|
If you do a lot of fishing and need many jigs you can easily make a permanent mold which will last for years. All you do is go through the same steps in making the plaster halves. When the plaster mold is dry you carve out the groove and slot for the hook as well as the pouring hole and then send both halves to a foundry and have them copied in bronze. When you get the bronze halves back you must smooth the inside or the cavity with emery cloth. The bronze mold can be held together with a C-clamp for pouring. Or, if you have the tools, you can tap holes in both sections of the bronze mold and add a hinge and handles. You can also buy ready-made metal molds complete with handles, in different sizes, weights, and shapes. When one takes into consideration how many thousands of jigs they will turn out over the years they are well worth the cost. In fact, it is often cheaper to buy one of these ready-made molds than to bother making your own permanent metal mold. Unless, of course, you have a special jig design you want to use. Then the best idea is to make up a few of those jigs, using a plaster mold. If they turn out O.K. you can then have a permanent mold made at a foundry. But for ordinary fishing purposes you can usually make all the jigs you need with a plaster mold.
|
