cadman

I've ice fished for year and have had my ice jigs crack as well. The only thing you can try is maybe e-tex, as it isn't as hard as D2T (Devcon 2 Ton) epoxy. The other thing you can try unless you are using multicolor jigs is vinyl paint. It stinks like hell but it is very durable. Other than that I really don't know. I think the epoxy coating cracks, is because it is so cold outside when you use ice jigs. I never let the cracking bother me.

I've probably said this a million times and like sallmouthaholic said " don't quit your day job". This isn't meant for me to get rich off of. I have a full time job for that. This is my way of relaxing, talk to a lot of fishermen and learn what the latest tactics are to improve my fish catching . The money I make from this, I would starve and be poor if this was my only source of income. This is a hobby and that's all it is to me. Some days you have a good days pouring and you think you made money, other days, you want to quit and forget about the whole process. Luckily, there are more good days than bad days. All said and done if I figure everything that it costs me to operate, I'm better off working at McDonalds. If they raise the pay to $15/ per hour, I'd definitely be better off.

Pete forgot to mention this but once your jigs turn grey, you will never get them to turn shiny again like they were freshly poured.

Let it sit in vinegar for about and hour, rinse with water and let dry thoroughly before painting again.

Welcome to TU. I would strongly suggest you speak to an accountant on this. Everyone's situation is different and since you are responsible for your taxes, you might as well get the correct answer from a qualified source. Everyone has their own interpretation of what the taxes and the laws are and how they are applied, however your tax info might be different in your state. Good Luck.

George, Pm sent. Thanks

Hey guys I' m looking for a wire keeper about .800" or longer 1" max in an .025 stn steel wire. One end of the wire needs to have a hook keeper at a 45 degre bend and the other and can be bent or straight. Mustang wire has these but I don't need 10K. Anyone have anything close to this? It is exactly like the Do-It wire keeper WB800 only longer. Let me know what you have. I'm looking for around 1 to 2 K quantity.

I do that with hooks sometimes. I'll fill a bowl with warm water, mix salt in and keep doing that until it won't dissolve anymore. Then just put your item in the salt water. You can weigh it down with something if you want. If the water starts evaporating, just do the procedure again. you can put it off to the side and leave it there. Periodically you can check on it to see your results. Good Luck

Now that I see a pic, yes that is a Hagens's and it is a very good wire bender. If you are going to use this for bending wire for Musky, there is an optional adapter for heavier wire bending. If you can afford it get that as well. It will be worth your while when you get over .040 diameter wire.

Cost wise I would say you are more like 50 % and this could be an exaggeration as I said lot of variables. Lead is roughly $2 per pound. Bismuth is now about $14-$16 per pound. Hooks stay the same no matter what you pour. Labor wise the bismuth jigs are slightly harder to polish and get a smooth head. Powder painting is the same for both. The only real concern is watching so you don't melt the bismuth head in heating to apply the paint and baking the painted jig.

Pouring is the easy part. I find polishing lead-free jigs cumbersome. Powder painting lead-free jigs is a challenge. Once that is all done. Skirting is easy. Just make sure to wire tie your skirts. If you sell them it is a selling point. Using rubber collars are fine for yourself, however the rubber dries out or loosens and the skirt falls apart. That doesn't happen with hand tying whether wire or thread.

If you are going to buy the fishing bismuth mix, please post how it works out for you. I was thinking of switching over but have not done that so far.

Are you looking to sell these or are you looking to buy? There are a lot of variables here. Painted, unpainted , what kind of hook, skirted complete with weedguard ready to fish.

That is going to very, depending on how much tin, and other properties are in the bismuth you buy. I mix my own, however since I sell my jigs, I don't want to share my percentages. Don't take offense to this, as I am always willing to help. As far as temp and baking goes, all I can say is start low with (200 degrees) heat and go up from there. You will have to do some testing on your own to see what is the correct temp and the length of time the jig needs to be in the oven. I can't give you this info, because every oven is different and if I give you a number and you melt all of your jigs well, you know where I'm going with this. Good Luck.

Cope102, there are many ways to do things. Jimmyjigs has some valid points. You can put jigs on a fixture that they use to turn fishing rod epoxy, this will keep the epoxy from sagging and running. You don't have to use epoxy for putting in weedguards or covering eyes. There are a lot of options. Find what works for you and if you're happy with it go for it. Only you know how much time and money you want to put into making your jigs. The fish don't care if your jigs are perfect, however if you are selling jigs, your customers will always want top notch work. As far as brushing epoxy on jigs, I never get brush streaks. The epoxy is self leveling and the brush streaks disappear.

I pour and sell bismuth/tin mix jigs. They are a P.I.T.A to do because the bismuth is very hard and some jig profiles are difficult to get out of the mold. Bismuth/tin jigs are expensive because of the cost of the bismuth. Yes you can powder paint them. You have to use lower heat temps other wise you will melt the jigs. Bismuth has a very low melting point. If you fish a lot of jigs like me, you will have to use a larger bismuth head to compensate for the weight difference. However the fish really don't care. As for the wax you are referring to, if this means fluxing the bismuth, I do not flux bismuth. Welcome to TU and Good Luck.

I do the whip finish by hand and with a tool. I've yet to decide which is faster. But both methods work very well.

I pretty much powder paint all of my jigs as it is the easiest. Pour, paint, bake, done. Maybe someone else will give you some tips painting with lacquer. Good Luck.

Get a bowl of salt water and put the flash in there to see what happens. You can leave the bowl out of sight out of mind and refill with salt water periodically.

Yep, Smalljaw is the man that has been doing this a long time and the expert on this process. He will probably chime in, but in the meantime watch his video and practice, practice and more practice.

First of all you have to decide if you are going to use powder paint for jigs and spinnerbaits or are you going to use Createx or lacquer paint: Powder paint : You heat the jig , swish thru powder paint , bake the jig and you're done. Createx: Is a water based paint. You will probably need to use primer, then paint and you must clear coat otherwise the paint will wash off. Lacquer Paint: You can use either an air brush or spray cans. Primer, paint and you're probably done. Maybe clear coat for durability. If you use lacquer, you must have very good ventilation. The fumes are bad for your lungs. That's about as simply put as I can tell you. Naturally there is a lot more to it than that. You need to decide which way you want to go.

I typed a bit too much to try to give you a shopping list of some of the things to try. With all that you said, I don't see anything wrong with your process. I also heat jigs with a Wagner multi -temp heat gun, hold the jig with forceps, I do touch my jigs before painting (not intentionally without gloves), once coated I put them on a rack. Just a question for you. Do you get those voids or pit marks after you paint the jigs or after you bake them? I am going to take a wild guess and say it is the lead. In order to clean the raw lead, I would put them in vinegar. This will eat away any oils, then I would wash them in Dawn with a toothbrush and let them dry thoroughly. With the painted heads, you can strip the powder paint off with paint stripper. Then wash with Dawn like above. I also don't believe it is the powder paint either. Have you had this happen before just curious? You have a PM.

First of all, adding Devcon 2 Ton (D2T) epoxy does not harden the paint it only adds a clear coat to your head. By putting D2T on your jigs, you are just prolonging your paint job awhile longer, until your epoxy wears off and then your paint starts wearing off from having your jigs dragged on the bottom of the lake or over rocks. If you are powder painting your jigs, baking them in a toaster oven hardens the paint. Applying D2T to a jig that has 2D or 3D eyes definitely keeps the eye from falling off. If you don't have eyes on your jig no need to epoxy the heads unless you want to. Finally, I would not dip the jigs in D2T, you will waste too much epoxy. Since D2T is self leveling, I just take a small paint brush and brush on the epoxy after the eyes are on, and then I stand the jig with the head up , to keep the epoxy from forming tear drops and sagging. You do not need a lot of epoxy to cover a jig. Thinner is better, but make sure you cover everything.

Based on your picture, it is pretty rare that the black nickle finish is coming off onto your jig, because you have missing paint on the front of the head. Since, I didn't cast these jigs. I can tell you what could possibly be a problem. #1. Getting any oil or or grease on the head. Make sure when you start to paint your heads, that you do not touch the heads. I use latex gloves when I polish my jigs and a new pair when I paint them. #2. It looks like there is missing paint in certain places. If you pour your jigs and you get small voids in the heads, these voids will not fill leaving paint missing in these areas. #3. It also could be bad powder. How old is it? Do you keep it closed when not in use? Does it only happen to white? Try a new batch of white powder, if it solves your problem, throw your old white powder away. #4. Are you using clean lead. Maybe lead contaminated from zinc. This is just a guess. Whom do you buy lead from? #5. Strip the paint from this jig, thoroughly look at the raw jig and re-paint with white to see if it happens again. #6. What is your heat source when you heat the raw jig. If you are using a candle, find another source. Soot or oil emitted from a candle can sometimes cause paint issues. I have a million questions, however I would look at some of the ones posted above. If you want to send me a raw jig, I can paint it with my white to see if I have the same problem. I can then give you my opinion. Good Luck. BTW welcome to TU.

They won't make you just (2). It is not worth their time. However you can peel the back off of existing 3d eyes. I've done that before and it works, however it is a bit time consuming.