[fishing bum wannabe]

Pouring directly into the plug body works, I did it for years. You will ruin the occasional body, and the results are often inconsistant weighting. If you are doing one or 2 plugs, it may be the way to go. If you are doing a batch and are trying for a consistant result, it's not the best method.

Untill recently, body weights were not readily available. And if you are like me and don't like to shop mail order and are cheap, you make your own. You can also make sizes that you can't buy. I am making a lot of smaller plugs this year and the smaller size weights aren't available. Lead shot would work, but in Massachusetts you need a gun permit to get it. Go figure.

Belly weights are easy to mold. To make a mold, screw two small blocks wood together. 3/4" lumber yard pine works fine. The last ones I did were made out of scrap 1X5 pine, cut to 3" long, held together with 2 sheetrock screws in the middle and trimmed so both ends were flush. Scraps lying around your shop are best (I'm cheap).

Bore several 1/4" holes 1/4" deep along the center line where the blocks are joined. Using the depth stop on your drill press will keep all the holes the same depth and your weights all the same weight. Drilling into the end grain gives a better result. Using a brad pint or forstner bit helps keep the drill bit following the joint where the 2 blocks are screwed together. You can drill a second set of holes in the other end, doubling the yeild of the mold.

Pouring: Do this in a well ventilated space or better yet, go outside on a dry day! Don't melt lead in a closed space! Heavy metals are not good for your body! That said, clamp the block so that the holes are level and upright. Fill them with lead, overfilling the holes. Using an old or cheap chisel, scrape off the excess lead while it is still molten. This will give you a set of same sized belly weights without trying to pour into a round plug body.

I recently made a mold like this for belly weights. I used a 4' section of 4-1/2" pine. I cutoff and screwed a 4" block to the end, keeping the screws in the middle. Then using my cut off saw I trimmed the 1/2" off the end and cut the block off so that it was 3" long. I then bored 5 evenly spaced holes top and bottom along the center line. I wanted 2 different sized weights so I drilled different depth holes top and bottom. I did four pourings in 15 minutes yeilding 35 or so belly weights (they don't always come out perfect). Between each pour loosen the screws and knock the weights out. Wear Gloves! They solidify quickly but will burn you if you are not careful. Gloves will also limit your exposure to heavy metals. When they are cool, insert them in your plug with a some epoxy or other glue to keep them in place.

Hope this helps