Making sinkers/ or where to buy cheap sinkers

[aussie_fisho]

One of the big expenses for me when going fishing is buying big sinkers around 20oz and ending up losing it to the reef. I have recently tried making several different types of moulds from wood,cement clay etc, the wood has worked well but hard to get right shape. Does anyone have any other method of making your own sinkers or moulds, as a mould for that size is hard to find under $150. Also does anyone know of any resources I can get lead. Thx aussie

[rixter]

I mentioned once before about using the lead from old car batteries to make sinkers , cheap bulk lead ! . Rid them of any existing acid first washing the lead plates in a strong mix of baking soda & water. ( before melting them ).

Star sinkers seem to be the easiest to make , as others have mentioned. Pack some standard lightly damp sand into shallow solid box (a small shallow wooden crate works well) , compact it in and press a star/pyramid sinker a few times into the top of the sand ( as many moulds as you like ). Basic sand moulds. Add a paperclip or small metal clip/hoop into the top of the hot lead after pouring into the moulds, as an attachment for your line or snap swivel ; like a regular star/pyramid sinker.

Cheers , Rick.

[Ploh]

K-mart? I believe they sell pretty heavy sinkers and their prices are very reasonable.


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[Ploh]

I mentioned once before about using the lead from old car batteries to make sinkers , cheap bulk lead ! . Rid them of any existing acid first washing the lead plates in a strong mix of baking soda & water. ( before melting them ).

Star sinkers seem to be the easiest to make , as others have mentioned. Pack some damp sand into a box , compact it in and press a star/pyramid sinker a few times into the top of the sand ( as many moulds as you like ). Basic sand moulds. Add a paperclip or small metal clip/hoop into the top of the hot lead after pouring into the mould, as an attachment for your line or snap swivel ; like a regular star/pyramid sinker.

Cheers , Rick.

Also I would strongly recommend you do not add water and bicarbonate to the battery as water + sulfuric acid = heat and it could spit very concentrated sulfuric acid onto your face. Unless you know exactly what ratios you should add the base and the acid together in (and bicarbonate is quite a weak base), there are certainly safer and better ways to obtain lead.


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[rixter]

I mentioned once before about using the lead from old car batteries to make sinkers , cheap bulk lead ! . Rid them of any existing acid first washing the lead plates in a strong mix of baking soda & water. ( before melting them ).

Star sinkers seem to be the easiest to make , as others have mentioned. Pack some damp sand into a box , compact it in and press a star/pyramid sinker a few times into the top of the sand ( as many moulds as you like ). Basic sand moulds. Add a paperclip or small metal clip/hoop into the top of the hot lead after pouring into the mould, as an attachment for your line or snap swivel ; like a regular star/pyramid sinker.

Cheers , Rick.

Also I would strongly recommend you do not add water and bicarbonate to the battery as water + sulfuric acid = heat and it could spit very concentrated sulfuric acid onto your face. Unless you know exactly what ratios you should add the base and the acid together in (and bicarbonate is quite a weak base), there are certainly safer and better ways to obtain lead.


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You don't add it to the battery !!!!! .. This is after removing the cells from the dead battery. Sorry if I didn't make that clearer at first.
There is a full description/topic and method regarding this , it was covered a few months back. I took a bit more time to explain it more clear. A search of this site on "Making Sinkers" or "Homemade Sinkers" and it could probably be dug up again.

It's totally safe , so long as it is a dead battery , drain off any existing battery fluid and neutralize it too before despsosing it.
When the lead cells are dry, remove them, rinse them off , then around a 20% baking soda / bi carb soda mix with water is plenty to finish neutralizing them. Less soda and it will just take longer. Just wait until the cells are totally dead (no bubbles) , then rinse them off again.

It is safe , if done right , and in a ventilated area. :thumbsup:

Cheers , Rick.

[foggybottom]

If you're going to recover lead from batteries, the way I would recommend treating/neautralising the acid would be thus (I work as a chemist and do this pretty regularly):

1. Wearing some gloves and a longsleeve shirt that you're not too fond of, tip the acid into a large container (bucket would be fine)
2. Add dry bicarbonate soda to the acid (It will fizz and bubble, but shouldn't splash)
3. Keep adding Bicarb until it stops fizzing and then stir it with a stick. If it fizzes up again, chuck some more in.
4. Keep doing this until it stops evolving gas (making bubbles). The gas is CO2, safe enough.

As for cleaning the lead plates from an empty battery, I would place them in a bucket containing enough water to cover them. This might get warm but shouldn't get hot enough to worry about. Do the same thing with the solution in the bucket as above, the Bicarbonate will not harm the lead.

Once you're confident that the acid has all been neutralised (you should be left with a weakly basic/alkaline solution) it is fine to be poured down the sink/gully trap.

Then you can go crazy making your sinkers. We always used to cook the lead up in a crappy pot with a spout on a camping stove, worked fine for us. We also used sand for star sinkers or moulds for making our own weights for dive belts.

[Wolly Bugger]

20 oz, I imported a few sinker molds from the states, but largest I went too was 12 oz. Basically I got three molds for around 100. plus postage.

[cheaterparts]

One of the big expenses for me when going fishing is buying big sinkers around 20oz and ending up losing it to the reef. I have recently tried making several different types of moulds from wood,cement clay etc, the wood has worked well but hard to get right shape. Does anyone have any other method of making your own sinkers or moulds, as a mould for that size is hard to find under $150. Also does anyone know of any resources I can get lead. Thx aussie

there are quite a few sellers on Ebay with moulds might be worth a look

for example http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Anglers-Mate ... _687wt_806" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

a bit better priced that one fifty

[Brett]

Any good tackle store, should be able to order any of the moulds found here http://jmgillies.com.au/?p=954" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Nude up]

I make all my own sinkers I like the bomb shape with swivel I have 3 moulds go from 1oz up to 12oz they are an investment. The lead I normally get from people renovating there houses. If I need more than 12oz to hold the bottom I put two sinkers on the running sinker clip never had a problem with that. Dont forget to wear a respirator when melting the lead the fumes are dangerous and the effects are accumalative over time thats why they stopped using lead for water pipes.