# Hints on finding lead for making king anchors, sinkers, and diamond jigs?



## Hurricane44 (Aug 16, 2006)

Does anyone know of a franchise or sporting goods chain that sells lead for making jigs, anchors, and sinkers? I've resorted to buying lead shot for refilling shotgun shells and melting that down for my needs. I've tried tire weights as well but they are hard to come by and take a long time to melt down, not to mention the hazardous smoke from burning off of the plastic, break dust, and clear coat off the weight itself. Anyways, any comments or hints would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Cane44


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

This may be a long shot but try a plumbing distributor. My brother had lots of virgin lead in 5 pound hex shapes that he said was used for plumbing (he had a plumbing business). I am not sure where he bought them but they may lead you to a good source.

good luck


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Lead*

Jannsnetcraft has lead ngots listed in their catalog.

I would reconsider buying lead by mail because of the weight and shipping costs involved.

Go to a tire shop and ask if they have wheel weights. They take them off tires and throw them into a box. Some will give them to you.

As for me, I ussually have a surplus from my net building days. ANother sourc eis a net shop(one that actually builds nets). They usually have castnet leads that are deformed and unusable.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

The tire shop route is a little "hit and miss", but I've managed to collect quite a bit. It gets a little wierd when you get these blank stares, but oh well. I got a thick skin! I also got a few buddies here who are in "the business" and have access to tire weights. Now I have tons of it and plan on doing a little group pour for the WBB. We all have moulds, but by putting our collections together, we can make a pretty decent varitety of sinkers and lures. I guess what I'm saying is, look for like minded guys and you can pool your resources and connections together to build something much better than what you may be able to achieve alone.

Another option to try is a scrap metal dealer or ebay. Both are fairly cheap sources.


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## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

*I get mine*

from my uncle. He is a plumber and he has a ton of the old toilet donuts made out of lead. Kinda nasty but heat it up and dip out the bad stuff. Works great. 

Also recyclers generally have a stockpile. It sells for nothing but drunks find it and drag it in for a few pennies. My buddy was in the business and brought home all shapes and sizes.

Gun shops usually have ingots for pouring bullets. That is another good place. May be expensive. If you can find some shot shell pellets on sale you can melt them down as well.

I have a 50# block of it now melted into a stainless steel pot. I am trying to figure out how to melt it down. It will take forever to melt that much at one time. It is almost impossible to get it out of that pot. 

Darin


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

FM, Put it on a propane burner. It will generate enough heat to melt it. May take a little time. I initially thought to use an ingot mold to store my lead in smaller sizes, but sometimes I am processing over a hundred pounds at a time, so I've started using a heavy guage aluminum cupcake pan to make cupcake size pucks. I can pour 20 at a time and it really speeds up the process.


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## okimavich (Nov 13, 2006)

If you want to go the retail route, check out BPS or some other outdoor sporting goods stores. They will carry ingots or bricks of lead sometimes.


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

*Hurricane.....*

I have about fifteen to twenty pounds already melted down in a homade ingot you can have Brotha!

PM me your telephone number. ALl you have to do is come and get it.


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## Hurricane44 (Aug 16, 2006)

Sweet, thats what I'm talking about Firespyder! Thanks Ryan, PM on the way!

Cane44


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## Samurai (Nov 24, 2005)

After you run out of that batch,you might want to try finding someone in the roofing buisness.I got about 400# from a freind.They said it's used as flashing for the roof vents and stuff.The lead is very clean burning and seems to be very pure.It doesn't have babbot,pewter,etc...that 
wheel weights do.


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## damifinowfish (May 29, 2006)

*cheap lead*

Ok my thoughts

First

look in the yellow for metal recyclers. They buy and sell lead. Last winter I bought lead 100 pounds at a time for about .50 a pound. He mostly had lead pipe.

Second

Go get a electric hot plate of 1000 watts. An old heavy pot about one quart size that fits perfect on the burner. As others have said a small cup cake pan, a old corn bread mold, or my favortite a small donut mold to melt your lead into smaller sizes. I found the hot plate at the drug store for under ten dollars and the pot and molds at a thrift sale for a dollar a piece.

this is not the best way to pour lead into sinker molds put this is a cheap way of melting lead down to smaller uniform sizes.

third 

propane I have found does not get the lead hot enough for good pours in sinker molds. Plus is expense

good luck

damifinow fish


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## JIGMAKER (May 4, 2003)

The local recycler is the best place to go. The prices vary but last time I bought fifty pounds for thirty cents a pound. Any lead once melted is like new, just scrape the slag off the top.


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## Bobby38ark (Jun 5, 2007)

*Check out Ebay*

Check out www.Ebay.com, go to sporting goods, then fishing and type in the word LEAD, it will bring everything up, I bought 28 pounds for $30.00 and that was with shipping included, thats where I buy all mind. Hope it helps


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## Leithan (Oct 19, 2005)

Check out places that sell ammo reloading supplies, uselly in the Fall they will run sales on bags of bird shot, I picked up a 100 lbs of it for $5.00 a 25lb bag at a Gander Mountain.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Leithan said:


> Check out places that sell ammo reloading supplies, uselly in the Fall they will run sales on bags of bird shot, I picked up a 100 lbs of it for $5.00 a 25lb bag at a Gander Mountain.


That's cheap! About 20¢ per pound. Most of the bait shops in this area charge more than that per ounce for finished sinkers! You can save a lot by making them in bulk.


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