Make your own jigs...Video

[Therapist]

So,  I haven't watched  TD's video yet,  but for those who have and are going to start casting their own jigs,  a word of caution on lead.  One of the primary sources of lead that people use are old wheel weights.  Used to be you could just go and get them at a tire shop for free,  but now they sell them, usually pretty cheap,  but there is a PROBLEM TO BE AWARE OF!!!  Some weights are made of ZINC now.  ZINC is NOT, I repeat, NOT a good thing in your casting lead.  When processing your wheel weights, you need to be careful to keep the temp of the melting lead BELOW 780 degrees F.  When doing wheel raw wheel weights,  I keep my pot temperature at about 725-730 F.  That way the zinc weights do not melt, they float on top and can be skimmed off with the rest of the dross ( crap) from the weights.  You also need to "flux" the mixture, sawdust is a good material.  Just dump a handful of sawdust into the pot and stir it in.  This will "clean" the molten metal and give you better casting.  Wheel weights contain tin and antimony to harden the metal,  so when casting your jigs,  you need to have the temp up around 750 or so, ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE REMOVED THE ZINC WEIGHTS DURING THE PROCESSING OF THE RAW WEIGHTS.

Pouring your own jigs is a lot of fun,  but you can get very, very caught up in it.  I know that TD has about 40-50 molds, and I have almost as many,  so be careful as it can become addictive !!