Hello, I have come across a set of, what I think are, fishing weight molds. Personally I have never seen these before and they have really sparked my curiosity.

I used to go fishing with my father when I was a little kid and would like to get back into it now I am older. Especially now I have a little more time, and a son of my own. I found these molds and thought it would be a fun little extra project to try and invest us both in the fishing process a little more. I remember fishing is as much about the kit and the camaraderie, as about the relaxing and the fight.

But my question is, what metal are fishing weights made from?

Because I remember when I was a kid, we used to be able to buy these kits that had these thick rubber molds in them. For making these amazingly detailed dungeon and dragons characters. The kit came in two halves and had a very similar little pan, as pictured, that you melted the metal in over the stove top.

The two halves were clamped together with a thick bit of board on each side and a really huge rubber band around the lot. And I remember casting loads of these little characters as a kid. But that metal was lead and so I think they got rid of these kits for kids, because of the toxicity.

So these fishing weight molds look very similar, except they are metal instead of rubber. But is the metal you melt and cast with still lead? Or is there some clever, safer modern alloy for making fishing weights now-a-days?

I really wanted to make these fishing weights with my son and also trust him to be responsible and let him even make them on his own, if he wanted. Like I used to cast the little models when I was a kid. But really I don't want either of us to be around molten lead fumes, if that is the only metal you can make these out of.

So would be cool to get an opinion of anyone who has good experience of making these fishing weights. What is the safest metal to use and where can you get it? Also, if lead is the only metal to use, maybe, if you could, suggest the best safety precautions?

Thanks in advance
Ken