cadman

Elken I like your idea. But first I called up Do-It today, and they said that they would look at my mold, however I have to send it to them with the eyelets. I will keep everyone posted on what transpires. But when I read your post, it would be easier for me to do it. No pun intended. With your idea in mind. This is what I was going to do. Drill a pilot hole in all of the existing pins like .060 dia. centered on the pin. Put an end mill in my drill press, set the depth and remove the existing pin flush with the mold surface. Open up the hole for a .071 dia. pin (this is the size needed for the inside dia. of the eyelet). Press in a new stainless steel .071 dia. hardened pin, and recess it just a bit under the surface of where the two mold halves close. Do this three times to three cavities, and you

I think Hagen's will custom make what you want. www.hagensfish.com

Thanks Guys for your help. One other question. Is it possible to copy, cut, or paste, text from MS word, and copy, cut or paste it in any of our threads or posts. I hate to mispell words. Also I don't see the edit fuction on my posts.... Thanks Ted

Kelly, I don't understand what you are trying to tell me. The pin is a part of the mold, see pic attached. Also the eyelets are stainless steel, and have no magnetic qualities. I am going to get an answer from Do-IT, and post their response here, so others don't have this problem

When I make jigs that I don't paint for awhile , I use self etching primer. It's about $12 a spray can. The primer will etch the lead, and keep it from oxidizing. Since I've been powder painting, I've never had any problems with it. Otherwise, just paint them like JIGNPIG said, and coat them with Devcon 2T 30 minute.

I believe, you can use sevenstrand coated wire. It comes in different gages. They make musky leaders out of it.

Does anyone pour these? I have this mold and my biggest problem is putting the eyelets on the jig. These eyelets are stn. stl., and either the eyelet hole was made too small in the eyelet, or the pin located in the mold is too big. I can't get the eyelets to stay on the pin in the mold. You got to remember, that when I'm putting these on, the mold is very hot. I won't even tell you how long it took me to do an order for 700, with pliers. It was a loss for me, and I'm really:pissed: off about it. I can't tell my customer that I can't do it. I've tried to taper the pin on the mold, but the pin is so small, it's hard to work on. I've made in line sinkers, with the brass eyelets, and never had a problem. I do know that the brass eyelets are soft, and more flexible, and when you put them on they separate around the pins. Maybe Do-It should make these pins out of brass also. and not stn. stl. I guess, now I'm going to complain to Do-it. With all the money this cost me and the price of the mold, I could of bought these from Bass-Pro and painted them myself, and then re-sold them. Now I got a mold, I can't use. Oh yeah I can use it, I'll screw in a 40/0 hook onto the mold, attach a clothes line to the holes in the handle, put a squid on the 40/0 hook, and go fishing for sharks. Now I'll have a real live bait jig. Damn that won't work there are no sharks in Illinois........................

Jigmaster you are right, Barlows usually has the best prices, and they're always in stock. The story with munuacturers prices being higher. There is a reason for that. Any manufacturer that sells to distributors could but wouldn't sell it for less than the distributor is selling it for, because then the distributor couldn't sell any. And you as a distributor, aren't going to carry someone elses product that he undercuts, because then you can't sell them. Also I may buy 1 to 5 molds a year, like many other tackle builders. I'm sure Do-It doesn't want to deal, with orders for one or two molds, when their distributors, are buying them by the hundreds, unless it's worth their time, an time is money.

TTCustom....all molds don't fill the same. Tilt your mold to the left, right or up and down, find one that works, and write it down on your mold. If that doesn't work, cut a air hole where the problem is. This should solve your dilemma. Cutting the air hole would be my last resort. Also very soft lead will pour easier than hard lead. Adding wax can't hurt. By the way what kind of lead are you melting?

Hey Ron I really feel for you. That really sucks. I hate when people get ripped off like that. I'm not saying you can't get good deals on e-bay, or the internet. I just rather have a good product in my hand, with a place I can return it to, in case I have problems. I rather spend the extra $5. That's why I don't buy on e-bay. Anyway, I get mine from Jann's, Barlow's and Stamina. Like Damnpeoples said put a list together, of all the stuff you need, so you can save on shipping. All three of the places above will order them for you, without a problem...Always check prices first........

I will say this. If you intend on purchasing gate cutters, then take Kelly's advice. I do the same I only use my gate cutters for lead, and I've had them for going on 6 years. You will dent the cutting blades if you decide to use them for anything else. Then they will be useless. That's like using a screwdriver for a chisel.

Ok guys, what is the term given to a person who uses an alias name on the internet in a post or a chat room. For example I use the name Cadman on TU, but that is not my real name. I know that an avatar is a picture. I know what threads are and posts are. So what is the term Cadman called,or referred to as........Thanks for the help Ted

Yep I wax also. No it's not what you think. I use beeswax, with all my lead I pour. I got that info from TU when I joined. I have very minimal problems. Also I always use pure lead, so that helps...... Oh yeah like LedHed said it will flame up, and take your eyebrows off, so be careful..

I use the small gate trimmers and a file. It works well for me. I have yet to pour any jig that didn't need some touching up with a file. Especially when I cut the sprue. If you paint a jig that has an imperfection, you will notice it right after painting, and then it's too late. Maybe I'm just too picky. My jigs are as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Has anyone ever ordered hitchhikers from Hagen's? Are they of good quality? I know you need a tax I.D. #, but even at 10% more, their price seems very good at $65/1000. Is there any place cheaper? Thanks

My post wasn't meant to offend anyone. If it did I apologize. I will go out of my way to help anyone, with-in reason. As you can tell by a lot of my posts, I try to share all the information I know. I build all my stuff with what I think is the best quality. Color, painting, processes are a personal choice, that makes us all unique. We all have our own way of doing things, our own methods, our own opinions. I have dealt with many TU members, many I have helped out hopefully, and some I wouldn't deal with again. That's the way it is. I try to look at the positive side of people...................Well put Sim, when we are making jigs, and using someone elses molds along with 5000 other people, there is no real "copying or identical" in my opinion. I may like your color choice, use the same paint colors, which may end up being the hottest color on my lake. It still wouldn't be identical to yours.

When you say duplicating baits, what do you really mean? Lot of the guys here make a Do-It Ultra-Minnow. Lot of guys paint there jig silver bottom, blue or black top. I make them and so do 100 others. Does that mean duplicating. Not to me. I never felt that if somebody used my paint process, that it was mine. We all do the same thing, with all the same colors. Now if I sold you or gave you my painted jigs, and then you sold them to someone else and said that you made them, yes I would be really off. If your process is that important to you or that secretive, then don't share it, because other than TU members looking at this site, there are lots of others that just read the posts, and aren't willing to help. The way to avoid this is to PM people. The ones you can trust, and yes trust is a big thing with me. You burn me once, I may forgive, you burn me twice you can kiss my . Yes I do sell my jigs. I have always been willing to share, my feeling is this you get what you give.......Ted

Elken, with the use of the oil, do you have any problems with paint? Powder paint in question if you use that? I'm just curious, if you get any oil on the lead, what will that do to the painting process...... Thanks Ted.

Dungeonhawk, Sorry I just got back from a work seminar. I can not find my comparison list at the moment. I will keep on looking for it. When I find it I will PM you.......Ted

Fishohol1c, I have that problem with my poison tail jigs. I do know that if let's say you use a drill bit, if you put it all the way in to the hook, it will be harder to take out, due to more surface area of lead melted around the drill bit. The only solution I have found to this is this. Take a pair of long nose or regular pliers, and grab the base pin on the shaft, and twist it inside the jig. Not side to side, just a turning motion, so you don't open up the hole. Make sure your pliers have good teeth to grab the base hole pin.

Here are some pictures of my curing rack. Picture 2 shows a better view of the threaded rod I use as hook hangers. The reason for the threaded rod, is to keep the hooks in place, and keep the jigs from sliding into each other when you put them in and take them out of the oven. Especially when you take them out since they are hot, and if they slide into each other, they will stick. At this point you might as well throw them out.....

This has always worked for me, and I still use it to this day. I put on some times five colors and then a glitter powder coat. With all this paint, and doing bottom, top, left and right flanks, I still do get paint on my hook eyes. Take a new drill bit slightly smaller than the inside diameter of your hook eye. As soon as you dip your hot jig in the powder, pull it out, and stick the smooth round end (not the drill end) into the hook eye, and out the other end. Make sure your jig eye is parallel with the table. This will push th excess paint out, leaving some paint on the jig eye. Next take the jig, and lightly go over you heat source, and it will smooth out the paint you pushed through.......... Now you have a jig with a nicely coated jig eye...

Jigmaster, I rarely use the same size weedguard, that is called for in the mold. Reason being they're too stiff. With that said, this is what I do. I always, dip my jigs head first in the powder paint, what this does is, it partially fills the weedguard hole with some paint. I bake the jigs. Next I find out how many strands of weedguard I'm going to use. Next I drill a hole slightly larger than all the strands combined. I next dip all my fused weedguards in Devcon 2T 5 minute, stick it in the snug hole, hang the jigs on a rack by the bend, so the base of the jig sits on the table, along a vertical plane. The weedguard should be in a vertical position. Just a note to all, I document all the hole sizes for all strands of weedguards. For example (4) strands of weedgurd may take an .015 dia. hole, and 30 strands may take a .120 dia. hole. The reason for doing this, is so I don't have to keep on guessing everytime I do this... I will post some pictures later today hopefully.......

I run (2) fluid beds, however, my air pump has four separate air ports, so I use 1 port for each fluid bed. I am thinking on the same lines as Akriverrat. You don't have enough air flow pressure to run all five at the same time, if that's what you're doing. Before I made my fluid bed my two worst colors were white and silver. With the fluid bed, my problem with silver went away. I still have a problem with white on and off. I have gone through 30 different white powder paint shades, and 10 different PP companies. I have yet to find a white powder that flows like my chart., or black. My quest continues, and when I find it , I will post the paint color and manufacturer. Humidity plays a big roll in PP, along with different PP companies.

I'll have to agree with Nova also. I have been here about 2 years, and have pushed myself to do much better. All with the help of many members here on TU. I've done some trades with some members, and have responded to many PM's and e-mails, all have been with very positive results. Lastly the best thing I like the most, is I have found some new friends, to exchange and share knowledge about making tackle......Ted