Homemade weight molds

[Damselfish]

reminds me of the guy we bought all our weights from...

My neighbors work with lead all the time. Have for generations. It has had no effect on them, right?

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[Peter_C]

the affordability of premade weights, I can't imagine why anyone would want to make their own.

Hmmm...FREE vs paying for lead...affordable for who? Lead is expensive. I just gave my friend 15 lbs of cast lead and a nice stainless weight belt buckle all free. We often recover lead from the ocean. Sometimes from lost ab diver weight belts and other times from fishing nets/weights. The webbing for it came from one of my other friends...for free. How much would that cost at a dive shop? Probably well over $100.

Some things just aren't worth doing. But to each his own.

Some things can't be bought! Not everyone has the skills/tools to make or repair equipment though.

 

[NotSure]

Lead has a density of about 11.4 grams per centimeter cubed which is some were around 0.41 pounds per inch cubed. If you take the width x length x height of your mold x 0.41 you should get the approximate weight resulting from your mold. For example if you want a 2 lb weight and the length of you mold is 3 inch and the width is 2 1/2 inch, the depth of lead you would need to pour is given by (2 divided by 0.41)divided by(3 times 2 1/2) = 0.65 inches. or (scuba weight in pounds / 0.41)/(length x width)= depth in inches.

Lead is even more dangerous to children and can cause severe brain development problems.

 

[rickym96]

They look good, now just cover them in rubber. Plenty of 2part rubber mixes out there.

Do you know any good brands?

 

[spectrum]

If you want to determine the volume from which to calculate the ultimate weight you can fill the mold with water and measure it with scale or measuring vessel. Molds will have draft angles to aid in release, corner fillets and other hard to calculate features. Using a spin on Archimedes will get you there.

Pete

 

[SeaHorse81]

Some weight systems work much better with a specific shape of weights and theire not always available. I notice this myself when travelling as my weight pouches wants "sheets of lead" not the commonly available "lumps". I kinda dont wanna travel with weights so I make due, but it IS noticeably less brilliant with the "wrong shape" weights, so I can definetly see why some would want to make their own non-standard shaped weights..

Admittedly, I hadn't thought of that. Personally, I'd still avoid handling the stuff if at all possible. As Pete alluded to earlier, the effects are nasty, and you don't see the worst of it until well after the fact. Best of luck to those who do it.

 

[Tigerman]

Admittedly, I hadn't thought of that. Personally, I'd still avoid handling the stuff if at all possible. As Pete alluded to earlier, the effects are nasty, and you don't see the worst of it until well after the fact. Best of luck to those who do it.

I would definetly take any precaution possible (such as ventilation, masks, gloves etc) when handling it myself as well..
The cumulative effects of lead poisoning is not something I want to test for myself.

 

[danielburns271]

this are really a great idea, a freebie for some divers

 

[SeaHorse81]

Oh, it's not free. Won't cost you $ but there are other prices far too easily paid and far more costly. Not to be taken lightly.

 

[Robert Gillcash]

I guess I am lucky to have aquired an older model of weight mold that is two parts, forms nice 2lb weights every time. Also, getting about 120 pounds of lead weights for free from my local Yamaha shop didn't hurt either. A few hours melting later - using a nice respirator - I have about 65 weights. Now, just gotta sell them to recoup my expenses.
Yes, there's a reason to make your own weights.
When I dive, I grab all the fishing weights I can find. Two reasons: one, I get free weight for the mold, two, reduces (yeah, by a negligible amount) the amount of lead in the ocean.