reeves

Happy Birthday to you Dean. Celebrate and enjoy, and may you be blessed with many more.

Plain and simple, remove them first. As you know, you must heat the jig before applying the powder paint. The heat will melt the eyes, assuming they are 3-D eyes. If they are flat stick-on eyes, they may burn and the adhesive will melt making quite a mess. If the eyes are painted on, you can probably get away with powder coating over them. Hope this is of some help to you.

Garret_21, The pictures of the skirts on his website don't really do the product he has any justice at all.You just won't find a better skirt for the money out there and the service is fast. Give Charles a call, you will not be sorry.

PM sent

Obviously you did not care for the man. I couldn't stand to watch golf until Tiger got going. Guys like this make the game interestiing and draw fans out of their hiding places. Favre was ONE of the best QB's ever, just as Adrian Peterson will be for the Vikes (a Sooner I might add).

Tman2, You didn't state what size in oz and hook. David Aery with Hook Solutions makes them with recessed eyes in all sizes. He should be logging on here soon and may reply to this post.

Guy, I think what you need is a piece of brass rod or wire, the lead won't stick to it. Another hint, keep a bar of handsoap on your workbench, before inserting the brass wire in the mold - run it across the handsoap. This will act as a release agent for the wire to be removed easily. Good Luck.

I would go with the red marker. Haven't had any problems with scratches on them. I have done many melt downs of bad casts and just take care in removing all the lead so as not to scratch the finish. Also, I bake them all the time with the highest temp being 400 degrees with no bad effects.

I also use the clear fingernail polish over the 3-D eye. On spinnerbaits I'll dip the whole thing in clear lacquer, that eye won't go anywhere.

Bronzefly, First of all, welcome aboard, your insanity is about to begin. As for the spinnerbaits, I don't have the web addresses close to me but do a Google search and you will get them easily. For top notch blades and swivels, it's the Worth Company. Contact them and have them send you a catalog as well as browse their on-line store. For wire, I use Mustang Wire in Oklahoma, and I only use pre-bent/formed wires, they should have the size you are looking for. If you are really set on bending your own, they can sell you the wire. A very inexpensive tool for this is the 'little blue bender' and I am pretty sure you can find it a Barlows Tackle. For hooks, it is Shorty's Hook Sales in Missouri, they carry all the top brands and can direct you to the long shank hook you need. You will also need skirts for your baits, hands down it is www.fishingskirts.com . Some of these companies may require that you have a Federal Excise Tax registration number to make purchases with them. If you strike out with any of them, just post a reply and someone will re-direct you to a vendor that you won't need one. Good Luck.

Assuming that everyone read the entire thread, it began a little over a year ago. I was the third to accept the offer of a free logo, sent him a pm of what I would like in a logo and never got a even a reply back from him. Don't know about any of the other members who requested one, if they received any replies or let alone a logo. Would like to hear some responses if you did. In my book this guy was a big 'ZERO', a 'NO SHOW' and shouldn't have wasted everyone's time. Then too, maybe I am the only one not to get a logo, so let's hear it from you guys, did you get one or not?

No, it's not too late. You can bake them next year and the results would be the same. Try dropping one after you bake and see if it chips then . . . . . much tougher.

Kevin, Go to www.bst-lures.com he has them all at pretty good prices. Contact Brad for large quantities, he will take care of you.

MonkeyHunter, I think they operate out of San Diego but their manufacturing facility is across the border in Mexico. Don't know that you would save a bunch of money, but they sure will. If it were me, I'd post an inquiry on TU for what you are after. Shop here in the States for products made here in the States, help our economy get stronger, we need it!

Cal, I have never ordered on-line from the website, always by phone. That 3-6 week message must be like Ol' Mike stated, to cover himself. I always have everything on a couple of days. If it don't show in a reasonable time, give Charles a call and see what is up with the order.

Vman, I have little experience with it, and what little I do have wasn't good. I bought some from Contenti with the intention of making a master part for a jig. The stuff took forever to set, which the instructions stated like 16 hours. Once set and after several days before I tried to use it, it was still too flexible for me. When clamping the two halves very lightly together, it distorted the shape of the part. The RTV I had was too soft for my liking and I was unaware that there were different hardnesses to it. I am sure that much of the failure was my doing, but a bad experience none the less.

Those all look real good to me. I think I saw the one at the bottom wriggling it's way out of the picture. Good job, keep up the great work.

You need a telflon pin the size of the hole diameter. Here is how it is used. Heat the jig, insert the pin, dip in powder, remove the pin, bake to cure, glue in your weedguard. What size is the hole? If it is 1/8", I can send you a coulple of pieces, otherwise you would have to buy about 10', and it is not cheap.

With that kind of volume you may want to consider connecting with someone who does spincasting. There are several of us on this site, myself being one. Once you get past the price of making a master and molds, the cost is very viable. Most of us are very busy this time of year, but new business is always welcome. Think about it.

I use both of these colors from Pro Tech in fluid beds. I have found the black one of the easiest to apply. Now the watermelon is a different story. I find it difficult to fluidize in the fluid bed, difficult but not impossible. All colors will be of different consistencies I think mainly due to the pigments needed to make that particular color. Don't be afraid of them, practice and become used to each one. The criticism should be withheld for the finished product.

Hey Tony, fear not, ya done good man, keep it up.

ak, I concur with Ted. I use ProTec's clear and it works very well in a fluid bed. I must have close to a dozen cups of clear with different colors of flake in them. I will paint my bait in one fluid bed with the base color, and immediately go to the next fluid bed with the clear/flake, bake to cure. I often wondered what temp to cure at since the clear cure temp is much lower than the colors. I always use the higher color temp rather than the lower clear, right or wrong, it seems to work. It is awesome over black BTW.

I agree with Sterling. Why should he get a discount? Is he going to sell them cheap, or mark them up? Be careful not to sell yourself too cheap just for the sake of getting into a shop. Make a believer out of the owner and have all of your friends go in asking if he carries your baits, if not, walk out.

I can attest to everything cadman is saying. I have some of his jigs and they are beyond 'awesome'. I do a ton of powder painting and when I saw what he does with them, I was amazed. I have a project coming at me that will require that I use his technique to achieve such fantastic results. I have been practicing but still need a lot more. Personally, I don't think a picture would give any justice to the content of such a small item, trade him something to see for yourself. I would also like to see some of LedHed's to compare the work of two masters.

Oscar, I had the very same problem with that mold. Could not get the nose area to completely fill. I got the mold super hot, I smoked it repeatedly, I tilted during the pour and nothing would work. Then I vented the area that was not filling. Do it just like Tony Maxwell explained and I think you will solve your problem, it did mine. I wouldn't add any tin until you try that first. Many of Do-it's molds recommend soft lead. Good Luck!