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Today, many fishermen prefer making their own gear, but this is not associated with certain savings, although in this case it is also present. Basically, by creating sinkers with your own hands, you can make the size, shape and weight that the fisherman himself needs, based on his preferences and experience.

In principle, you can cast absolutely any sinker yourself, but if we are talking about a standard fishing rod, then there is no need to cast anything. It is enough to find a piece of lead that is suitable in weight and process it with a file or pliers. There will also be much the easier it is who combine fishing and hunting, because the almost finished sinker is a lead pellet, which is easily upgraded into a weight by making a small cut.

As for bottom tackle, sinkers of a certain shape and weight are needed. The material for such sinkers can be battery plates, from which lead is smelted and poured into a spoon scoop. When the lead has cooled, all that remains is to drill a small hole in the sinker (on the narrow side).

The casting of weights for spinning fishing deserves special attention, because such sinkers differ more complex shape than a tablespoon. That is why a special form is needed here.

When choosing a material for a casting mold, you should remember that a matrix that is easier to manufacture will quickly become unusable. As a rule, the most common material for such forms is gypsum or metal, where gypsum base is faster and simple option in the casting sinker, but at the same time it can withstand only a few castings.

The basis for the matrix can be an empty cardboard box, a matchbox or ordinary polystyrene foam, into which gypsum is poured (which should have the consistency of thick sour cream), and then an existing sinker is carefully pressed into it (but only to the middle) , pre-lubricated with oil or Vaseline. After complete drying,

We extract our sample and do the same procedure with the second half of the form. Next, you should cut a couple of grooves for air and a funnel for filling. A round needle file and a sharp shoe knife are ideal for this. For better adhesion and a tight fit, you should install a pair of pins on the mold, which can be made from ordinary wire, nails or bolts.

As for metal forms, you can make it yourself only if you have special equipment or order from friends who work at any enterprise that has metalworking machines. This matrix will serve you for many years and will an indispensable assistant in the manufacture of gear.

In today's difficult economic conditions It’s worth thinking about making your own gear and its accessories at home. Moreover, some necessary equipment It's very easy to make for fishing. Let's look at the process of making fishing sinkers.

To prepare for the manufacture of lead weights, we will need:

First we have to make a mold for casting lead sinker.

Making a mold for casting lead weights

Nothing complicated to make forms There are no weights for casting and even a child can do it. Now in detail and one by one about how to make a mold for filling sinkers.
1. Take the first one a plastic cup and cut it as shown in the photo.

2. Cut off the second cup.


3. Cut out the bottom with a heated knife or scalpel.


4. The cut part of the second cup with the bottom cut out should fit into the first cup as in the photo.


5. This is how the sinker for front-loaded spinners will be placed.


6. To lay the sinker, we will have to make a slot in the wall of the cup with a gap for the thickness of the wire lead of the sinker.


7. This is what it should look like.


8. Take gypsum powder and dilute it with water. Fill the first glass halfway with gypsum solution. All operations with plaster should be done quickly. Unlike cement, it sets quickly.


9. To add rigidity to the structure, we lay a mesh to seal the seams between the plasterboard slabs.


10. Fill the mesh with plaster up to the edge of the cup.


11. We wait until the solution begins to set and then place a sinker in the center so that it is immersed in the gypsum solution to half its thickness.


12. Wait for it to dry completely, this takes about 30 minutes.


13. Using a knife or scalpel, we make holes around the perimeter for proper alignment of the finished halves of the mold (you can use a drill and a drill bit).


14. Take liquid soap and apply it to the first part of the mold. This must be done to prevent the parts of the form from sticking together. Liquid soap can be replaced with any lubricant.


15. Insert the cut cup with a slot for the leash in the same way as in the photo.


16. Secure it with tape or tape.


17. Fill it up to half the height with gypsum solution.


18. Don’t forget to lay the mesh for rigidity.


19. Fill to the end.


20. Wait for the second half of the mold to dry completely for 30 minutes and separate both parts.


21. It will look like this.


22. Cut and remove the cups from the plaster parts of the mold for casting the sinkers.


23. Using a scalpel or knife, carefully pry up the sinker and pull it out.




24. The exact shape of the first half of the sinker should be like this.


25. This is what both parts of the form look like for sinkers. But it’s too early to consider them ready. Our form still lacks a channel for pouring lead and a channel for air outlet (for communication with the atmosphere); it is needed to prevent the formation of pores and cavities. The last channel must be of very small diameter, otherwise it will be filled with a large amount of lead. There is no need to rush to make these two channels. It is better to do them in a day, the plaster will be even stronger after this time.


26. On another form you can see these channels.


27. This is what the filler hole should look like from the outside when both parts of the mold are aligned.


28. Channels can be easily made with a scalpel or drilled with a drill.


29. We are finalizing the first part of the form for laying the leash with an eye.


30. Check the fit of the parts.


31. We make notches at the ends to secure the parts with an elastic band. This will make the process of casting the sinker easier.


32. Now ours form ready and you can proceed to casting the sinkers.

Casting a lead sinker into a homemade plaster mold

Casting sinkers into a plaster mold is very simple and quick.
1. Take a mold containing a wire leash with an eye and pour in molten lead. In the photo, the form is in the hands, this should not be done.


2. Lead is poured until it fills the entire cavity.


3. After cooling, disassemble the mold.


4. We take out the sinker.


5. We process the sinker with side cutters and a needle file (file). The process of making the sinker is complete.


In one hour you can make a large number of sinker various forms and different weights. It all depends on how many molds you have made and how much lead you have. This will save your fishing expenses. You can take lead for making sinkers from old ones. batteries or from the sheath of old electrical cables.

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The sinker is one of the consumable components of the tackle and often disappears along with the hook when biting large and strong prey. In stores, the cost of sinkers increases in direct proportion to their weight. Therefore, if catching large fish is carried out using several tackles, then purchasing sinkers becomes quite expensive.

At the same time, this element of equipment is quite simple to manufacture and practically does not require careful processing and complex preparation for use.

The material for the sinker is also quite common and accessible, so even complex sinkers can be made independently using appropriate blanks.

Simple options

The simplest thing is to make lead weights using a plaster or sand mold. This method has a number of undoubted advantages:

The use of lead and gypsum when making sinkers yourself has several significant nuances:

• at a temperature of about 200°C, water begins to actively evaporate from the gypsum, which leads to destruction of its structure and splitting of the product;
• lead is pressed into plaster when it hardens, which makes it almost impossible to remove the sinker without destroying the shape;
• gypsum blank has a large number of micropores, which leads to the need for polishing finished product.

When using sand instead of gypsum, the process of preparing the mold is greatly simplified, however, the requirements for the material of the box in which the workpiece will be located when pouring lead are increased; it is advisable to use a metal support. The product itself will be somewhat less aesthetically pleasing and will require serious polishing.

Making simple disposable molds

The fragility and destruction of the gypsum structure when water evaporates makes it difficult to use this material for reusable use. However, as a disposable and easy-to-make mold, gypsum is ideal.

To make a shape for a simple sinker you need:

The most in a simple way Making a cone-shaped sinker is to use a paper cone in the sand:

• A paper blank (a piece of paper rolled into a cone) is inserted into any container tightly filled with sand, inserted into the sharp end of the cone metal loop for a sinker;
• Lead is melted and poured into a paper cone;
• Part of the cone burns, but during this time the lead has time to cool a little and begin to harden;
• The cooled workpiece is removed from the sand and processed with a file.

You can use aluminum foil instead of paper.

The material for the sinker is also quite common and accessible, so even complex sinkers can be made independently using appropriate blanks

Forms for regular use

A plaster mold, even a very well made and dried one, will sooner or later collapse and you will have to make a new one or use a product suitable for frequent use.

Of course, for repeated use, molds made of heat-resistant steel or cast iron are best suited, but making these yourself is almost impossible. But cement is good for creating a melting mold, although this will require a little work.

Materials and tools for reusable uniforms:

• formwork material (wooden boards);
• liquid soap;
• cement;
• round file;
• fine sandpaper;
• clamp;
• cylinders for inserting into the filler hole;
• wire for making loops for the sinker.

For repeated use, molds made of heat-resistant steel or cast iron are best suited, but making these yourself is almost impossible

Making a reusable cement mold

Creating a cement mold is quite time-consuming, this is due to the relatively long hardening of the mixture.

The process of creating the form itself looks something like this:

1. Formwork is being made, preferably collapsible;
2. The inner surface of the formwork is covered with liquid soap and installed on flat surface, also treated with soapy water;
3. The formwork is filled with cement mortar;
4. Into cement that has not yet hardened, the desired workpiece is half-immersed;
5. The cement must harden completely, this may take 1-2 days;
6. After the cement has completely dried, the formwork is disassembled and reassembled for the next filling;
7. The first, frozen half, together with the protruding workpiece, is smeared with soap;
8. The second half of the mold is prepared, cement is poured into it;
9. First half with surface, covered with soapy water, is installed on the second part of the mold;
10. The cement hardens again;
11. After the cement has dried in both halves of the mold, with a round needle file, the central cone-shaped holes are bored out in each half for pouring lead, and two side channels are also made for air removal;
12. Surface of the mold for the sinker processed with sandpaper;
13. Before pouring the mold halves tightly held together with a clamp.

Molds for casting several weights

For faster work, you can make molds for several weights at once. For formwork, you can use a grille from neon lamps.

When preparing a mold for multiple pieces, additional assistance may be required as you may not have time to place all the pieces before the material used has cured.

• The porosity of the plaster mold and the tendency of lead to stick when curing can be significantly reduced using chalk or talc on the inside of the mold to fill voids and create a layer between the lead and the plaster.
• To increase the service life of the gypsum mold, you can impregnate and treat it from the inside with sealant to reduce water evaporation when pouring metal. It won't be durable, but it will probably last a few more uses.
• In the manufacture of small weights to create outlet channels You can use regular matches or nails, just stick them into the mold material before it hardens.
• Instead of soap solution And vegetable oil You can use silicone grease.

In today's post I would like to talk about such an interesting and popular topic among anglers as making your own fishing weights at home. Judge for yourself, hooks, spoons, wobblers, fishing lines and others essential elements gear or impossible make at home, or these are very complex, labor-intensive operations (which is easier to buy). And here make your own sinkers nothing easier and more profitable!

So the main one material for homemade sinkers - lead. Sometimes lead alloys with the addition of tin, cupronickel, etc. are used. But in general, lead is the basis. Lead combines several important qualities that provide it with leadership and complete hegemony in the fishing sinker segment:

- High specific gravity. Those. with the same volume, a sinker made of lead is much heavier than one made of steel, tin, aluminum and other popular inexpensive metals.;

— Quite low temperature melting - 327.4 ° C. Which is fully ensured by the fire of the fire, gas burner or slabs;

— Normal machinability. And although lead is mainly poured, it also produces some machining also not difficult (flatten, cut, saw, polish). Lead is ductile and soft.

Where can I get lead? Melt down old sinkers; use old battery plates, the protective sheath of some wires, look for other options - there are a lot of them.

To cast sinkers yourself- need a form. I never really bothered serial production loaded So, I made molds from scrap materials.

— Homemade blind bottom sinkers or weights for rubber donkeys are ideally cast in a regular tablespoon. Then, drill a hole in the top of the load and mount it on the tackle.

— Homemade sliding sinkers for donks and weights. Personally, I cast in cardboard molds (matchboxes) and in a wooden hollowed-out mold. Of course, it is better to make neater weights in plaster molds, but... I use round chisels to hollow out a recess in the shape of the weight. I cut grooves for the axle. I place a nail or a piece of wire into the recess. I melt the lead in a spoon or other container (an aluminum ladle with a handle, a tin can, etc.) and pour it into the “heaped” recess. When the load freezes, I remove the nail using pliers. It turns out great homemade sinker for donkey.

Possible at a quick fix make an eared eccentric weight for spinning fishing. Just twist the ears out of wire and clamp an ordinary seal of the required weight onto them.

If you are going to cast sinkers thoroughly and in large quantities, you can get steel or plaster molds for casting sinkers. So, you can make plaster molds yourself. For the sample, use commercially produced sinkers.

For home-made eared sinkers they use handicraft factory molds made of steel.

A little about safety self-made lead weights. Lead fumes are harmful. So, if you are casting a serious batch of sinkers, do it outdoors or indoors with good exhaust. But if you cast literally a few weights and not often, then you can do this with a regular gas oven Houses. Just be careful not to spill hot lead on yourself and the decoration of the apartment, furniture... Go for it!

Most anglers, when equipping their fishing rods, are faced with the need to load the bait. Both bottom fishers and spinners have to weigh down their rigs or artificial fish so that they quickly reach the bottom or fly far. Sometimes during a fishing trip you can leave your entire arsenal of fishing weights in a catchable but snagged area of ​​the reservoir. Some amateurs do not have the financial means to constantly replenish lead supplies, while other fishermen find it difficult to get to specialized stores. In such cases, molds for casting sinkers will come to the rescue. Due to the low melting point of lead and its availability, the necessary cargo can be cast directly on the shore of the reservoir. What types of weights are there?

Molds for casting from different materials

Fishermen make lead sinkers with equal success with their own hands, using factory-made or homemade molds. Basically, most designs differ in the material of manufacture. The most commonly used materials are plaster, wood, aluminum or steel.

• Disposable forms can even be made from thick paper. Many novice anglers know how to make a lead sinker for bottom fishing using a tablespoon. It is enough to pour molten lead into the concave part of a tablespoon to get a neat workpiece. All that remains is to make a hole, and the load can be installed on the donk.
• Simplest form for casting, the sinker can be made from a piece wooden slats 5-10 mm thick. Using a hacksaw and a knife, you need to make two halves of the future shape in the form of an oval or diamond. Now all that remains is to place both halves on a flat wooden or metal surface and secure them with clamps or simple stands. In the case of a sliding load, it is necessary to place a steel wire with a thickness of 0.8-1.0 mm inside. You can pour lead.
• Often fishermen are faced with the problem of how to make a mold for lead sinkers according to an existing sample. For example, every spinner should have a popular type of jig head called “Cheburashka”. And it’s not difficult to make an eared sinker based on a store sample if you make a plaster mold. To fill the creamy solution, you can use 2 regular matchbox. First, one box is filled with the dough-like mass, after which up to half of the “Cheburashka” is immersed in plaster.

• As soon as the material dries, a similar operation should be done with the second part of the mold. When the plaster dries in it, all that remains is to combine the two halves, make a hole for pouring and a side hole for air to escape. In opposite corners of matchboxes are made through holes for wire pins or nail. After such fixation, the halves will not move, maintaining an even spherical figure.
• The most durable sinker molds are made from aluminum or steel. But you won’t be able to make it well on your own. The help of experienced millers and mechanics will be required. Let's look at the technology for making a steel mold for your favorite Cheburashka.
  1. First of all, you will need 2 metal bars with a thickness of 20-25 mm. The width and length depend on the size of the future load and the number of simultaneously cast products. The joining surfaces must be made even and smooth.
  2. Hemispheres can be made using special spherical burrs. After this, it is important to accurately align both halves, for which you can use ball bearings.
  3. Next on drilling machine holes are made for the pins, bleeders and filler necks. Inside one of the halves it is necessary to make recesses for the wire ears.

Sinker casting process

When a mold for casting sinkers finally appeared, questions related to pouring lead appeared. The ease of making a weight depends to some extent on the quality of the mold. But if you know some of the nuances of working with lead, then everything will work out with both a homemade and a Chinese form, as well as with a product from the Spinmag company.

Before you begin heating lead, there are a few preparatory steps you need to take. If there are wire elements, it is necessary to cut the required section, bend it and carefully place it in the mold. Internal surfaces The molds into which the molten lead will fall must be lubricated. Then it will be easier to remove the cooled sinker.

Tested in practice! The best lubricant is lard. It is enough to rub a piece of sandpaper over all the depressions to make it easier for the finished product to come out of the mold.

All that remains is to assemble the structure and secure it with special clamps, bolts or pins.

• Lead can be smelted at any time tin can. Using pliers, you can make a narrowed part (beak) to obtain a thin stream of melt. To make it convenient to put a kind of ladle on the fire and remove it from it, it is better to make a bend in the side at the top of the jar.
• Many anglers use battery lead. Melting it at home is dangerous and harmful. Therefore, it is first necessary to make the first melt on the street, pouring a clean fraction, for example, into a spoon. And you can work with pure lead in the kitchen by first turning on the hood. You can also immediately use weights removed from fishing nets.
• If a fisherman has few forms, but wants to make a lot of weights with different weights, then you can experiment a little by adding tin to the lead. These two metals melt well and mix with each other. And the resulting sinkers will be lighter than those made from pure lead.
• When the metal melts in the ladle, you need to wait a little longer for the temperature of the melt to increase. Then the metal will not harden during the casting process.
• It is important to pour hot lead evenly, without stopping. Otherwise, there may be air gaps and unevenness.

Attention! You can disassemble the mold only after it has completely cooled. This primarily applies to metal structures.

• Lead is soft material. Therefore, flash and burrs can be cut off with a regular knife. Excess metal, which inevitably forms in the filler holes, is removed with wire cutters. A fine file will give the surface a smooth appearance.

Many anglers note that brand new sinkers work worse than tarnished similar models. Therefore, home-made products can first be treated in vinegar (24 hours). Then lower the sinkers into a saturated solution of potassium permanganate for a day.

Today, fishermen can purchase ready-made forms in specialized stores or make them with their own hands. Using these devices correctly, you can get a rich arsenal of fishing sinkers and heads.