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Making your own lead weights for fishing is quite an easy thing to do and at well over a pound each in the tackle shops you can make a good saving over a period of time. There is an initial outlay of about £12-£15 for a lead mould but you can soon make that money back and save yourself quite a bit in the long run.

Lead moulds are available from most good tackle shops. Personally, I used to get mine from Stapeley Water Gardens in Cheshire but Ebay is where I look for lead making moulds and accessories these days. Lead moulds come in all shapes and sizes and I find it best to just keep to a couple of favourite types of lead weights. Only if I was going to sell lead weights commercially would I consider splashing out on a number of lead moulds, after all, the idea is to save money not spend more of it!.
You can also get lead coating powder from Ebay too. For the lead itself, I suggest that you make friends with a plumber, I'm lucky enough to know one and I get bits of scrap lead pipes and bars for nothing. If this is not an option, then you will have to pay for it from a local scrap yard, it still works out a lot cheaper than buying readymade leads from a tackle shop so don't be put off if you can't get it for free.


The lead making process itself is actually quite easy, firstly the lead has to be melted down, I use on old pan on the stove to do this, as you can see in the picture below, I just put a small piece of lead pipe into the pan and leave it to heat up, eventually it will melt.


Whilst the lead is melting, I heat the lead mould in the oven for a while, this is for safety, pouring molten lead into a cold mould is dangerous as the lead can 'spit'. If the mould is heated up, this doesn't happen. After this, I set the mould up in a small bench vice, this one has a 'G' clamp underneath and just clamps on the end of a table, it cost me £1 from a shop called 'poundland'!.You can also get a custom lead mould clamp from Ebay and if I was starting from scratch today, this is what I'd use. The lead being made here is a 3oz inliner, hence the bar running through the middle of the mould.


When the lead is all melted, I scrape off any excess dirt/crap from the lead whilst it's in the pan, then scoop up some molten lead and poor it into the mould. I have the mould located right next to the cooker whilst doing this, that way I don't have far for the spoon to travel, this minimizes the risk of spilling any lead and makes sure it's really hot when being poured. Some people prefer a pan with a small 'V' type recess so they can just pour straight from the pan, the large spoon I'm using here has a similar recess.


I wait until the lead is set, which is just a few seconds, then remove the mould from the vice and open it. This should be done with gloves on as the lead and mould are both still very hot at this stage. The bar can be removed and after leaving to cool for a while, the 'extra' bit of lead formed by the funnel of the mould can be cut off and the lead filed down to remove all traces of it. Whilst waiting for the lead to cool, I can set up the mould again and make some more.


When the filing is complete, the leads should be ok to use as they are, needing just the inline tubing insert to go through the middle, these can be purchased from ebay along with all other lead making equipment.


I don't like to leave my leads at this stage, preferring to coat them with lead coating powder. To do this, I put the filed lead back onto the bar and gently heat it over the stove. Once heated, I roll the lead round in some of the powder making sure to cover all of the lead.


It's then just a case of putting it back over the stove, as you can see, the powder melts into a coating. By turning the bar, I can heat and melt all the powder. After completing and leaving to cool down, I can trim off any excess plastic coating from were the bar is on either end of the lead and I'm left with a perfect inline coated lead weight.


That's basically it for the making leads, the only thing I'd like to add is BE CAREFUL, molten lead is extremely hot, and you should strive to do this job as safely as you can. Have some gloves handy, make sure you are in a well ventilated area and preheat your mould before making your first lead. Basically, use your common sense!.

NB.
If you don't fancy making your own lead weights for fishing, rather than pay the extortionate prices the shops are charging, I can recommend Franks Leads Ebay shop, Franks lead weights are top quality and his prices are far cheaper than your local tackle shop!.


Taken from Making Lead Fishing Weights at North West Carp

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