making down rigger bombs

[mick fillet]

I have been collecting lead for ages now specificaly to melt down and turn into down rigger balls.The balls are so expensive to buy at tackle shops an 8lb ball retails for about $50 so this is why I make my own. on occasions you do lose them due to gear failure or on some occasions not paying attention to the sounder and running the ball into a shallow prickle patch :ohmy: doh!! So by making the ball my self it just cost me a bit of gas and a little time and effort .It's quite rewarding just knowing how much money Ive just saved my self and when I loose one it's not so disheartening.

Previous attempts at making the balls I used one of those old camping jaffle irons not the sqaure one, I used the old school round ones for the mold.It works well but you end up with a disc rather than a ball. The disc tend to wobble a little bit under troll so i prefer the ball type.

So I used a wood lathe to create the mold this time round. I made a 2 piece mold each half was turned out so when the two halves meet a complete sphere would be formed. A bit of 12 gauge wire was thown in between the two half molds before clamping together and this will be the tow points of the ball.

The timber mold work well.It smoked a bit due to the heat of the lead but I reckon the mold will be good for about 10 balls before its clapped out.

this is the mold in the vice ready to go.

[mick fillet]

This is the end result. showing the two piece timber mold as well

[kriso]

nice one mick! alot cheaper that way thats for sure

[Gad]

mick, when I was a kid,my old man used to make wooden moulds,if I remember right when he first made the moulds he used to soak the 2 halves in sump oil for a few days,then left them out in the sun for a couple of days,to allow oil to soak into the wood then clean/polish them up.

Each time before he used them to make a batch of sinkers he would wipe a smear of grease(axle)on inside of the mould,this he reckoned stopped the wood splitting from the heat.The moulds used to last him for many years

Cheers Gad

[mick fillet]

Thanks heaps for that advice Gad. will soak the mold in oil and hopfully I have it for longer than I thought.

cheers mick

[wesfish]

hey nice set of balls you got there mick :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

being creative once again , good job on them they look perfect!

[rastus]

That's awsome. Just curious where were you collecting lead from