weighting questions

[bassbum85]

I am making a swimbait and wondering what everyone uses to weight their lures. Any help would be appreciated.

[Vodkaman]

I pour all my own ballast weights.

I dowel two pieces of hardwood together and drill holes down the joint. The hole diameter depends on the size of lure I am working on, usually no more than 6mm diameter.

I trim them to size with side cutters. I drill the hole in the lure with the same bit, so the weights fit perfectly every time. You cannot pour thousands, but enough, plus you can drill lots of holes. A new mold takes minutes to make.

Dave

[NateFollmer]

Dave,

Do you get any 'flare' up's from any moisture left in the wood (when pouring the lead) or is it usually dry enough to take the lead without causing an explosion haha.

[Vodkaman]

I have never had any problems, but it does not hurt to be cautious the first pour.

Choose a denser wood, it will last longer.

Dave

[Fishwhittler]

I use egg sinkers for ballast.  I drill a hole equal to the diameter of the egg sinker I'm using and epoxy the sinker in place.

[whittler]

I use a system similar to Dave's for making swimbait weights. Oak or maple work well for the molds and if you are worried about moisture in the wood a microwave can be used to quickly dry it. Put your blanks in the microwave and take them to a temp where they are warm to the touch and let them cool, heat again. two or three cycles will remove enough moisture to make it safe to pour. My weight molds are made from 3/4" stock and are 4" wide.

[NateFollmer]

Good stuff guys, thanks for the info. Going to try a few different methods for weighting. I have a ton of old lead, so I may as well experiment with that first. May end up buying tungsten shot though, may designs are thin

[BobP]

I used to pour molten lead into ballast holes but found 2 downsides.  First, it's hard to control the volume of lead that's going in, and control of ballast weight is a big factor in getting a bait right, and especially in duplicating a good bait when you want to build more of them.  Second, molten lead will often burn/char/melt whatever surrounds it and then sit in a void in the bait without any real bond.  Slap the bait on the water and the ballast might just shoot out through the finish - bait ruined.  Been there, done that.  For quality control and repeatability, I weigh ballast on a digital scale and epoxy it in a drilled hole. 

[whittler]

Would have to agree with you Bob about pouring lead directly into a bait. What Dave and I are doing is pouring lead cores which are then cut to length and glued into the bait. My cores are 3" long and in 3 different diameters, 1/4', 3/8' and 7/16".

[kbkindle]

Do you put any wires in lead for a  u hook to attach a split ring to and a treble hook.  what i call a belly weight