LedHed

Have a well used SH9-6-1438 - you should be able to pour it (bottom feed) with wheel weight lead, soft would be better, but medium soft should be no problem.

Mik It?s not a good idea to use your cooking stove for curing powder paint ? you should buy a cheap toaster oven. Think Columbia Coatings or Pro-Tec has a warning posted on their site about using kitchen stoves. If you are referring to Quick Coat by Colorite you are using some tough stuff to work with. The color combinations are great and that might be the problem because, of the formulation, the paint tends to clump. That?s when you get bulges, runs, and drips. If you are using standard colors, you might want to reduce your cure temp and increase the time. To apply your paint, you might want to use the makeup/paint brush or the film canister technique ? it gives you a thinner coat. Try mixing QC with PT clear coat ? don?t know why but it makes the QC easier to work with. Made up some jigs using QC/PT black diamond mix with an overcoat of CC illusions ? very nice effects. Columbia Coatings has a lot of good info about powder paint formulations and they have a large selection of paint. Pro Tec/Netcraft is probably the easiest (most $) to use.

You might want to try Lake Perris also.

Salty Three books you should check out, that will really help you out with big game lures are; Fishing Hawaii Style, Volume 2, and Volume 3, by Jim Rizzuto. Lots of good stuff, covers inshore and offshore.

Sounds like the lead you were adding to the hot lead was too cold and the smoke you were getting was from ?remnants? on the lead.

Mik Talk about lucky ? someone is watching over you. CJ If you ever get up here, got a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights and a sheet (about 24lbs.) of soft lead you can have.

Looked at the Gamakatsu jig hooks and; the retail prices are great, 4 quantity options, free shipping on $100+ order, and a 30 day money back guarantee ? wow!

Are the Boggs and Thompson wire benders the same? I have two Thompson wire benders that look the same as a Boggs (in a picture ? don't have one to compare). One of the Thompson's came with a huge lot of extra parts (cranks, heads, etc.). Both have fly-tying vises mounted on them ? one vise is a Herter's and the other is a Thompson vise.

Freshwater ? wade and float tube Saltwater ? wade, pangas, cruisers and cattleboats

Excellent work - balancing is fantastic. Talk about raising the bar....

Nice looking spinner. Do you fish it in fresh or saltwater?

Wow Markell ? sounds like you were way lucky, well, at least you didn?t get burned. I agree with Rich about the moisture ? condensate maybe. How did the clean up go? Pot OK? Thanx for the reminder on safety.

Nice tutorials ? looking forward to seeing more.

Cheesehead You might considering in investing in a bottom feed pot. Lot easier to use, safer, and would speed up your production. You have to be extremely careful with melted lead. Lots of good info in the archives.

JIM Don't make bows, maybe one of these days, lucky I can do arrows. Really enjoy collecting them though. Got some nice Fred Bears in the bunch, a few laminates/composites, but most are various wood bows from the 20's and 30's. Seminole Fan The bow and hunting subject was two months ago??

Machined a stem mount and welded up some aluminum flat stock for a base. The head was ordered separate.

Modified the FB3 - shaft is cut off and channel stock added so the head can tilt up and down. Custom base and stem made out of 316 stainless steel.

My girlfriend said I have too many vices. Had to tell her I collect vises and that she is the vice.

JIGMAKER Do you think it's tough enough for saltwater?

Check out thrift stores and swap meets. You can pick up all kinds of ?pouring equipment?. I?ve found cups (Pyrex and metal), stirrers, and single burners costing next to nothing.

You might want to try powder paint on your jigs. Check out the tutorial.

So - how do you fish it to catch kids? troll? is there a size limit on kids?

A warm (~70 F) Merry Xmas from So Cal. Safe and happy holidays to all.

Nathan Have been there also (twice in one week) ? what a crappy feeling. Insurance never covers what?s taken. Be glad that you and your family are safe. I hope the best for you and yours and hope even more for the low life scumbag(s) a Xmas in a jail cell with Big Bad Bubba.

Pop What is the brand of mold are you using? The older style molds (Palmer, Ament, and Herter?s) will give you headaches. Try loading your mold, close it, and hold it snuggly up to a light source. Turn it side ways so you are looking at the sprue holes or the opposite side. If you see a thin white line it?s probably the hooks. A slightly oval line could be warped mold. If you are going to ?grind? ? less is best. Oiling the hinges is good.