This is the first page on one of our new topics. This page will be updated like all the other pages until I have no other information. Please feel free to send in info on your own homemade fishing projects or info on other peoples and I will put it up.
This page as the title suggests is about weight making.
The first thing u will need to make your own weights is a mould. I have used many methods of making homemade moulds. I will list a few.
1) weld a small piece of steel pipe to a flat sheet of steel
2) cut a small tube shape out of a potato
3) take a bucket of sand and press a battery into the sand
These moulds are very primitive but I have included pics underneath encase anyone wants to try them
Although you will get weights out of the moulds above the best way is to buy a mould from a shop (pictured below) these are very precise and easy to use. They are inexpensive and will last a long time.
After your mould is made or bought it is time to get the right materials to melt your lead. For this you will need a camping stove, a small iron pot, a vice or clamp, and some heat resistant gloves.
If you cant get all these things you can substitute for instance you can use a well ventilated kitchen with a cooker hot plate to melt the lead, you can use a beans can or a ladle instead of the pot, you could use two bricks or planks of wood bolted together to clamp the mould together, and finally in my opinion there is no substitute for safety so get yourself a good pair of heat resistant gloves.
You may find that getting lead is a problem. Don't try and buy lead because it will costs way to much. I have found a few ways of getting lead that I am willing to share with you. The first and most productive is to watch out for houses and buildings that are getting reroofed or knocked down the reason for this is that on most roofs there is a lot of lead lining. If you find a house like this check in the skip beside it or ask the builders very nicely for the old lead. Another way of getting lead is to check for old houses being renovated these are normally a good source for lead piping. Place an ad in your newspaper asking for scrape lead. And finally but this is only for very careful people who also make their weights outside, look out for out acid car batteries because if you take these apart you will find lead plates. The problem with these plates is that they are covered in sulphuric acid, when melting this lead be very careful because the acid makes the lead fumes a lot more poisonous. For this reason I cannot be held responsible if anything goes wrong will using this method.
The process of making weights goes basically like this.
Heat the lead in the pot until it is a silvery colour and is very hot but not boiling Scrape slag off the top of the liquid lead with a spoon and discard it Pour the lead very slowly and carefully into your mould Leave the mould for at least 5 minutes Open your mould and you should have a brand new weight
If you have any questions about this page please email me at
