I drill a five eighths inch hole
Cut off a strip of lead roof flashing a bit longer than the depth of the hole and roll it up into a slug.
The 6" wide flashing when rolled quite tightly just fits into the hole.
Coat the inside of the hole with Araldite adhesive and then with a ball pein hammer and a bolt for a drift whack it so it compresses the lead and spreads it into the hole.
Trim off the excess lead and trim with a sharp knife or chisel.PS. I make the priests and let them dry out for a month or so. There's nothing worse than trying to drill into wet end grain.
Hi Robin, In your first picture (drilling) what is in the plastic container to the left of the flashing?
ReplyDeleteThey're floating nightlights!
ReplyDeleteI put them there out of Jed's way. Good for rubbing on saws, drills, planes etc.
Robin,
ReplyDeleteexcellent post. I make and sell priests on a regular basis (I try to have one on the stand) but so far have not loaded them with lead - on the basis I'm happy to use any old piece of wood when I am fishing so why carry extra weight around. But I will try your method, it looks really neat and some folks do want the weight. Tho in my view it's better to hit the right place with a sharp tap than bludgeon the fish to pieces. I tend to make to a 19th century design I found in the TATHS hall at the Amberley museum which is more of a cone shape than a bat.
Do you know if people ever melted the lead and poured it into a hole? Lead has a low melting point. Nice priests by the way.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Mark only ever catches small fish, you need a good weight priest on a 20 pounder.