Pouring cannon balls this last weekend brought me to one conclusion, I suck at it!!!! Bullet and diamond jigs are not a problem, but get me near one of those cannon ball molds and some of the most malformed ugly weights are produced. The only way I'll catch halibut with one is if the fish laughs so hard it dies and it gets snagged in the mouth. I'm lucky to get one decent weight out of ten pours. Most of the weights have voids near the top, but it's not for lack of overpour when the mold is full. Tried different pour rates, lead temps, and alloys (pure lead to linotype). The molds are Lilmac 20, 24, 32, and 48 ozs.
Please help,
James
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Its my boat, put the darn lifejacket on or get off!!!
Hey Burner, you might have to get the mold pretty hot for it to work right.
Usually I pour several 'blanks' and let each sit in the mold for a few minutes each to get it good and hot. The first few are usually 1/2's. Once I get a whole lead .. then I load a ring in the mold and go for it.
If you use several molds at once you will be able to keep each hot by alternating molds.
Other tips ..
Make sure the lead pot is up to temperature.
Skim the dross off before pouring.
Use a large enough ladle to pour the whole mold in one swat.
Leave the ladle floating in the pot to keep it hot.
Good luck.
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"Never mistake motion for action"
— Ernest Hemingway
"thud!"
I agree with *almost* everything Pilar said ... with the exception
of having " large enough ladle to pour the whole mold in one swat."
Depending on the size of your cannon ball mold, a laddle that large
might be kind of hard to handle!
I know that *I* would have a little problem handling a laddle
big enough to pour my 45 *pound* cannon balls!!
-assAssin-
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Me?? I don't have any answers ... I just wanna fish!!
I used to think the same way that the rest of the guys do and I would get my mold hot. I don’t do that anymore. I try to keep my mold as cool as possible. In fact my problem is that the mold gets too hot and I have to wait for it to cool down or the led won’t set up fast enough. After many years and hundreds and hundreds of pounds of lead I learned to get the lead REAL hot. Sometimes I will have the same problem you have but only on the first weight I try to pour. Then after that it’s gravy. If after the first one you pour if it plugs up before it finishes turn the heat up or wait for it to get hotter. Hope that helps. Another thing I found helpful if you use tire weights like I do is to go down and get a big cast iron skillet. Pour a large amount of led into it and melt a bunch at the same time. That way your not constantly melting and cleaning out metal clips.
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Pete Hansen NORTH RIVER MOLLY JANE
I use a Coleman camp stove and a large cast iron pot. Takes a couple of hours to get everything hot enough, but I can usually melt between 40-50 lbs at a time. If i'm not pouring molds, I scrape the slag off, then use a cupcake mold (small) to pour the clean lead into. That way, in the future, it doesn't take nearly as long to heat or pour a new bunch of weights. I normally remelt the first 2 or 3 weights to allow the molds to get warm enough, then it's weight city after that. Just my .02
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Some people spend their entire lifetime wondering if they have made a difference, the Marines dont have that problem."
- President Ronald Reagan, 1985
Burner
Lead pouring techniques........got any?
Bullet and diamond jigs are not a problem, but get me near one of those cannon ball molds and some of the most malformed ugly weights are produced. The only way I'll catch halibut with one is if the fish laughs so hard it dies and it gets snagged in the mouth. I'm lucky to get one decent weight out of ten pours. Most of the weights have voids near the top, but it's not for lack of overpour when the mold is full. Tried different pour rates, lead temps, and alloys (pure lead to linotype). The molds are Lilmac 20, 24, 32, and 48 ozs.
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