I had a question I thought I’d ask to see if any of you know. Does anyone know what is the most popular type/size lead mold in general? I don’t know if it would be a type of sinker mold, or a bullet mold, etc. Here’s why I ask…

My cousin is a manager at a cast iron foundry. They make various items for customers. I recently asked her if they had ever made any sinker or bullet molds. She said “not yet.” I told her that if they ever did, to make me one. I told her I was looking for a large egg sinker mold to make sling ammo, and a smaller round lead ball size for slingshot ammo. I told her I tried to find one cheap, but they always sell for $20-$30 on eBay.

My cousin talked to her boss that runs the foundry, and he said they could probably make some. She wants me to get a sample, so they can see how they’re made. I showed her some pics, but she said it’s really not good enough, and they need to see it in person. She said I should find out what is a popular model, so they could do a test run and see how they sell.

Her boss said that they could make them, have me sell them, and they get a small cut for their cost of materials. They’d be doing this in their downtime, so it would be very cheap costs for their materials. I thought this could be a great money maker opportunity for me.

I don’t know what would be the most common type of mold that should be done as a test run. Anyone have any ideas?

Also, does anyone have any other ideas of items that could be made of cast iron that there’s a marketplace void for? We talked about maybe some re-enactor type stuff…maybe cast iron dutch ovens etc…

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Idea…what if Dan had them make something cool, like a SY logo or DF shaped door stop or paperweight. I’d like one. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Door stop, everybody needs doorstops.

in answer to your mold question, possibly .38-.45 maybe even go for .500 for the Slingshot ammo and Maybe golfball size (depending on the weight)for the sling.

old fashioned iron were made of cast iron, paper weights, scroll art type things. That's all I can think of Andy

Making a mold for sling(shot) might be best. Ballistic balls can be stanardized much easier. You could eventually decide on one or two diameters as previously suggested. Sinker molds would have to be made in many sizes depending upon the type of fishing, bait,depth of the water, strength of the current etc. Fer instance, I use a lead head jig for surf fishing. Depending on the conditions I might cast one @1/2 oz thru to 3 oz..

From time to time molds for sinkers and jigs come up for sale on a surf fishing forum I'm registered on. There is interest, but they're not knocking each other down to buy these molds. Good Luck

I know a LOT of fisherman that make their own weights, and a few sling and catapult people that cast their own ammo. There isn;t really a big market for molds, it took me three years to sell my set......

just saying...

Selling stuff would kill you on the shipping. We have a lot of fishermen here also who need lead, but most of the serious ones melt their own.

For anyone doing lead melting, lead is toxic to the central nervous system, so use the proper controls. Use the melter only in a well ventilated area, and wear a respirator with a HEPA (pink) cartridge when you are handling liquid (pouring). Don't fire it up in the garage in winter.

Yeah, I found that out the hard way. One summer I stood in the doorway of the garage (little door, not garage door) with a camp stove and poured 200 .50 lead balls, two at a time with no mask, fan or nothing. After 200, I had to stop as I had a killer headache. I took some advil and tried resting, didn't help. I didn't feel better until the next morning. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

Man, not sure on the fishing lead shots but the bullet molds will be hard to compete with Lee and the custom makers. I like the idea though. As a kid I would walk the lakes and pic the lead and lures up. Melt the lead into a large pot and then sell that to different weight makers that were there or to a few reladers. The lusres I did not keep for myself would get refabed and sold to local stores that would hange them by the register and resale them. I did not make a lot of money, just enough to keep mi in shotgun shells, .22 lr ammo, and gas for the mini-bike and three wheeler. What good days, sorry for the long speel but I got on memory lane!