Been wreck fishing for years, for sea bass, flounder, tog etc. Normally have to use between 3 and 8 oz lead sinker, depending on current, depth, conditions. Tend to get hung up a lot and lose a lot of lures and sinkers.

So, I decided to get a small lead melting pot and a few molds to pour my own. Friend of mine works at Benelli, and hooked me up with 6- 5 gallon buckets of spent lead shot from their indoor gun testing range. Probably a life time of sinkers! Might also look into decoy weights, maybe jig heads.

Anyone pour their own lead weights? I’m looking for tips, pictures, recommendations to help me get rolling. I melted some the other day and made a few batches of sinkers, seemed fairly simple. I was in my shop with the doors and windows open, had a breeze going. You guys use a respirator? Thanks for any advice.

John

No respirator. Get your mold hot and keep it hot. dont get any molten lead on you. Do not for any reason let even a pin drop of water hit the molten lead.

Thanks Danny, had a feeling you’d respond! I appreciate it.

smelt outside stand up wind

cast iron or stainless steel pot only

saw dust and candle wax to flux , you need a big slotted spoon and a lead ladle

water hitting the lead isn't so much an issue as trapped water under the lead start by filling the pot with cold shot then head you boil off any water before the first lead starts to melt.

but yes a water in hot oil effect instant steam that sends lead flying

long sleeves , smelt over a sheet of plywood , safety glasses and gloves

once you have ingots a smaller electric furnace I run a LEE 4-20 pro this is a 20 pound pot bottom pour I cast bullets mainly

pure lead melts at 621 degrees , you need it hotter than that to be workable but you want to cast generally 700-800 vapor is minimal in this temp range higher makes more lead oxide vapor

I got my start casting for a muzzle loader on a borrowed mold , with a ladle and ss pan from good will on a camp stove so you don't need a lot but it helps with volume

not long after i bought a bigger pan , my own mold , then the 4-20 furnace

Just have a small fan moving the air away

Danny and GCP told you about everything you need to know to be safe. A respirator sure ain't gunna hurt much. Lead is nasty.

Just like that and you'll be OK. I use a fan with the shop doors open. No I don't use a respirator. But I do wear safety glasses.

Take care to wash your hands often. It's the oxide on the lead that causes trouble.. Skim that mess off down to the clean shiny melted lead, then dispose of it in an old metal coffee can or something. An old table spoon with some 1/16" holes drilled in works well for me as a skimmer.

I don't even bother with the holes. I just pour the lead out of the slag by holding the spoon next to the edge.

same here.

Its real simple. Skim the junk off the top, keep your mold hot, and your ventilation you used is fine. Wash your hands real good before touching anything that’ll go in your mouth. I work for the DOT on the maintenance side so I find wheel weights all the time and melt em down into sinkers. Saves a ton of money!

I use my coleman stove to keep the mold heated,skim off the top junk with spoon. When pouring, don't hesitate in the pour until it tops the hole or you may find hollow spots.

Old school for me. Melt the lead in a small cast iron skillet on a camp stove and pour out of the skillet. I use an old spoon to skim off impurities since I use wheel weights. I only pour 6-8oz. egg sinkers for my (and friend's) ditty poles.

Thanks guys. Is fluxing with candle wax necessary? What does this do? Wealth of information on here I appreciate it.

I soot my molds with a candle- I never use wax

I pour all my own sinkers (including splitshots) jig heads,,Duck Decoy Weights,,down rigger weights,,sling shot ammo,pretty much everything.I don't use flux for any of it.

lead oxidizes very fast , fluxing with wax provides an oxygen deprived environment the fire is depleting the oxygen

the saw dust does some of the same but gives a vehicle for the non lead impurities to be carried out

in lead weights fill out and stuff is a lot less critical , a wrinkled fishing weight isn't a big deal

my pouring in volume and detail is more than is needed for a fishing weight, but if your looking for well filled out jig heads it is closer to that.
I run hundreds of bullets in a sitting and may reload my pot a few times , often wish I had 2 pots one to warm up while I am pouring from the other to keep my cadence going I run mostly 6 cavity molds

How much wax and how often? I’ll try both ways to see the difference. Don’t think I’ll need it for these sinkers , but maybe for jig heads

I poured lead for a living for a few years back in the 70's. I made battery cable ends (the part that goes over the posts on auto batteries). We worked out of 30 gallon pots that were right beside us. Used a short (16") ladle to fill the molds.

We'd set the pigs on the edge of the pots until they were getting soft before tipping them in to try and evaporate any moisture. We'd tipped them in with the ends of our ladles and our arms extended and get away from the pot as soon as the pig slid in. Most of the time it was fine but occasionally there'd be a burp and splatter of molten lead. Once and a great while the water trapped inside a pig of lead would explode with enough force to crack the melting pot, what a mess and a real PITA to clean up after it hardened.

We'd "smoke" the inside of the molds occasionally with an acetylene torch and "powder" them more frequently with baby powder balled up in a rag we patted the inside of the mold with.This kept the castings smooth and shiny.

If Rally ever cues in on this thread he will have some insight.

I've mainly only ever cast bullets. I shave off a sliver of stick bullet lube and use it for flux. Try it once, you won't believe how it brings all the impurities to the top and out of the lead. Like you said, wrinkled fishing weights will still sink fine, but it isn't any headache to drop a sliver of lube in the lead and light the smoke that comes up.