jigmaster

800-723-8508 Talk to Harry Simmons. The man has forgotten more about hooks than I will ever know. www.daimonlures.com

Well, best get yourself a back-up...........ha. I have two pots.... when we get to cranking out jigheads, they both are running at the same time. Streamer, did you hit the lansing show last weekend? Just returned from the Grand Rapids show.......lots of people, and lots of junk tackle. I am a bit more discriminating nowdays, I will admit that.........lol Regards www.daimonlures.com

Tis a fine looking color. I am quite surprised at how easily the powder actually mixes to make custom colors. My wife is a creative genius, and she routinely mixes unusual head colors from the basic colors. Most recently, the soon-to-be-famous "Road Kill Kamo", or something quite close. Good stuff. A guy needs a bit of right brain, when all mine does is operate from the left quadrant...... : ) www.daimonlures.com

Well, that is certainly good news that you got some fish on the swap baits. Keep us informed as to your successes.....it is still winter here in the arctic circle...(michigan)......we are currently wishing/praying for spring. Regards Jigmaster www.daimonlures.com

Tally, CSI does not sell to the public. They have a 50 min order level. I recently purchased several pounds of paint from them.....yes, pounds. Need to be a legitimate business, however, to buy. DEFINITELY is worth buying in bulk.

Just sifted through the swap package.........you all make some really nice stuff out there. I am impressed by the workmanship, and the talent that frequents this board. Markell, I like the looks of your jigs. The skirting on the pumpkin jig is Kamoflash, yes? Outstanding, all.........lets do it again soon! Jigmaster

Depends on the color..........some are mixed, yes. My wife is the color guru..........she just mixed up a batch of powder that is a dead ringer for the infamous Road Kill Kamo that is gaining in popularity.

I believe your info is right about shortys Call there, and talk to harry simmons. The guy is a hook encyclopedia. He has forgotten more about hooks than I will ever know. Regards Jigmaster www.daimonlures.com

CJ YEs, the EC will work. Tell you what, though.......that Mustad Black Nickel 32786 is one EXCELLENT hook.........I use it in a variety of applications..... (not the snootie)....no complaints! How them collars working out for you?

Hey Basskat I do the same thing. Have had no problems pouring buzzers and spinnerbaits from my 10 pounder. I now smoke the mold before I even start, eliminates the inevitable short pours. No problem at all.

Mr. CJ I gather from your post that you do not have a Lee Prod, IV.........I pour alot of buzzer bodies for a customer of mine, and the mold, with the buzz wire sticking out of it, does not fit under my 20 pound pot. It does, however, fit under my 10 pound pot. So, do some cost justification, and buy yourself a 10 lb lee pot, too. Trust me. Jigmaster www.daimonlures.com

Lead.....the relentless pursuit of the Holy Graille of jig making. I used to get it where ever I could scrounge it........scrap yards, tire shops, etc. Consequently, some of the lead I ended up with was less than desirable......20% junk, etc........would keep cloggin up the pot. This week, I hit the motherlode........a friend of a friend......had access to a closed down gun shop locally......the owner had passed away. He was an avid reloader of pistol and rifle rounds. Guy wanted to get rid of this lead, so I went to check it out. Walked away with 277 lbs of pure lead, in bullet form, as well as a 1/4 diameter wire on spools. BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, I am set for a few weeks. Ha

YEs, that talk is starting in more places all the time. There are viable alternatives, but the cost per lure is much higher. Tin, which is roughly 2/3 the density of lead, is an option. I believe it will melt at a lower temp that lead....(may be mistaken there).....would make a lighter jighead if you were using your current molds......which isnt all that bad of a thing. Tungsten is out there, as well as steel, but not sure about the processing of such materials. Have not experimented yet. Jigmaster www.daimonlures.com

It helps. I have a Lee 4, and a Lee 4-20, and use the bigger one all the time. The flow adjust works ok, but I dont use it much. I have found that a very hot mold will do the trick for smaller heads. I pour ALOT of small heads, so lots of trial and error experience....ha I will open up the valve, and pass the mold under the spout, filling all cavities without stopping, (instead of individually)......when finished, you will have a long gate sprue, with all of the heads connected to it. Simply twist them off, and put the long sprue back in the pot. It is much more efficient that trying to hit each cavity. Also, the 4-20 pot has a plunger (it is part of the flow control system) that allows for quick cleaning of the valve in the event that it drips......which it does alot. Twist that plunger with a screwdriver (it has a slot in the top of it), and it will (temporarily) clean out whatever piece of crud is stuck in the valve.

I pour spinnerbait and buzzbait forms for customers, and typically use Mustad Ultra-Point BLN hooks......32606 to be exact. For the money, I think that Ultra-points are the best hook around. My .02 Jigmaster www.daimonlures.com

Yeah, I bought a mold from them a couple of months age. The mold is ok, but their customer service left ALOT to be desired. It took them almost three weeks to deliver the mold.........paid them thru paypal, and a three week lag between payment and delivery. E-mailed them a couple of times, and got no response. Finally, rec'd an e-mail from them telling me the mold shipped. Not very impressive.

Just responded to this in the other thread. I have tried this approach. I pour ALOT of heads, and am always looking to cut down on my mfg time. I found that the lead would cool down too quickly. By the time I removed the head, twisted the sprue and dipped in the paint, the finish I got was not the nice gloss that powder will do give you. Means that the lead is too cool for the paint to adhere and cure. I though it would work at first, but I could not get it to go. PErhaps, if you had a heat gun set up between your lead pot and a painint station, and reheated the head just enough and then dipped.....

I tried that awhile back. Took the head, right after it hardened, broke the sprue and dipped. the lead would harden and cool too fast, and I would not get a good coating on the paint. Would not cure well enough. Now, if you could figure out a way to do this, it would save ALOT of mfg time downstream, that is for sure. It may work on bigger heads, but small heads, cooled down too quickly.

I believe that I could do some worm nose jigheads with that style of hook in them, if anyone is interested. It would seem to me, if you had that style of hook for a jig/pig combo, that the trailer may tend to ride up on the curve of the hook. May get in the way of a hookset. I've not tried them, just an observation. Owner makes a similar hook, that is available in 4/0 and 5/0. If anyone is interested, I can give a quote on bulk in that wormnose head. Let me know Jigmaster

Lots of options. Minnow head molds would work here. I am rather partial to large hooks on even small heads.........like a 3/0 hook ona 1/8 oz head works for me. A good ole' ball head works ok, too. Lots of folks tie hair jigs on old fashioned ballhead jigs.

Takes only a few seconds for the lead to harden. That does not mean that it is cool to the touch. Grab the head by the gate sprue with a pair of pliers, and at the same time, twist the sprue off, and put it back in the pot. That way, you dont have to handle the heads twice. Then simply place the head on your work surface, and let it cool off. YOu do not need to wait for each head to cool prior to removing it from the mold. If you did that, you would get very few done. If you get accomplished at it, you can pour 4-5 heads a minute, from a single cavity.

I have a Pro Series 101 mold, for 1/32 ball heads.no collar. I think the "Pro-Series" thing is geared towards high volume molding. There is no difference in the quality of the casting that is produced. It is for high-volume pouring. 7 cavities of the same size head. I have two Lee pots that I run......I have poured literally thousands of heads in the above-mentioned mold from a bottom-spout.......makes no difference. The smaller heads sometimes will pour better with a ladle than a bottom spout, but that is something that I have mastered.

Good morning I do not fish buzzers much, butI do pour the lead forms for some tackle makers, and the trend is to smaller buzzers, it would seem. I pour alot of 1/8 and 1/4 buzzers, which seem to sell quite well at tackle shows, etc. I also use premium hooks on the buzzers.........Mustad Ultra-points in 3/0 and 4/0 sizes for 1/8 and 1/4 buzzers.

I pour alot of lead, and my suggestion to you would be MAKE IT SAFE. Wear eye protection ALWAYS>..............keep all mositure away from the molten lead.........it will splatter all over you if you mix water and molten lead. GEt your mold hot. Lead will flow better, and you will have less incomplete shots. If still having problems with complete shots, "smoke" the cavity with a candle..........get the cavity full of carbon.......will assist in lead flow. Take your time, and BE CAREFUL. My hands show burn scars from trying to hurry things along. Let us know how you do!

Not that I know of. I bought some collar tubing and now cut my own. It is ALOT cheaper than puying them already cut. You can customize them to your length preference, also. I bought the tubing from a collar mfg. His production scraps.