cadman

I make mop jigs and I use the round rubber skirt material from Jann's Netcraft. Comes in a roll, and you can cut it to the length you want. They only have 10 solid colors but you can intermingle the strands if you want. The best flowing material out there for skirts and by far better than silicone skirt tabs. Only drawback is colors. But I use pretty much blue/black, black, brown, brown/orange. Give it a try.

There is some good sage advice here. Anything that is left out in the sun will eventually break down. Maybe not lead itself, but all paint colors will fade and I'm sure epoxies will turn yellow too. However, I have never had D2T turn tellow, but I don't leave my jigs out in the sun, so that could be the reason. I do know that Devcon 5 minute will turn yellow much faster. I would not use Devcon 5 minute as a top coat. JMO.

PM me your e-mail and I'll get it out to you,

BLT, I would stay away from Minwax for the reason mentioned. I use D2T (Devcon 2 Ton) and E-Tex (Envirotex lite), and I've got to say that D2T wins for me hands down. If you know how to use it and mix it, it dries as hard as a rock. The only draw back with D2T is if you paint a lot of white jigs. The D2T has a little amber to it and you can see it as you apply it on the jig. Any other color doesn't matter. E-Tex is clear and I mean clear. The only drawback for me is the smell, mixing ratios and multiple coats. JMO.

Smalljaw, I have tried putting really fine glitter in Devcon. In my opinion it is a P.I.T.A. Because you do not get even coverage and you get more glitter in one spot than the other. Also putting it in Devcon makes it a little stiffer to work with. Which makes it worse as if Devcon doesn't already have a short working time. But that is the same problem with powder paint glitters as well, they all don't cover evenly. I have heard that spray on glitter works the best and gives the best even coat. I have not tried this yet as I don't get a lot of requests for glittered jigs. These are just some of my findings.

Steve, I use two things for a clear. #1 D2T (Devcon 2 Ton) #2 Etex (Envirotex) Both are brushed on. I like the devcon better; D2T: Positives: I believe it dries harder (Just personal opinion),It is very durable and it is more forgiving if you do not put equal amounts of part A and B., no smell Negatives: It may have a yellowish tint to it which is only an issue on white paint, it has about a 10-15 minute working time per application. I usually squeeze out less than a dime size of both parts. Etex: Positives: Clarity is outstanding, Negatives: Goes on thinner so you need more applications (my personal opinion) to get the hardness of Devcon. It has an odor to it. Application: I make sure all of my jigs don't have any oil or fingerprints on them. You can use isopropyl alcohol for that. Wear latex gloves, and brush on the epoxy on the jig. I then stand up the jig head up with the hook stuck in a piece of foam. Once brushed on periodically check for any runs and wipe off with brush. Below are pics of the two. On the D2T get the 30 minute not the 5 minute.

Steve, Glad everything is working out. Join the nuthouse. Pretty soon you too will be dreaming about beautiful jigs and buying more molds and so on and so on.

Maddog, Just put pins in your weedguard holes when you are painting the jig and you will never ever have to drill again. I've been doing this for sevaral years and it just plain works. Also if the hole is slightly tight just take one strand of fiber off the weedguard. It works all the time. Finally it is easier to put in the non fused side in the hole versus the fused. The fused side is bigger at the bottom and it has a tendency to flare the weed fibers when forced in.

Hawk, I don't know if you would consider this polishing, but I do something similar. Every one of my jigs and I mean every one of them I take and clean off the sprue marks, parting lines and any other imperfections. I use a bastard cut file which makes quick work of this. This may be too anal for some but I will not sell a jig that has these marks on them. Nothing personal aginst anyone as the fish don't care. However I belong to a fishing club, and there is a guy that sells jigs. He powder paints right over the sprue marks and all. To me they look crappy. With that said many guys tell me how beautiful my jigs come out. It's all in the prep work. Is it worth the time to do all of this. To me, yes it is. I don't like buying crap that's why I got into making jigs in the first place. Keep up the good work. Pete, Pete, as I mentiond above yes it does work. There are different types of pastes and grits you can use to achieve this. These are used in polishing anything from copper, steel, brass to alum. The grittier the paste the faster it will cut. Naturally you don't want to start with a high lustre finishing paste, as you will be polishing all day. But you can look up on the i-net for polishing compounds and you will see what I mean. Also dremel speed will have a big effect on this as well. Naturally the higher the speed the faster it will cut, but also you can burn into the cavity. It will be a lot of trial and error, but it is not complicated. It's not like you're polishing a bezel on a watch face. Realistically, unless you get bad marks on your jigs, I would leave it alone. Let us know how it goes.

Steve, Alot of excellent information here. Like Hawn said, the only really smooth surface on jigs you're going to get is from a machined surface. All of Do-It mold are cast. So slight imperfections will be in the cavities. However like mentioned here powder paint will cover all of that. Unless you have a cavity that has a protrusion in it. I have a football jig mold, that everytime I poured the 1/2 oz cavity, a small gouge was on every jig in the same spot. I looked ihto the cavity and sure enough you can see the small protrusion in the cavity. With something like that you can take some jewelers rouge and a rubber pad and polish it out. I did and with the protrusion gone the jig now looks perfect. I also think like Hawn mentioned a rougher surfac gives for better paint grip. Don't sweat the little stuff, unless you are getting crevasses in your jigs from cold pours or stopping and starting a pour.

I take a piece of teflon tape, align the hook and the wire where you want it in the mold, put a piece over the wireform on half the mold close the mold and pour. Then go on to the next one. There are many guys here that lightly peen the groove on the mold where the wireform fits. This will make the wire form fit tighter. Either way works. If you want more info on the tape PM me.

Ron, I don't know of anybody that sells a round head spinnerbait mold. However, I looked at one of my round head molds, and it would not be too difficult to modify one to what you want. The hook slot is already there, all you have to do is cut a slot for the wire.

I'm glad it got there safely and it was to your expectations.

I use teflon tape.

Never heard of a Snagless Sally, can you post a pic?

Scott, Thank you for correcting me. I have a lot of questions regarding welding aluminum but I don't want to hijack this thread, so I will PM you.

I have never done a Rockwell hardness test on it. That is an intetresting question and a good one. I myself would like to know if it is machineable(spelling) after it cures with out cracking or breaking. I know you can re-work it by hand as I've done that, but I'd like info on machineability. I do know if you are going to make a permanent change it is best to weld the aluminum mold, and then machine it. This way you will never have a problem. Also I do know by welding it you will harden the surrounding area( from the heat of the arc in welding) which will make machining it more difficult. Definitely use carbide bits. I am going to try to get some insight from our resident super engineer Vodkaman. So what do you say V-man????

There are many ways to heat or pre-heat jigs if you will. This is a personal choice and whatever works for you. I take a cold jig and run it over a heat gun for a certain amount of seconds. Once I find that time, I keep doing that to every jig I'm painting that is the same style and the same weight. (ie.....a 1/4 oz Arky 15 seconds). If the jig is lighter than it would be less time, if heavier more time. As I paint my jigs one at a time, I then rack them. Once all of my jigs are painted, I put the whole rack (or racks) in the toaster oven. It seems more economical to bake all of them at once then to do one or several at a time. Just how I do it.

I've heard good reports about them but have never used them. I buy commercial grade powder by bulk from about 30 companies. I do it through work, and I've yet to find a really bad powder. Not to say there isn't one. If you're going to pay a $1/pound I would question that. But $6/lb on regular colors is about the average going rate. Let us know how it works out. PM sent.

Cranker, Try 2 part JB Weld for steel. I don't believe they have one for aluminum. This will solve your problem. Also fill it on the high side as it will want to shrink as it hardens. Lightly file or sand with 600 grit sand paper. If you file, file slow and watch so you don't gouge your mold. It says it will withstand 300 degrees, which should be fine. Let us know how it works.

Scott, that is an interesting question. I do know you can buy powdered graphite. Don't know if there would be any residual effects on painting though. If you try it let us know what your results are. None whatsoever, I have been using it for about 6 months and I powder paint as well and found no problems .

Yes you are correct. I was going to mention that as well and forgot.

TJ, I was on yesterday and I just tried it today, and I can put items in my cart and it totals everything up for me with shipping no problem. I have IE8 as well. So I don't know.

Pete, I don't know how long you have beem pouring, but this is the best stuff I've ever used. You will not be sorry that you bought it. Wipe your mold with acetone, lacquer thinner or anything else that doesn't leave an oil residue. Make sure you clean the cavities as well. Let cleaner evaporate. Shake can really well and spray it in all the cavities. Let dry a minute or two. I actually tape off the area I don't want sprayed. This way the stuff isn't all over the place. I have easily poured 300-400 jigs in one cavity with one application. You can tell one way for sure if you need to re-apply. Take your hot mold, and pour lead in a cavity without the hook in it. If the lead doesn't keep on flowing through the cavity you need to apply some more. In another words, as you fill your cavity, you will see lead pour straight from the top and keep on pouring out the bottom of the cavity. This means that the cavity inside is slick and coated. One can goes a long way if you only have a couple of molds.

Welcome to TU bowtech. Lots of helpful people