wow, y'all are so far ahead of me it's rediculous. I really enjoyed reading all of this but as long as Do-It makes molds, I'll go the easy route. Lol. I've thought about trying to make a mold out of plaster of paris.
redear
Active member
scott, I use my do it molds all the time and think they are great, but they don't offer just what we want sometimes. have been wanting to get a custom mold cut for several different ideas I had, and have been putting it off for so long because of the cost and you don't know if it's gonna turn out just like you had in mind. so this is just a way of having total control over the shape and balance of the head, and if you get it wrong the first try you haven't lost but a couple little chunks of aluminum. I believe a person could get away with alot less equipment than what I have to do this. If you had a welding shop weld you up a basic iron frame, then you could probably get away with just having a drill or drill press, even a little bench top model, to spin your blank while you shape it. bottle jacks are cheap too. redman even said he just used a couple peices of channel iron with 3/8" threaded rod and nuts and lock washers to make his frame. I just went overboard with the 3" square tubing 3/8" wall thickness and welded upright supports, because it's just my nature to go overboard. lol the iron and aluminum will cost you some. I have 38 bucks in the iron with some left over and 40 some bucks in the aluminum which is 48" worth. 4 inches per mold and I have at least eleven molds out of the 48".
redear
Active member
been still making blanks and nothing more yet, made a couple that didn't look right to me, and then last night after work I hit on a decent one, having cut a slice off of a 5mm allen wrench with a high speed saw ( old arrow cut off saw ) and grinding two flat sides down a little, this makes it flat sided and six sided when looking at it from the side, could sand the points down a little but it looks good, and man is that steel hard. learning what works and what doesn't. am wanting to make a balanced head that hangs level on a loop knot by moving the hook eyelet back a little, and tying them like the becky's jigs made popular in louisiana, really like that style as they really look buggy in the water. after that mold is made in 1/32 will probably do one in 1/24 or 1/16 too.
redman
New member
Redear I use no bigger piece of aluminium than a 2 inch x 2 inch piece. It sounds like you are on the right track. The best Aluminium that I ever came up with to make a mold was some that was sold for solar panels when people were making them them selves. These were the thermo solar heater type. the aluminium was 1 &1/2 inches wide and 3/8 inch thick it came in 4 foot lengths and was about $20. That was really good to make small molds with. Made a bunch and gave them away to special friends that I fished and tied with. You guessed it I have only 2 small pieces left to work with. Sure wish I could find some more!!! That and more time to do some of the things that I really want to. Between Gardening, Fishing, and Housework. That cuts into fun time.
Redman
Redman
redear
Active member
redman, was that aluminum you spoke of pretty soft? when I bought mine online there were several types available and there was one that was softer and cheaper than the others. I'll have to go back and reread this stuff, the one I got was 6061t and it was 3/4" x 1 1/2" and bought two peices 24 inches long each. If the softer stuff is better then maybe get that next time. have to straighten out a trolling moter shaft tommorrow as we bent it severly last week. going full steam ahead and dead stopped on a stump. lol will probably cut a few peices of alum. too and drill for pins. that blank I made the other night still looks good to me, just might press this one. guys I apologize for not having pics of this stuff, maybe after I get going I'll learn how to do it. don't know why I'm so challenged with that stuff.
redear
Active member
cut two peices of aluminum on the chop saw, 2" long each, cleaned up the rough edges on the belt sander and drilled a locator pin hole thru one and into the other. found out my 1/4" drill bit made a hole a little too loose for a 1/4" peice of brass rod. so I took a 5/16" brass rod and turned a 2 1/2" long peice down on the lathe, then tapered both ends, this took a while to get right. constantly checking for fit into the holes. after I was satisfied with the fit, the pin was cut in half to make two pins tapered towards one end. ended up using a file and sandpaper alot for this tapering deal. have one pin fit perfect and the other a little too tight, so will work on sanding that pin down a little more. I have been reading up on aluminum types and hardnesses and I may have bought too hard of alum. have my fingers crossed. bought the 6061 type which is probably good but didn't realize that each alloy type of alum. can be one of several tempers which affects the hardness greatly. the one I bought was a 6061 with a t6511 temper which is the hardest variety og this alloy. a 6061 alloy in a F or t0 temper would be much softer. If the stuff I have works, it will be more durable though. working night shift this week, so plan on messing with it every morning when I get home for a while. should try to press one in a couple days.
Fatman
Active member
Can't wait to see some pictures!!!!!!!
Lost Pole
New member
Fatman said:
X2
redear
Active member
someone pm me an email address and maybe I can get the wife to help me email you some pics and then you can post them for me. I am very inept when it comes to the computer especially pics. tried it with the cdc site and after a couple hours I was able to post one very fuzzy pic and couldn't even remember how I did that. I envy you guys that know your way around this stuff. there really isn't much to show yet anyway, except an iron frame for the jack and mold, and two little blocks of aluminum with brass pins sticking out of them. I'll try to read up on the pic process tho and maybe in the future it will happen. I have the two brass pins installed now and am not real satisfied with the fit, as when the alum. blocks are together I can still wiggle the blocks a little, being as the end of the pins are tapered slightly. not sure I want to press a blank with those pins in there.
CrappieHappy
Moderator
pm sent
Fatman
Active member
PM sent
redman
New member
redear Don't press the blank if there is movement in the blocks. Drive out the pins and remake them. You don't need a lot of taper on those pins. It will cause a bunch of problems that you don't need. If you have to redrill the holes in a different place in the blocks and see that there is very little movement ideally no movement. I know that you want to do it right and I am trying to help you do it long distant.Sorry that I don't live closer and then we could do it right in your shop and you would be on you way to a new career.
Redman
Redman
redear
Active member
thanks guys for sending your email adresses, I'm steadily working on this project and should have something to show soon. redman, thanks so much for the guidance, I drove the pins thru the block a little further and it tightened things right up with the play I had. all things considered things are going good being the first go round with this. Iv'e been trueing up the ends of the mold blocks on the sander, and yesterday I took an old iron stand I had left over from a sander I built years ago and welded a couple brackets on it to hold my press frame still and steady so it won't be wobbling around while I'm operating the jack etc. only thing left to do I think is to rig a couple wood blocks and wedges for each side of the mold blocks to prevent any movement when pressing. I know it seems that it's taking alot of time to get this thing going but I'm not gonna be satisfied if it's not right, just my nature, and alot of this stuff needs to be thought thru. I can already see one thing I should have done different, I put the pins in the center of the blocks toward the end, and that would interfere with drilling holes for the handles. so those holes will have to be drilled on either side or move the pins. kip