cadman

WVEric, First of all I know you're new to this forum and to Tackle Underground. But here are some pointers about etiquette. #1 There are lot of guys in this forum that are willing to help you. #2 Many times newbies will get a response from long time members to " Use the search function". I don't see that in this forum that often as myself and all the other guys here are more than happy to help you. On the flip side, you've posted two threads already, and everyone here saved you six month's of reading threads and posts, and yet I don't see a "Thank You" from you to any of the responses you got from our members here. I don't want to come across as a jerk, but a little gratitude goes a long way.................Now to answer your question. There are several ways you can powder paint spinnerbait heads. #1 You can dip them in a fluid bed. Heat only the lead part of the spinnerbait and dip it in a fluid bed. You will get very even good coverage. The powder paint that you seee on the hook portion will wipe off with a rag. #2 Another thing you can try is get yourself a large bowl that your spinnerbait body will fit in and fill it with powder paint. Once you heat the head of the spinnerbait you can swish it through the powder like you do your jigs. The only thing with the 2 methods above is you will need quite a bit of paint to fill the fluid bed and or the bowl. If you are doing multi-colors like I do and some others on this site, then you will have to do it with the paint brush method. There are other ways and I'm sure others will chime in and help you..........Let us know how it comes out, and when your're done post some pics in the gallery..................Good Luck

UG, I pour in my garage. All my lead is under my pouring table, so when I need it, it is readily accessible. I also keep all my lead in the same size ingot size (marked with a black marker S=soft H=hard) so this way I know what ratios to mix instantly.

Congratulations to you and your wife Dave. God Bless you and your family. BTW what is your daughter's name?

Thanks for all the help guys. I went back to Bass Pro Shops, and they exchanged it for me no problem. Hopefully I won't have a problem with this one. BoBP, you know you are correct about the level wind gears facing forward. Who in their right mind designed a $260 reel like this. I have an old ambassedeur ABU reel, and all the gearing is facing down. Never had a problem with the reel except for backlash...........You would think that a reel this expensive would perform flawlessly for a long time.

After pouring many of these, and getting a refresher jolt from Basseducer, you must use soft lead. I have tried in vain many other ways to pour these with mixed lead ratios, to no avail. Save yourself a lot of time and headaches and pour pure soft lead. Some molds will pour better than others. It depends how they are cast and assembled. I am not a fan of pure soft lead, but that is the only way I can get consistently good pours in this mold. Here are some other tips. You can keep your hooks and wireforms on a hot plate, you can smoke your mold and above all, flux your lead. I do not smoke my molds, but many guys on this site do and they swear by it. This should help you considerably.

Eric, The easiest way to get consistent powder paint finish is like this. Let's say you have a 1/4 oz football jig you are going to paint. First you will have to find out how long it will take to get the jig hot so the paint adheres. So as soon as you put your jig in the heat source, start counting (1,2,3,4 etc) The magic number might be 12 I don't know because every jig style and weight will be different. So let's say you counted to 12, make sure your powder is fluffy, and swish the jig through the powder paint. Do not keep it in there, just swish it through once and take it out. When you take the jig out, it should look like the paint glossed over (or got really shiny) on the jig. Then rack it if that is what you got. If the powder looks dull, then the jig wasn't hot enough and you need to add more time to your jig in the heat source. Take the dull looking jig and put it over your heat source and it will gloss over. Do not put it in the powder again, unless there is no paint on the jig. Once you find the magic number on that jig all your 1/4 oz football jigs will be in that range...............If you need more help just ask and I'm sure you will get more responses. We're all here to help you out. Let us know how it goes.

"When your lying in bed tonight, Try and come up with a better way for me..." Hey Mike, do you want my wife to throw me out of the house. I already get up at night when I can't sleep, and then start scheming about different color combo's, better finishes and clearcoats, more colorful skirts and a bunch more stuff. Now you want to add to this?????????.......Just kidding. Always willing to share and help. BTW if you would like a couple of samples of the wobble jig, PM me.

Danny, I rarely if ever clean my pot unless I am really having a problem with the pour spout. If you are intent on cleaning the pot, this is what I do. Drain all your lead and then unplug your pot. Let cool about 10 minutes or so. The pot will still be hot. If you have the Lee IV pots disassemble the plunger. Take out the plunger and scrape off lightly any lead with a scraper or utility knife. Then take some coarse steel wool and clean the plunger with it, the plunger will get nice and smooth. Now do the same with the pot and the steel wool. Be careful around the spout hole so you don

Mike, George is correct regarding the Cabela's Do-It mold. It can only be bought from Cabela's or maybe on e-bay. Here is the link Do-It Cabela's Wobble Jig Mold. With a little modification, this may be what you're looking for. I have this mold. It must be poured with soft lead. I have had some issues with mine, but it does work well. Not my most favorite mold to pour.

Hey George, Have a Happy Birthday, kick back and relax today. Have a few beers and enjoy your day............Ted

Hey Mike, Here are my suggestions. All Do-It molds. Weedless Sparkie Jigs #JKS-1090-Y. Arky Style #ARK-3-AY.......Style S Bass Jig #JKS-3-AY..........Your best bet would be the Arky Jig with the double collar. It already has the flat eye hook #ARK-3-AFC. You can block off all the collars on these with JB Weld. On the hook you can easily slot out a spot for the flat eye on the others. In the weedguard hole you can put in a hitch hiker...........I have done this before and it works well.

If you are referring to the alcohol, D2T mix when cleaning the brush, I would say know. I use lacquer thinner to clean my brushes. I'm sure that's more toxic than alcohol. The only thing the lacquer thinner does is shorten the life expectancy of the brush. I use it about 6 times than I throw it away.

E-mail sent

Hawkman, I get used and chipped jigs from time to time, and this is what I do. Put in all your painted jigs in a cast iron pot. I bought one from Barlow's and it's worth the money. Heat up the pot with all the painted jigs in it until it melts all the lead. The hooks will float to the top the paint will burn off. Skim off all the burnt paint residue off the top, remove the hooks and discard safely. You can flux now, or I just pour the clean lead into an ingot mold. Once the ingots are cool mark them with a black marker as to soft or hard. Now you can use them in your pouring pot. Make sure you melt all of this with good ventilation. Burnt paint smells pretty bad, and sometimes smoke also.....Hope this helps. If you need more info PM me.

Javelin, FYI red powder paint is the worst color all around. It's horrible if you want to match it, and it's horrible when it comes to fading. It does get chalky and flat, but this is on big panels and exposure to the elements after several years. I've never had problems with red powder paint on jigs or jig hooks. I know eventually it will chip off the hooks, but that's about it. I don't paint or dye my hooks red anymore, although I think that using powder paint is a better choice than using Spike-It as the Spike-It chips off even quicker. I used to use red Spike-It on all my hooks also, and hands down like smalljaw said, it's fast and easy, and can't be beat for ease of use. I assume you are using Pro-Tec red powder? That's interesting how long after you apply it does it fade?

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

I never new Lurecraft made lead molds. Where is it stated as I'm curious?

Welcome to TU, and join in, in all the fun. What are your specialties?

Welcome to Tackle Underground. There are several thing you can do. Do-it molds still sells flat mold blanks that are pinned, for the do it yourselfer. This would be a better choice, as aluminum is light, and you can create your own pattern on 1/2 of the mold then duplicate it on the other 1/2. Since you're a machinist with a little time, you will have a beautiful foolproof mold. I also believe you can get them at barlow's tackle. Here is the link they will definitely be cheaper than the manufacturer. Barlows Tackle Shop: Browsing Blank Molds . Now you can make it out of steel, and it will work but your hand will get pretty tired after pouring for a long time. I too have never had problem with steel rusting. Just coat it with a good heavy oil after it's cool and it will last forever.......Hope this helps..............

I am going to agree with smalljaw. My first choice would be the Poison Tail or the Snootie Jig and forget about the flat eye hook. If you insist on a flat eye, then go with the Arky. I too am a big fan of the EWG hook. You can even get the EWG for the Arky jig. I also believe you get beter hook-up percentages with the EWG hook shape as well.

Your welcome and yes I got the email, I am always willing to help if I can.

Cranker, I don't know if anything you have custom made will perform like the original. I pour an ultra-minnow spinnerbait, that has a minnow head. Would it perform like your original. I honestly couldn't tell you that. You can make your own mold out of Durham wood putty or Bondo. They all have their own flaws. But you will have an identical replica. Since you are mking these for yourself, you won't need a production mold. The down side to this, is that you will have to take several hours to get it done correctly. I don't know if this would be worth your time. PM me your e-mil, I have some other questions to ask you.

If close isn't good enough, then you will have to have a mold made. Then you will also have to pour it and paint it. I personally think that this is an expensive adventure for a spinnerbait. The other thing too is that if you have a mold made, hopefully it will work the same as the original. Another potential problem is some or all guys that would make a mold might not do it for you due to copyright or patent infringement. Nobody wants to get sued. Finally you could make the mold yourself, but if you do, do not start selling the spinnerbaits as you will also get sued.......................Just some info for you to think about.

Does someone know what the problem could be. I would like to know in case this comes up again. Here is the scenario. I bought a brand new Revo Premier. At first I didn't like it, but the more I used it the more I liked it. I have used it about 10 tims, and what is happening is this? After I cast, when I start to retrieve the line, the reel handle and or level wind stops and then continues again. This only happens when the line level wind goes from center of spool to the left and from left to center. Form center to right is fine. I looked it over and can't figure this out. The other odd thing about this is this. It only happens when a lure is on the line. I took the lure off reeled in all the line, and when I crank it with the line in the reel, it reels smoothly. I'm going to return it to Bass Pro, but I can't believe that such an expensive reel has already a problem. I want to buy another one, but if this is a continuing problem I don't want (2) crappy reels. I know some guys hate these reels and some love them. I loved everything about this reel until recently...............Thanks for any input........................

TJ Now that's a clever idea. I have the same problem, with little volcanoes around the perimeter. This will solve that problem....................Thanks TJ