Lead beads?

[Buddy Sanders]

After seing Jim's question about tungsten, and the responses to my questions about it also, I came up with another question.

We have lead wire for weighting. We have lead dumbbell eyes for weighting.

We have brass beads, brass coneheads, tungsten beads, tungsten coneheads.

Why haven't I seen lead for these uses? Certainly doable. The lead slip sinkers beloved of plastic worm fishermen are just lead coneheads slightly larger/longer.

Lead is heavier than brass. It's cheaper than tungsten or brass. There is no question that it would work, it's the material of choice for jig heads of all sizes, from 1/180 ounce up to pounds. And that's really what adding a weight behind the hook eye of any hook does, turn it into a jig.

The environmental health issues aside, why aren't these readily available?

Anyone know?

Buddy

[hap]

It's all about finish, Buddy. The only real option is paint and it would come off pretty quickly when bouncing around on the rocks.

I think I will make a punch-form and see if I can form them as quickly and easily as I think I can. Using linotype the beads would be slightly lighter, but much harder.
art

[Jeff Clough]

I'll add that I have a few old tying books (seventies era) that deal with beads, but don't mention lead. My guess is that there are properties more important than weight at work here. Hap suggested "finish" in his post, so maybe it's as simple as paints/glazes/whathaveyou just don't bond to lead in an an acceptable way.

Personally, I haven't done any work with bead heads yet, so the above is nothing more than supposition.

[Jayatwork]

Well it isn't exactly a bead and this recipe specifies lead-free shot, but I am pretty sure the original used lead. Anyway this pattern came to mind when you mentioned lead beads.

http://www.west-fly-fishing.com/fly-...hernworm.shtml

[redietz]

Another possibility is that lead with a conical hole drilled in it might deform when shipped in bulk, rendering some of the beads useless. And drilling those holes in the first place might be harder if whatever jig holds the bead deforms it.

Pure speculation on my part.

[flywatersmallie]

I would agree with the shipping issues. Lead is really soft and I could see a lot of beads being flattened in shipping. Also, the harder paints for them (read the ones that stay on) require heat. Lead has a low melting point as well. The dumbell eyes are just painted with enamel so that's no big deal. To paint a lead bead and have it stay that color would be next to impossible

[Normand]

melting point of lead is 621.5 F

how about powder painting

http://tjstackle.com/

[hap]

Another possibility is that lead with a conical hole drilled in it might deform when shipped in bulk, rendering some of the beads useless. And drilling those holes in the first place might be harder if whatever jig holds the bead deforms it.

Pure speculation on my part.

Yeah, it might be speculation, but I bet it is absolutely spot-on!

Lead swages so easily I am certain they would just put a bead in a mold, press it, and remove a beadhead with hole in place...

[Buddy Sanders]

I used to pour/make bass fishing jigs, slip sinkers, spinnerbaits, etc.. with common lead molding equipment.

I would not be difficult for the home hobbyist to do if the molds were available.

I used several type of paints to finush the lead heads and sinkers. Including powder paint. Once applied, the powder paints, two part epoxies, and the vinyl paints both bond to the lead strongly and hold up to use well.

As Hap mentioned, making a swaging jig for lead to form either a bead or conehead from lead wire would not be hard to do if you have the equipment to make such a thing. I had an old friend, long deceased, that made such a contraption to turn spent .22 long rifle casings into jacketed rifle bullets back during WWII. There was bullet shortage, he was a varmint shooter, and when he couldn't buy jacketed bullets for his high velocity rifle, he figured out how to make them.

I get that deforming in shipment would seem to be a problem, but I see lead 'bullet' shaped worm weights in sizes from 1/32 ounce to over one ounce in packages shipped all over the country without damage. Many seem to be coming in from overseas now, and they seem to survive the shipping just fine.

Anyone know a tool and die maker? I'd love to have a swaging jig and dies to make a couple of sizes of lead cone heads from 1/8" lead wire (I have a large spool of that in my shop).

Buddy

[afishinado]

Back before beads were used, Gary LaFountaine had a pattern the used a lead split shot at the head of the fly. You simply put the SS on the shank of the hook, put a drop of super glue or Zap-a-Gap inside and squeeze it closed with pliers. It works.

As far as painting lead, there is no problem at all with doing that. Go to the tackle shop and look at all the lead-headed painted jigs available there.