realively easy DIY jigheads

[Simon]

There has been some discussion on DIY jigheads in the past so I thought I would put this up there for those who want to take it to the next level.

With a little bit of mucking around you can pump out in expensive almost professional jigheads yourself that you won't care where or what you cast at.

[Simon]

jig in mould

[Simon]

jigs and mould.



All up I've spent $100 but this has given me five moulds for jigs including 1/32, 1/20, 1/16, 1/12, 1/8. This includes all the bits to make the moulds lead and casting pewter to make my own alloy. you can use plaster of paris to really reduce the cost but the moulds aren't durable and you only get about ten pours before the edges chip away and you have to do too much clean up work.


moulding materials come from

http://armsmodelit.com.au/

If your interested

Cheers

Simon

[Simon]

jigs and mould

[Mick]

Dow Corning actually make a silicon that is quite good for moulds when casting metals with a heat rating of around 400 C, last time I bought it was a couple of years ago but it was about $45 for 1kg. Buying pewter in those bars is an expensive way to go about it, the cheapest is to approach a foundary supply company and buy some tin ingots, which is all pewter is any way. The only drawback is the ingots are usually quite big, but if you go in with a few mates it will reduce costs. Or they may even sell you half or quarter of an ingot.

But your finished product looks great.

[Acanthopagrus]

Hey Simon

How did you make the knobby bits to align the molds precisely?

I would like to utilise this technology to make other stuff.

Ive used silicon rubber for lure but it suits lures of different shape.

Personally by the time you buy the "good hooks" melt and mix metals, buy and make the mold over a long period of time you may save some.

For some its better to go to work and make the money doing what they know than to spend the time making jigs.

And of course support your local independently owned tackle shop

[Acanthopagrus]

Oh what was the material you purchased to make the mold Simon?

[Ducks]

Originally posted by Acanthopagrus
Hey Simon

How did you make the knobby bits to align the molds precisely?

I would like to utilise this technology to make other stuff.

Ive used silicon rubber for lure but it suits lures of different shape.

Personally by the time you buy the "good hooks" melt and mix metals, buy and make the mold over a long period of time you may save some.

For some its better to go to work and make the money doing what they know than to spend the time making jigs.

And of course support your local independently owned tackle shop

Let's not forget the dangers involved in the process with molten lead around.
Any idea roughly how many jigheads it take's to break even on a mold like this?
I am sure it could be a good money saver for some but you would have to be running through alot of jigs. And your range would be limited compared to what you can buy in a shop. My tackle box has probably a dozen regularly used different head shapes/sizes for breaming.
For me I think any time I had spare to make jigheads I would prefer to spend that time on the water, and for the price of quality jigheads through local online stores and local producers, it would take alot of home made jigheads for me to feel like I was saving money and getting value for my spare time.
I'm not having a dig BTW, this is something I have seriously considered doing, but always convince myself time is better spent fishing with jigheads I bought elsewhere

[Simon]

The knobs to line up are made in the first mould and are just a nail pushed into the plasticine base before the rubber is poured in.

Your right with the dangers of lead, always done in a well ventilated area with safety gear.
I work shift work so I have plenty of time when its blowing its proverbial off.
I mix the pewter bars in with old roofing lead to make a lead alloy that is less prone to casting damage than straight lead.
Other than saving the money its has that 'I made this appeal' to me so the cost saving is secondary, how ever at current jighead prices I would only have to make 70 to have covered costs which I have already done twice over sharing with mates.

Each unto their own

[Ducks]

Fair enough mate
Different strokes and all that
I'm actually surprised that it only take's about 70 heads to break even. That is a hell of a lot less than it seemed when I calculated what molds would cost. Awesome!

[CHUNQX]

Apart from the obvious cost differences, there is also another argument for DIY. Because the jigheads get really cheap when you make your own, you're not so concerned about losing them and you're more likely to cast into "dangerous" areas, ie. snags, barnacled encrusted pylons etc, and are more likely to hook more fish as well.

[Acanthopagrus]

The knobs to line up are made in the first mold and are just a nail pushed into the plasticine base before the rubber is poured in.

Is it plasticine your using for the molds?

I was hoping to make a lure that doesn't lend its self to a silicon rubber tube mold.

Thanks for the nail tip Simon

[lure_muncher]

Very nice, Simon. I might just have to start doing this myself.

[Simon]

Acanthopagrus

The mold rubber is called elastosil M4670 A/B. Plastacine is used as the initial bedding material for the first half. The rubber used is the high temp version to cope with lead but there are other lower temp versions to deal with lower temperaters etc.

I would think that the plastacine would be to soft and not durable enough to use as a moulds.

Check out the arms modelit site under their tutorials or send em and e-mail asking what else they have, i've found em really helpfull. I'm currently making moulds to make my own soft plastics out of this stuff they have called 'fish a bait' lots of trial and error so far to get the finish I want but its all good fun.

Cheers

Simon

[Shortlite]

Hmm, nice looking jigheads, very ahmmm, TT like. I suppose you've gotta have a basic design to start with.

What hooks are you using there Simon, and do you mind sharing where you bought them? Looking for black finished jig hooks.