Metal Casting Zone

Hi there,

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask but.....

I am trying to make my own fishing spoons. For those of you who do not know what it is: www.make-your-own-fishing-lures.com/images/fishing-spoons.jpg

It has a concave body but a convex tapered end.

My plan is to make it out of thin metal sheets but I have no idea how to "mold" it into that shape. What im thinking is I gouge the spoon shape into a piece of 2x4 wood then lay a piece of oval metal sheet over it then hammer it until it takes on the shape. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

Again, I dont think this is the right forum to ask but, please help if you can!

Thanks in advance.

Hi Canucks

I know the items well I have simular items in my fishing tackel box.. As a jeweller for many years there is a steel block called a doming block.one design is like a large dice with perfectly shaped domes of different sizes. Large punches fit the domes in the steel block exactly ,sheet metal is placed in the dome block and shaped with the punches. This sounds similar to the way you intend to dome your lure. Maybe you could make up something for doming to the correct shape or find a large sinker mould may do to carefully shape your metal sheet tapping lighty to shape. You may need to anneal the metal spoon during doming and shapeing.

Thanks for your insight JOHNCAST. I tried carving the shape into a piece of wood, but it was impossible to get the right shape. There must be an easier way! I'll look into the doming block you were talking about. The only issue is that it seems like the metal sheet must be a round shape for it to be properly manipulated with the doming block. The problem is a fishing spoon is an elongated oval shape so Im not sure how thats going to work out...

I've never tried this but it seems if you had a dome diameter of about half the width of the spoon, you could manipulate it around to make the shape you want. A ball bearing about 1/2" dia might work for a 1" wide spoon.
Maybe, might work. Are you using copper, brass or steel? I've got some new polished brass ones I haven't tried yet but I cheated, I bought them at the tackle shop.

Hi Canucks
Yes the shape is more oval than round for your lure.

Ok Heres another idea. Mix some soft putty material, I use Millyputty mix the two parts 50 50 great for my model parts and sculpting figures, You have around 2 hours of work time to shape up and smooth off with a wet paint brush. If you were to mix and shape some material such as this, than let it harden, you can then finish shaping when set . File and sand to a smooth finish and then make a rubber RTV casting mould of this shape. No hammering of metal requiring expensive tooling. Johncast

I'm completely new to this so I think I need further explanation. What exactly do I do with the mould afterwards? I appreciate your help JOHNCAST!

Hi Canucks
Sorry I didn't explain some steps after the mould making and get back to you sooner. and Ive been working over the long weekend here in Sydney and haven;t been on the computer to view these sites...

Ok ,,You could make a mould then try to drop cast the item .. Just pour molten metal down a sprue you cut into the mould. Similar to the way things are done in the foundry. All you need is a ability to melt your alloy to cast. Fishing sinkers are made the same way. Surface texture could be a problem with this method.
The other way is to spin cast the item. the way I make my model componets,I know and have seen this process done for fishing lures and the results are very good. But you need a spin casting machine. The mould make for this process is also a lot greater in volume than one you would use for drop casting. Moulds are large disc of vlcanized rubber in two parts, the machine spins the mould at high revs ,500 to 700 rpm metal is poured into the centre of the spinning disc and the centrifugal force throws the metal into the cavity in the mould. If you only want a few of these spoon Canucks i think you might be best doming them up by hand. Hope this helps JOHNCAST.

a small leather pouch filled with sand or shot works well as a backer for hammering out shapes.

No need for an apology johncast! Thank you and to everyone else that contributed!