Do-it-yourself fishing weights - manufacturing options. Lead sinker - how to make a casting of the desired shape from improvised means? How to make a form for weights for nets

Today I will tell you how to make do-it-yourself fishing weights from lead, and not spend money. Any jig spinner should ideally have a gentleman's set in order to feel confident on any body of water, even in the most unexpected fishing conditions. Such a set of loads implies the presence of a large number of sinkers, ranging from 1.5 g to 35 g, and sometimes more, with an interval of 2-4 g. 5 g, 4 g, 6 g, 9 g, 12 g, 15 g, 18 g, 20 g, 22 g, 25 g, 28 g, 32 g, 35 g.

Of course, it is quite burdensome to carry such a large amount of shot and buckshot all day long, especially since the load of each weight must be duplicated for cases of hooks. But on the other hand, this, in a sense, store assortment allows us to choose a bait for absolutely any fishing conditions.

Unfortunately, the fishing industry is far behind the potential needs of the market, and you will not find such a choice, especially eared ones, anywhere. The way out of this situation is quite simple - you need to cast and make weights for fishing yourself. Thus, two birds with one stone are killed at once - on the one hand, you save time by not running around the shops in search of the right weight, and on the other, you are no longer afraid to lose them on the cliffs.

How to make a weight from lead

How to make do-it-yourself fishing weights from lead, because according to statistics for 100 anglers, only 1 is a jack of all trades or a high-level locksmith who is able to make casting molds on his own. Do not forget that in our country the hardest currency, oddly enough, is liquid, and if you are able to explain at least on your fingers to a locksmith, who is easy to meet at the checkpoint of any factory, what you need and what he needs, then this problem is completely solved in just a few days. The only thing to get forms for each weight is to tell the locksmith the exact diameters of the future ears. For convenience, we provide below a table of correspondence between diameters and weights in the form of a ball. This table is compiled specifically for lead, taking into account its density, so if you want to use for casting, for example, a Wood or Rose alloy with a lower density, obtained in the same form, it will be similar in diameter, but less in weight. And if you put tungsten fragments of electrodes into the mold before casting, you can get a very heavy and compact one.

How to make weight casting molds

Do-it-yourself molds for casting sinkers are also quite simple to make from gypsum or silicone sealant. A very original and at the same time simple solution is to make a mold for casting from Hermesil silicone sealant or any similar. The criterion for selecting a sealant is the ability to withstand high temperatures without changing the properties of the material. Most household sealants have an upper temperature limit of about 150-180°C. This forces the use of sinkers for casting not lead (melting point about 350 ° C), but special alloys with a lower melting point. First of all, we are talking about Wood's, Rose's and printing alloys (melting point from 60 to 110°C). When using these alloys, the silicone mold will serve for a very long time without compromising the quality of the castings.

In the case of lead, a mold made from household sealant can withstand up to 10 castings, and the quality of each subsequent load becomes worse due to the gradual burning out of the sealant over the entire area of contact between the molten lead and the mold. Currently, silicone sealant is easy to buy in auto stores or stores selling building materials. Such a silicone mold, despite its amazing elasticity and seeming unreliability, easily withstands high temperatures and a large number of castings. In addition, silicone sealant gives the angler an amazing opportunity to almost perfectly repeat any, even the most complex, shape of a sinker or spinning bait.

Form for weights

The shape of the weights is made very simply. A small box is taken, which is then filled to the brim with silicone sealant. During filling, make sure that there are no bubbles in the sealant. Next, the weight or bait that you are going to repeat is lubricated with a solution of wax or paraffin in gasoline, dried and lowered on a wire into a box with sealant so that it is completely immersed in the sealant, but does not touch the walls of the box. In such a suspended state, a sample of the future fishing weight or bait should be until the sealant has completely hardened. The process of polymerization of silicone sealant throughout the entire volume of the mold is not even, and the complete curing of the silicone mold can take five to six days. Therefore, do not remove the sample from the mold until complete polymerization has occurred.

This moment is easy to control by periodically carefully feeling the shape. The fully cured sealant should have the consistency of a well-inflated soccer ball. Next, a small sprue hole is carefully cut from above, through which a sample is removed due to the elasticity of the sealant. After that, the silicone mold is separated from the box and becomes completely ready for multiple castings. The lead is poured into such a mold and the finished do-it-yourself weight or bait is removed through the same sprue hole. At the moment of removing the finished sample, the mold stretches each time and, as it were, “spits out” it, after which it instantly takes on its original form and is again ready for new and new castings. The advantages of a silicone sealant mold are obvious: it is very cheap, extremely simple, and at the same time quite reliable. In addition to molds for eared balls, we highly recommend that you make several molds for casting such as lentils. Outwardly, it somewhat resembles a plum stone flattened from the sides. Lentils are lighter than a ball-shaped eared, but due to their shape it slips through the closed mouth of the fish much easier, significantly improving hooking. The use of lentils is most relevant when catching pike perch with its bulldog grip. Here are some simple tips on how to make fishing weights with your own hands and at no financial cost to you.

In today's post, I would like to talk about such an interesting and popular topic among anglers as independent production of fishing sinkers at home. Judge for yourself, hooks, spinners, wobblers, fishing lines and other important elements of tackle are either impossible make at home, or these are very complex, time-consuming operations (which is easier to buy). But make your own weights no way easier and more profitable!

So the main material for homemade sinkers - lead. Sometimes lead alloys are used with the addition of tin, cupronickel, etc. But in general, lead is the basis. Lead combines several important qualities that provide him with leadership and complete hegemony in the segment of fishing sinkers:

- High specific gravity. Those. with the same volume, a sinker made of lead is much heavier than one made of steel, tin, aluminum and other popular inexpensive metals .;

- Quite a low melting point - 327.4 ° C. Which is completely provided by the fire of a fire, gas burner or stove;

- Normal workability. And although lead is mostly poured, it is also not difficult to make some mechanical processing (flatten, cut, saw through, polish). Lead is plastic and soft.

Where to get lead? Melt down old sinkers; use old battery plates, the protective sheath of some wires, look for other options - there are a lot of them.

To pour weights on your own- you need a form. I never really bothered with mass production sinkers. So, I made forms from improvised materials.

— Homemade deaf bottom sinkers or weights for gum donkeys are ideally cast in an ordinary tablespoon. Then, drill a hole in the top of the load and mount it on the tackle.

— Homemade sliding sinkers for donks and trucks. Personally, I cast in molds made of cardboard (matchboxes) and in a hollowed-out wooden mold. Of course, neater weights are best made in plaster molds, but ... I gouge a recess in the shape of the weight with round chisels. I cut grooves for the axle. I put a nail or a piece of wire into the recess. I melt the lead in a spoon or other container (an aluminum ladle with a handle, a tin can, etc.) and pour it into a “heaped” recess. When the load hardens, I take out the nail with the help of pliers. It turns out excellent homemade sinker for donkey.

Can be done in a hurry make an eared eccentric weight for spinning fishing. Just twist the ears from the wire and clamp an ordinary seal on them, of the desired weight.

If you are going to be casting sinkers thoroughly and in large quantities, you can get steel or plaster molds for casting sinkers. So, you can make plaster molds yourself. For the sample, use industrial weights.

For production at home sinkers eared use handicraft factory molds made of steel.

A little on the safety of self-manufacturing lead sinkers. Lead fumes are harmful. So, if you are casting a serious batch of sinkers, do it on the street or in a room with a good hood. But if you cast just a few weights and not often, then you can do this at a conventional gas oven at home. Just be careful not to spill red-hot lead on yourself and the decoration of the apartment, furniture ... Go for it!

Do-it-yourself fishing sinkers are poured from any lead that is at hand. The easiest way to get lead is to go to a tire shop and buy used balance weights.

Such lead will cost much less than if you buy sheet lead. You can buy the right amount of kilograms and get a large number of weights from them for various purposes. The only point to consider is the steel elements molded into the middle of some of the weights.

The second way to get lead is from old batteries. It is better to find points where they accept old batteries and buy them for a reasonable price. This is a more complicated method, as you will have to disassemble the batteries to remove the lead from them.

The third way to get lead out of cable sheath. It is made of sheet lead with a thickness of 1, 1.5 and 2 mm. If there are electricians among your acquaintances, then ask if they can get this braid. From such lead, you can not only pour weights, but also cut strips for feeder feeders.

The most expensive way is to buy lead. It is sold in sheets and ingots. Better, of course, sheet, but its dimensions are very large. In such cases, anglers unite and buy one sheet in a pool.

You can also make sinkers with your own hands from old weights, which almost every angler probably has.

One thing is for sure: absolutely any lead is suitable for casting do-it-yourself sinkers. It doesn't matter if it contains impurities, or how dense or soft it is. Our task is weights for bottom fishing.

Plaster mold for casting

This form is suitable for repeated casting at home, when there is no need to rush anywhere and you can thoughtfully and thoroughly work on the sinker.

First you need a weight model. It is easily cut from a piece of wood or molded from plasticine. To make a mold, you need two identical boxes made of thick cardboard, commensurate with the future sinker;

they are also easy to make. One needs to be filled with plaster and immersed in it up to half the model. Until the gypsum has hardened, with the help of a nail, a small groove-groove is pressed into it to the impression, expanding outwards with a funnel.

After the gypsum has hardened, the second box should be filled with gypsum, and in the first half of the mold, having previously covered it with soapy water so that the halves do not stick to each other, put the sinker model.

Now you need to tightly connect the two halves, pressing them together. When the plaster hardens in the second half, it remains to separate them, remove the model - your reusable plaster mold is ready.

The sinker casting process is simple: press both halves of the mold tightly against each other with a clamp, melt the lead, carefully pour it into the mold in a thin stream and wait until the molten metal solidifies.

Pour flat sinkers for donoks

Consider first how to make fishing weights for gum. This procedure will be performed on the street. We will need a fire or a gas burner with a canister. In the first case, more time is needed to smelt lead, but no fixtures and extra costs are needed.

Smelting lead with a gas burner takes a matter of minutes, but requires a canister of gas.

We also need a tablespoon, a lead tin and a little patience. We will pour the cargo into the ground. We find a wet piece of land and push a recess with a spoon to make such a boat.

After it becomes liquid, pour it into the resulting recess. We wait until it cools down a bit, after which we take out the stick. The result is a load weighing about 300-350 grams. It will lie well on the bottom, and it is easy to cast it over long distances. We inserted the stick to get a hole in the sinker.

You can pour several pieces at once if you can get a source of fire from a high temperature.

Many anglers are wondering: “How to make fishing weights for a light weight elastic band so that they hold well on the bottom and do not drift away with the current. To make such weights is quite simple. It is necessary to take 3-4 pieces of wire 10 cm long and bend them into staples.

Then place in the recess. After pouring, you will get such a spider. After casting, the weight will lie in one place, and these pieces of wire will hold it. The weight of the cargo in this case may not exceed 150 grams.

In bottom fishing, flat sinkers are often used. As a rule, they are oval in shape. Such weights lie well on the bottom even when fishing in a strong current. How to make such sinkers for fishing? To do this, cut out an oval blank 4 cm long and 2 cm wide from an elastic band 3 mm thick. Weightier sinkers can also be made. To do this, we will use larger blanks

Further, we make 7-8 dents in the ground, as in the previous case, when a large sinker for the gum was poured. We will make two types of weights. One type is sliding, and the second is with an eye. To pour sliding weights, cut a thin wire into segments exceeding the length of the recesses by 1 cm. Insert the wire into these recesses.

To get weights with lugs, we will do exactly the same as when pouring cone weights. Only the ear this time will peek out of the recess. If necessary, you can drill holes on the edge of the sinkers

Pour the molten lead carefully into containers and wait for about 5 minutes. After that, you can carefully collect them with a spoon.

Wooden casting mold

It allows you to cast more complex sinkers from lead - composite. Just like gypsum, it can withstand repeated use.

The form is made of two planks, the size and thickness corresponding to the future sinker. Boards must be hardwood. On each plank, the contours of a sinker and a chute for pouring lead are drawn. Here you have to try, because it is necessary that both halves of the casting coincide when combined.

The recesses in the planks are cut with a chisel or chisel. They should be a little deeper than required. Also try to eliminate any gaps between the molds through which lead can leak out.

A sinker cast in a wooden mold can be equipped with a wire eye. Two options are possible: either the eyelet is inserted into the gutter before pouring, or a special groove is made in one of the halves of the mold, where the eyelet is laid before pouring.

Also, the sinker can be made sliding - for this, instead of the eye, you need to insert a nail into the mold. After the lead has hardened, the nail is removed with pliers and replaced with an empty ballpoint pen to prevent lead from rubbing the line.

The process of casting a sinker in a wooden form is similar to that of plaster. Just take care to ventilate the room: when casting, the mold will rise a little. Do not rush to separate the halves and wait for the lead to solidify completely, only then carefully remove the sinker by the eye. Spend time sanding seams and sloppiness.

Do not be upset if the sinker did not turn out to be symmetrical and solid. Everything can be fixed. Only when remelting, do not forget to add lead - each melting evaporates part of the volume.

Pouring cone weights

Donochniks and spinningists often use do-it-yourself conical weights. The former are used because they fly far and accurately, and spinningists use them in spaced montages. It is very easy to make these weights yourself.

We also need a thin and hard wire. From it we will make eyes through which the loads will be attached to the main fishing line.

We will pour the sinkers with our own hands in the same way as last time. Instead of a gas burner, you can use a portable one with two burners. It will be possible to pour in two containers so that the process goes faster.

We insert wire staples into paper molds so that the eye sticks out of the top of the cone. We immerse the molds in the ground so that they take a vertical position. The size of the molds is selected experimentally.

We estimate by eye what kind of weight we need. As a reference, you can take a weight of 35 grams and look at it already. It will be enough to pour the first batch of sinkers for fishing with your own hands. We will use the resulting weights as samples when we make molds for the next batches.

The pouring process is identical to the previous one. As a container for lead, you can use an unnecessary metal mug. It is convenient to take it by the handle and pour lead from it. In order not to burn your fingers, it is better to wear gloves on your palms.

Original casting mold

Returning to field camp conditions, it is worth mentioning that if you have a neat metal model of a sinker with you, previously turned on a lathe, and enough lead, all that remains is to find a suitable shape. There is such a form - natural, always at hand, and even reusable. Potato tuber!

It is necessary to select a larger tuber, with guaranteed sufficient wall thickness. Cut in half and pick out the casting cavity from both halves with a knife. Then finally process it with a sinker model heated to the desired temperature.

The bottom line is that the molten lead will come into contact with the potato, which contains a lot of moisture. Instantly turning into steam, escaping outward, it can carry along the melt, which is fraught with burns. The processed mold cavity is dehydrated.

But even after such treatment, the first casting of the mold must be carried out very carefully, by supplying small portions of metal. However, after several castings, the walls of the mold will dry out to such an extent that the release of steam is no longer a threat.

Which is useful if there is a strong current in the place of fishing. To do this, you need pieces of elastic wire that are inserted into the mold at different angles. After the lead has solidified, the mold will have to be cut to remove the sinker. The long ends of the wire are cut off or bent in different directions.

With certain materials, including improvised ones, and some ingenuity, there is no difficulty in making a sinker acceptable for bottom fishing. This can be done both at home and in the field.

Pouring fishing sinkers into molds

To obtain calibrated sinkers of various shapes and weights, metal molds of various types are used.

The form consists of two halves. After pouring, sinkers weighing 130 grams with swivels should be obtained.

In addition to lead, we need two clamps for clamping molds, swivels and files with wire cutters to remove roughness from the resulting weights. Before casting, we grease all the molds with machine grease so that the weights can be easily removed after pouring.

First, insert the swivels into four molds for sinkers.

Then we press the halves to each other with clamps.

Next, we set the lead to heat in a suitable container. In this form, the sprues are quite large, so there will be no special problems with casting. The part of the lead that remains near the sprues is collected and used in the next pour.

The container in which the lead is melted is clamped with pliers, and we begin to carefully pour the lead into the holes.

From it is necessary to process a file a little. Remove the section from the sprue side. Large growths can be bitten off with wire cutters, after which the place can be processed with a file. As a result, you can put on a very large number of sinkers.

They can be used in feeder fishing for punching the bottom. Such heavy sinkers will be useful for bottomers for fishing in strong currents. They fly far and hold the bottom well.

conclusions

We examined the simplest ways to cast sinkers. You can make weights even if you don't have molds. In the presence of metal molds, you can pour weights to order, making money on it. The main thing in this process is to find lead and a well-ventilated place. Remember that indoors, lead casting is harmful.

There are also ways to cast weights in plaster and wooden molds. But for this, you also need to make forms, which only complicates the task. And the period of their use is not very long. It is important to understand that weights are consumables.

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Most anglers, when equipping their rods, are faced with the need to load the bait. Both bottomers and spinners have to weight their rigs or artificial fish so that they quickly reach the bottom or fly far. Sometimes for fishing you can leave the entire arsenal of fishing weights in a catchy, but snarled section of the reservoir. Financial opportunities do not allow some amateurs to constantly replenish lead stocks, while other anglers find it problematic to get to specialized stores. In such cases, molds for casting sinkers will come to the rescue. Due to the low melting point of lead and its availability, the necessary cargo can be cast right on the shore of the reservoir. What are the forms for sinkers?

Molds for casting from different materials

Anglers are equally successful in making lead sinkers with their own hands, using factory or home-made forms. Basically, most designs differ in the material of manufacture. The most commonly used plaster, wood, aluminum or steel.

Disposable forms can even be made from thick paper. Many beginner anglers know how to make a lead sinker for bottom fishing using a tablespoon. It is enough to pour molten lead into the concave part of a tablespoon to get a neat workpiece. It remains to make a hole, and the load can be installed on the bottom.
The simplest form for casting sinkers can be made from a piece of wooden lath 5-10 mm thick. Using a hacksaw and a knife, you need to make two halves of the future shape in the form of an oval or rhombus. Now it remains only to put both halves on a flat wooden or metal surface and fix them with a clamp or simple stands. In the case of a sliding load, a steel wire with a thickness of 0.8-1.0 mm must be placed inside. You can pour lead.
Often, anglers are faced with the problem of how to make a lead sinker mold according to an existing sample. For example, every spinner should have a popular type of jig heads called "cheburashka". And it’s not difficult to make an eared sinker according to a store model if you make a plaster mold. To fill the creamy solution, you can use 2 ordinary matchboxes. First, one box is filled with a dough-like mass, after which half of the “cheburashka” is immersed in gypsum.

As soon as the material dries, a similar operation should be done with the second part of the form. When the gypsum dries in it, it remains to combine the two halves, make a hole for pouring and a side hole for air to escape. Through holes are made in opposite corners of matchboxes for wire pins or a nail. After such fixation, the halves will not move, retaining an even spherical figure.
The most durable sinker molds are made from aluminum or steel. But it is not possible to make it qualitatively on your own. You will need the help of experienced milling cutters and locksmiths. Consider the technology of manufacturing a steel mold for your favorite "cheburashka".
1. First of all, you will need 2 metal bars with a thickness of 20-25 mm. Width and length depends on the size of the future cargo and the number of simultaneously cast products. The joining surfaces must be made even and smooth.
2. Hemispheres can be made using special spherical burrs. After that, it is important to accurately combine both halves, for which you can use balls from bearings.
3. Further, holes are made on the drilling machine for the pins, “bleeders” and filler necks. Inside one of the halves, it is necessary to make recesses for the wire ears.

Casting process sinkers

When, finally, there was a form for casting weights, there are questions related to pouring lead. The ease of manufacture of the load depends to some extent on the quality of the form. But if you know some of the nuances of working with lead, then everything will work out with a home-made, and with a Chinese form, as well as with a product from Spinmag.

Before you start heating lead, you need to perform several preparatory steps. If there are wire elements, it is necessary to cut the required length, bend it and carefully place it in the mold. The inner surfaces of the mold, which will get molten lead, must be lubricated. Then it will be easier to remove the cooled sinker.

Proven in practice! The best lubricant is lard. It is enough to draw a piece of the skin over all the depressions to facilitate the exit of the finished product from the mold.

It remains to assemble the structure and fix it with special clamps, bolts or pins.

You can melt lead in any tin can. Using pliers, you can make a narrowed part (beak) to obtain a thin stream of melt. To make it convenient to put on fire and remove a kind of ladle from it, it is better to bend the side at the top of the jar.
Many anglers use battery lead. Melting it at home is dangerous and harmful. Therefore, it is first necessary to make the first heat on the street, pouring a pure fraction, for example, into a spoon. And with pure lead, you can work in the kitchen, including the pre-hood. You can also immediately use the goods removed from the fishing nets.
If the angler has few forms, but you want to make a lot of weights with different weights, then you can do a little tinkering with the addition of tin to the lead. These two metals melt well and mix with each other. And the resulting sinkers will be lighter than pure lead.
When the metal melts in the ladle, you need to wait a little more for the temperature of the melt to rise. Then the metal will not harden during the casting process.
It is important to pour hot lead evenly, without stopping. Otherwise, air gaps and irregularities may form inside.

Attention! You can disassemble the form only after it has completely cooled down. This primarily applies to metal structures.

Lead is a soft material. Therefore, flash and burrs can be cut with a regular knife. Excess metal, which inevitably forms in the filler holes, is removed with wire cutters. A small file will give the surface a smooth look.

Many anglers note that brand new sinkers work worse than tarnished similar models. Therefore, products created by oneself can be first processed in vinegar (24 hours). Then lower the sinkers for a day in a saturated solution of potassium permanganate.

Today, anglers can purchase ready-made forms in specialized stores or make them with their own hands. Using these devices correctly, you can get a rich arsenal of fishing sinkers and heads.