first attempt at making pirks

tonynufc

tonynufc

Well-known member
as the title says ive decided to have a go at this pirk making to save myself some cash and to put my own decorations on the wrecks this season.

it has cost me almost nothing to get set up, camping stove off a lad at work, gas bottle off a customer at work etc etc

as i work in a builders merchant i can get my hands on loads of FREE lead, loads of the customers bring any scraps they find for me, it doesnt matter if its the size of a 10p coin or half a roll of flashing i'll take it.

i quickly managed to gather about 40kg



anyway down to business, i already had a rough idea what to do but i still done as much research as i could.

things didnt quite go to plan but i wasn't expecting perfection on my first go.



i'm thinking this was the result of not pouring the lead directly into the hole, it was touching the sides of the pour hole so it was setting and blocking the hole?? any tips are more than welcome.

i plodded on trying my best and ended up with 5 of these.



and after putting some nice stickers on that i got with the pirk mould the finished cod catchers look like this



hopefully i'll beat my PB this season with one of these.

once i get my mould of norman for my weights that should be the end of me buying leads/pirks from the shops.
 
Making some as we speak Tony ( having a cuppa ) looks like your lead was not hot enough on the failed one ( I've had 4 today same , heat until straw colour ) . I paint mine but others don't , someone be along soon to advise better .

I have 250 pirks , 50 jumbo leadheads , 50 normal leadheads , 50 8oz weights , made up now ( been on since October mind �� )
 
Davem said:
Making some as we speak Tony ( having a cuppa ) looks like your lead was not hot enough on the failed one ( I've had 4 today same ) . I paint mine but others don't , someone be along soon to advise better .

I have 250 pirks , 50 jumbo leadheads , 50 normal leadheads , 50 8oz weights , made up now ( been on since October mind �� )
Click to expand...

i was thinking the lead wasnt hot enough so after a few of them failed i left it to heat up a bit more but it was still happening :confused:

ive had a very kind offer off one of the members off here to pop to his for a lesson so hopefully that will help me out. (i wont name him in case half the north east turns up at his door)

what paint do you use as im only using them stickers as they came with the mould
 
Last time I was on nesa ( 10 years ago ) I was told by the late ( and great ) Dave Brown to use " coovar "luminous and flouro Orange . myself and Richie had some great catches on these . It's not cheap mind 😱
 
Davem said:
Last time I was on nesa ( 10 years ago ) I was told by the late ( and great ) Dave Brown to use " coovar "luminous and flouro Orange . myself and Richie had some great catches on these . It's not cheap mind 😱
Click to expand...

i'll see how much i can get it for at work, we sell coovar paint but obviously not them colours and with my staff discount i'll be paying cost price +5% so it should be quite cheap
 
they are the same as I make, I put some glow in the dark tape on before the shrink tube. Also attached a mackerel spinner to the bottom which fished really well, in fact got my biggest fish on them last year. you can see them on my profile.
 
maybe an obvious stupid question, but if the first try was no good, then after that they were fine, was the mould 'pre heated', ?
 
Davey1970 said:
maybe an obvious stupid question, but if the first try was no good, then after that they were fine, was the mould 'pre heated', ?
Click to expand...

yeah the mould was pre heated, i had it sitting on top of the pan and i poured a couple before i started to put the clips in
 
Tony,

If you are using a camping stove with a 37mbar regulator they don't really get hot enough to melt lead in bulk i.e. more than a couple of kilos at a time. To make boat leads / pirks you really need a gas ring with a 1-2 bar industrial regulator. I use a gas ring and a blow torch at the same time to melt about 10kg at a time. It takes a few pours before the moulds get hot enough for a "clean" pour.

Have a look here:

http://www.nesa.co.uk/forums/boat-fishing/28728-team-slinky-lesson-metallurgy.html

ps

This is my second post after my last ever :D:D
 
Last edited:
KeithB said:
Tony,

If you are using a camping stove with a 37mbar regulator they don't really get hot enough to melt lead in bulk i.e. more than a couple of kilos at a time. To make boat leads / pirks you really need a gas ring with a 1-2 bar industrial regulator. I use a gas ring and a blow torch at the same time to melt about 10kg at a time. It takes a few pours before the moulds get hot enough for a "clean" pour.

Have a look here:

http://www.nesa.co.uk/forums/boat-fishing/28728-team-slinky-lesson-metallurgy.html

ps

This is my second post after my last ever :D:D
Click to expand...

cheers keith, a gas ring will be on my shopping list in the future, until then i'll make do with my little camping stove, its probably best i do it the way i am till i get the hang of it then i'll speed things up
 
Davem said:
Last time I was on nesa ( 10 years ago ) I was told by the late ( and great ) Dave Brown to use " coovar "luminous and flouro Orange . myself and Richie had some great catches on these . It's not cheap mind 😱
Click to expand...

Dave shhhhhhh Dont tell them!!!!!!! they are prehistoric in the north east!!!!!!!!!!!!

That will let the cat out of the bag!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I cover the inside of my molds with soot,, light a candle
and hold the mold over it and cover the inside of the mold,
something to do with the carbon deposit helps to lubricate
the lead ???, also keep the mold hot,, I leave the weight in
the mold untill Im ready to pore the next one,
hope this helps a little, cheers Tich
 
Cheers for the advice lads, I think where I've been going wrong is the temperature of the lead, I don't think it's been hot enough. I'm making some more now and I've heated the lead up more than yesterday and I've done 5 perfect ones so far
 
Davem said:
Last time I was on nesa ( 10 years ago ) I was told by the late ( and great ) Dave Brown to use " coovar "luminous and flouro Orange . myself and Richie had some great catches on these . It's not cheap mind 😱
Click to expand...
Got a price on the fluorescent orange at work today, it's about 70 quid for 5ltr, stuff that, I wanna catch fish but not that much
 

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