reeves

I spincast my jigs and a teflon rod is used in place of a base pin. When painting the jig, I heat it and once it is up to the temp I want, I put a piece of the teflon rod into the weedguard hole and dip it in the fluid bed, tap and remove the teflon rod and bake to cure. Simple as that, I have a shiny clean weedguard hole and then glue in the weedguards, but not while I'm watching TV or I would have everything glued together but the weedguards LOL.

WE are only PART of the reason it is hard to swallow. WE vote for them, WE elect them and WE send them off to D.C. to do OUR business but WE don't watch what they are accomplishing. Once they are there, they begin to fall into the system and all the hoopla and good intentions that they came into town with are soon flushed down the nearest commode. So as they are setting up all this global trade agreements and the like they are lining their pockets while they are gettin' r done. Once we send our business overseas, no body is watching what is happening to the product. Where are the checkpoints, the quality assurance audits, the random spot checks? They don't exist. How else could all those toys have made it into the system with lead paint? WE may have given a standard of a certain paint to be used when awarding the business, then a few years later some hot shot entrepeneur decided they could save some money by using up some old lead paint going to waste. Why not, nobody is watching. So how do we get out of this mess, or is it just going to continue to worsen? Good question.

I ditto ditto LedHead, Elken and Jigmaster as well. Gammies have always been noticeably somewhat sharper to me, but not worth the price. Mustad has always had a pretty good reputation in the industry. Move to China? If they don't put in a tight Quality Control system, they will end up losing in the end. Has anyone noticed all the recalls in this country lately that originated in China? How about the pet food and most recently of all things, lead in the paint on childrens toys, c'mon now who is not watching the store here? In the long run, was it all worth it? Now I will climb down off my soap box.

Sterling, I don't think that is the one they were talking about. It is a neat idea and very affordable compared to the ones in the current catalogs for $129. I could be tempted tto order one at that price.

Jim, If you are interested, I have hundreds of those wires that have the loop already formed in one end and straight on the other end, .050 . I'll be glad to send you a dozen to get you started. Just send me a PM with your info.

Uncleskippy, Understand that I don't get a commision on this -but, you should really put it in your plans to get a fluid bed as well. Benjamin makes dipping in a jar look too easy. A fluid bed is the only way to go, IMHO! Anyway, welcome to a whole new way of painting, you'll really like it.

Benjamin, What a fantastic job. I would love to see more of that type tutorial in the future. Great idea and sure many will find it very helpful as they step into the world of powder painting. Cadman has a real killer tutorial that should be coming on-line pretty soon, but seeing it on video is double reinforcing. Thanks for your efforts and for sharing.

Javelin, Not sure what brand of eye you are using, but all the ones I have ever seen have an adhesive already on them. Lift the eye from the paper and press in place. Unfortunately this won't keep them on there for the life of the bait, so everyone seals the eye with either an epoxy or clearcoat. I use clear nailpolish, one drop to each eye does the job. Hope this helps you out.

Hey that's great Sterling. A little free press never hurt. Maybe you can get some new members from the article. Good job, and oh, next time smile for the camera!

I too use the clear nail polish . It' quick, dries in seconds, inexpensive and best of all, it works.

I have been voting for the past three days, and I truly hope Etch wins. I do however, want to sneak a vote in for that Gisele Thibideau. she is cheating wearing raingear like that.

I have to support everything Heavycover is saying about Chuck and his company. Chuck has been tutoring me on the art of making a master for spin casting molds. He has made the task very achievable, and believe me it is no finger-snapping exercise. We have shared many tips and hints in the past several weeks, and I look forward to many more. And Chuck, consider this thread . . . . . . . . . .closed!

Bamabass, Using USPS to ship is very easy. You need to go to www.usps.com and sign in and set up an account, doesn't take long and easy to do. Once you are registered, click on 'CLICK and SHIP' and follow the instructions. You can print your shipping label and pay for it right from the comfort of your home, no standing in line at the P.O. You can even schedule your carrier to pick it up at your home at no extra charge. Yes, the shipping supplies are free, you must go to the P.O. to pick them up. I always use their Flat Rate boxes and envelopes whenever I can as it is the cheapest form of shipping on the planet today. I ship 10,000 1/16oz jigs from Oklahoma to Oregon weighing 36lbs. for $8.95, it goes Priority Mail (2 day delivery) and you can track it on your computer. You just can't beat that. If you need more help, give me a PM, good luck.

Guys, The CSI powder paint is unique in as much that it is a vinyl base paint. They advertise that it is non-flammable, which to me is a plus. I am not sure what the other companies put out, just have never used them - yet! I believe however that they may have a solvent base to them, I would need an MSDS sheet on one to verify the flashpoint of it before I go dipping hot lead into it. Just my thoughts.

Happy Birthday Benjamin, hope you have many, many more!

I put 3-D eyes on jigs. To seal them, I apply a drop of clear nail polish to each eye. The jig itself needs no added gloss as the powder paint takes care of that. This is pretty quick and inexpensive by the way. Good luck with whatever you do.

Ghost, I dare say, it would be very amusing watching you get started without the help of this board. The fluid bed is not mechanical or automatic, it is entirely manual and as a beginner, very experimental. You will first need to set up the fluid bed with the air pump attached. Only open the air a quarter turn for starters. Fill the cup with powder paint about 1/3 full to start. Turn on the air pump. You should see the powder begin to move in the cup and bubbles will come to the surface. If this is not happening, SLOWLY open the air valve until you get bubbles. This may take a few seconds, so be patient. Once you have bubbles surfacing on the powder, just tweak the air valve down until the level of the powder is still high in the cup and you have some movement of powder across the surface of the powder in the cup. This will give you the least amount of paint loss into the air. Let's say you are painting a spinner bait. Using a propane torch or heat gun, hold the spinnerbait between the thumb and index finger at the 'R' bend, and with the other hand hold the hook between the thumb and index finger. Now hold it in the heat of the torch or heat gun. You will have to experiment here as to how long to hold it in the heat source. If you melted the lead, it was too long. Only apply heat to the lead part of the bait, keep it off the hook and the wireform. Once you put the bait in the heat begin counting in your head at a medium pace to 15, immediately dip the bait, hook first, into the cup, give it a little shake and get it out just that fast. As you bring it out of the cup, tap the hook on the edge of the cup to remove any excess powder. Now watch the paint. If it bubbles = too much heat, count to a lower number. If it doesn't get shinny, like wet candy, and looks like dry powder = not enough heat. This is where you really have to play around with it and find out where you want to be and develop a rhythm, and it will happen only after a few (give or take) failures. There will be others posting more tips about this for you. Have fun and let us know how you do.

Just guessing, but I would think the gun was an electrostatic gun. The electrical charge attracts the paint to the part without the need to preheat the part being painted, then baking it completes the process.

Ghost, I am just going from memory here, but I believe the web address is: www.csipaint.com The parent company that makes Pro-Tec powder paint is Component Systems Inc. You can get 1lb. quantities of colors direct from CSI, or from Benjamin, a TU member at www.tjstackle.com. I don't think you will find it any cheaper anywhere else. Good Luck.

Welcome aboard to you and your fiance. You have joined the right community here, especially for the business you are undertaking. I hope it becomes a huge sucess for you and your future wife. You ever need any help at all, just post it and you will be surprised all who line up to help. Good luck and glad you are here.

lokust, Having fun yet? There is a ton of info on this subject, all very good stuff too. I see you have found some of it and to read it all would take you quite a while. The mold must be HOT before pouring. To achieve the proper temp, most guys will lay the mold on top of the lead pot while it is heating up. Another method is to make a few blind pours before ever adding hooks. Just close the mold, pour in the lead and let set for about 30 seconds, empty and repeat about four times. Your mold will be plenty hot by then. Blackening the mold is to aid the flow of the lead into the cavity. Many guys swear by it and others don't think it helps. For me, I have found it helps on some molds and not on others, so it is a trial and error. Burn the candle so the soot is filling the mold cavities completely. I use one of those patio tiki torches, they lay up a column of black smoke that would have the EPA running to investigate, and they blacken the mold in about 10 seconds compared to a slow candle and the mess of melted wax. For your incomplete pours where the cavities are not filling, it could be due to several things. The lead is not hot enough. I pour my lead at about 750 degrees. The mold is not hot enough. Again, pre-heat it to get it the same temp as the lead you are pouring, it won't cool quite as fast when pouring into your mold. The other thing that comes to mind is air. You are displacing air with lead when you fill the mold. The air has to have a place to escape. Most of the time this is not a problem, but when it is you need to put a vent groove in the mold at the point that is not filling with lead. Using a fine triangular file, make a groove from the cavity outward to the edge of the mold. It doesn't need to be too deep, so experiment with it and try a pour or two after you first groove it and relieve more if necessary. You only need to groove one side of the mold. And finally, try tipping your mold some by raising your hand and allowing the lead to enter the mold at an angle. Sounds silly but it works so give it a try as well. Hope this all helps you and good luck.

Chuck, For the spinnerbait, the minnow head, 3-D eyes with hidden weight seems to becoming very popular. My preference would be for the bait to run true and be able to come through submerged tree limbs and weeds with ease and few hang-ups. For the jig, the football head is really hot right now. Smaller sizes are asked for more often than the larger ones (1/4, 3/16, 3/8. These are what is popular in my area and what my customers want. I would think that you would want to poll your customer base to insure future sales. Hope this was of help.

I totally agree with Buckslayer says about mixing it yourself to achieve the effect you desire. I purchased a pound of the pre-mixed from CSI a while back and what a disappointment. They put so much glitter in the clear, it is so heavy that the stuff won't even fluidize in my fluid bed. Can barely raise an air bubble. I reduce it with clear powder to achieve the effect I want. Someone mentioned in an earlier post that CSI was bought out and had noticed that the quality was slipping. I would like to echo that. Whoever bought it fired the guy who was watching the store. Too bad, cause it is a great product. I am currently ready to purchase elsewhere.

Great idea, count me in also.

Tim, contact this manufacturer at: Kayser Lure Corp. P.O. Box 68 Ursa, IL 62376 217 964-2110 If you don't have a Federal Excise Tax #, you will have to pay 10%, but it will still be cheaper than going through the retail shops.