cadman

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.

Depends on how many you need, I called the, up several years ago, and asked this question to the guys at WTP (Witch Tape Products), and they will run them for you . Call them up and ask. Make sure you know what size you want.

Swampman , Take a look at the table below

I currently get all of my lead from a personal supplier. However you can buy all your lead from Roto-Metals. They will have what you need. It runs about $2 per pound. If you buy enough you can get free shipping. Here is a link to the site. I would call them to confirm anything you need. You can also buy lead with antimony or tin in there as well. I forgot but they have pots and ladles as well. A lot of good info on their site. https://www.rotometals.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2ILZvYTL4AIV27jACh0PYwDCEAAYASAAEgLRqfD_BwE

Welcome to TU. First of all what size pot or model number do you have. For most of all of your jigs unless you are pouring over 1-1/2 ounces, I found this ladle works really well. It is lightweight and can be used by L.H and R.H people. It is made by "Lee". Chepaest place I found it was here https://www.midwayusa.com/product/161177/lee-lead-dipper Anything heavier that 1-1/2 ounces, you can get a medium size ladle.

A lot of places won't sell you any lead. I went to a scrap yard and he had some nice lead chunks. H wanted $4 per pound. I told him that I can get it for roughly $2/lb if I was desperate. There are guys still selling it for $1 per pound. You just have to find the guys.

If you use somewhat soft lead maybe a 70/30 mix 70 being soft, you shouldn't have any problems pouring. However if you have never poured before, there is a big learning curve. Read as much as you can about pouring and lead safety as you can on this forum.

Are you referring to bullet head spinnerbait mold or bullet head jig mold. If it is the bullet head spinnerbait mold, then I would get the ultra-minnow spinnerbait mold. BTW welcome to TU.

Many times they have broken pains of lead glass, and the lead separates easily from the broken glass. A little time consuming but the lead is very usable and if they give you the broken pains you then have free lead. If you use a lot of lead like I do, then you will need a bigger source of lead. However, I take all the free lead I can get and mix it in with the real soft lead I have.

A really good price for used lead per pound is $1 per pound. The killer would be shipping, which in a medium flat rate box, they could put up to max 70 lbs for $14.35

I believe the lead they use for stained glass ix a 50/50 mix. My dad used to have stained lead glass in his apartment building. It is definitely usable for pouring jigs.

If it were me I would buy tin or antimony. This way you will get bars and you can get the ratios right instead of guessing. The other problem with lead weights, are that many are not lead any more. They are zinc, and if you add zinc to your lead you will screw up the batch. Also many lead weights have water trapped inside. Unless you know for sure that they are completely dry and void of water, do not use them. Any drops or droplets of water will make the lead explode. I would buy my lead additives from a known and reliable source like Roto-Metals. Be careful and be safe.

Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

I pour and paint 4,5 and 6 oz Ultra-Minnow heads for saltwater fishing. I use an adjustable temp. heat gun. Heat time will depend on how close you keep the jig to the heat source and at what temp. I'm going to say you will be over a minute to heat a head that big. However, the best way to find out is count it out. Count to 45 seconds and dip the head in the paint if it's hot enough then the paint will stick to the head, if not heat it longer. If you added another 15 seconds to your time and it works, then your second and subsequent heads should be 60 seconds. This is just an example of how I do it. BTW welcome to TU.

If you don't need the wire keeper, then don't put it in. The mold will pour fine without the wire keeper.

Well congratulations on your start-up business. Yes there is a big learning curve in the fishing industry for women, however I would not let that stop you. My wife is my tournament partner for the bass tourneys we do, and she can hold her own . All women really need is someone to take the time to show them the ropes and many learn really well. I will tell you this, fishing with her is easier than fishing with some guys. All she does is get in the boat and fish. Anyway good luck on your new business.

The name looks familiar from BR.

Here are some things about wire weedguards. I found the best non-coated wire weedguards are solid wire and the twisted wire shown above by 21xdc. Most of the wire weedguards are (.021) thick whether solid or stranded. You can always go thinner if you do not like stiff wire weeduards. Now, I have used seven-strand, nylostrand and a few others. SevenStrand comes in coated and non-coated. I do not use non-coated stranded wire. Reason being, it has a tendency to separate after some use and your SevenStrand becomes seven separate strands after awhile. So I always use coated. Now what thickness you buy is up to you. I like my weedguards more flexible, so when the fish picks up the jig, the weedguard collapses and the hook point gets exposed, so I can get a good hookset. The only (negative) not really negative I can say about any coated wire weedgard is that when you put it in the mold, the coating will melt about a 1/16 of an inch up from the base of the head. This is due to the hot lead melting the coating on the wire weedguard. However, I have never had any real problems with this. Also SevenStrand or Nylostrand seems more supple than solid wire or double stranded wire as shown above. The choice is yours on what you want. It is a matter of personal preference. If you need more info you can PM me and I will try to give you more insight. BTW Riverrat and Arcflash, welcome to TU.

I use Devcon 2 Ton epoxy, and the slight amber hue doesn't affect any paint. The only difference I see is when I put the epoxy on an all white bait. It isn't as white as it should be, other than that I love Devcon.

Ranger, Welcome to TU. The first thing I would check is to make sure your ovens temp is actually 350 º, many stoves aren't. Just put a oven thermometer in there to check. If it checks out Ok, I would do the next two things: #1 If you are getting paint drips, then you are putting on too much powder paint. Heat your jigs and quickly swish your jig thru the powder paint. Also make sure your powder paint is fluffy when you do this. To get it fluffy, stir your powder paint in the jar with a small popsicle stick . This will loosen it up. #2 If you still get runs, turn down the oven to 300 º, you can always leave it in the oven for a longer period of time, but 10 to 20 minutes will work fine. Good Luck.

Putting on epoxy is a slow and tedious process, so if your customer wants epoxy, make sure you charge him for it. There are several things you can do on the jigs that are scratched on the bottom: #1 Use them for yourself like you mentioned. #2 If the paint is just scratched and not rubbed off, take your jig and run it under a heat gun bottom side only, and the paint should gloss over again. Just make sure you don't burn the paint. #3. If the paint is gone off the bottom, and the jig is one solid color, reheat the jig and swish it thru the same color, and the new paint will gloss over and you can use them as is or you can bake them again. Make sure you don't burn the paint Some tricks I learned over the years, if you want to do a quick fix.

Not to sound arrogant, as many people know me on this board and know that I'm not like this, but I always wonder why someone would get a beautiful product, the way they want it, custom made and then say that a custom pourer is charging too much. My first response to something like that is. Well then pour them yourself and see how much time and money you would have to invest in it. Anyway all that aside, the top two jigs are a custom mold and the bottom is pretty standard. The sickle hook in the bottom pic is no longer available as they "Matzuo" are out of business. However there are alternate hooks similar to the hook shown. The person above my post "dlaery" will take good care of your custom needs on the three jigs you have shown. Good Luck. BTW welcome to TU.

Jimmy, Devcon 2 ton is a 2 part epoxy. You have to use equal parts of the resin and the hardener. Put a little on a clean piece of paper plate, mix the two together for about a minute, and brush on your jigs. Stand jigs up with head up. Do not apply too thick or it will run down. Since you've never done this, it will be a very new learning experience. You can only do about 6 to maybe 8 jigs at a time, because the epoxy starts to harden. Once it's applied occasionally check for dripping epoxy. After 24 hours, the epoxy is hard and clear. On another note, I re-read you post and you say you drag your jigs on the bottom of sand. The bottom of all jigs will get dull from dragging, that is just the way it is. I thought you meant the whole jigs turns flat. If it is just the bottom, then epoxy will help some, but then the epoxy will get dull from all the scratches as well.

If you have a Picasso spinnerbait, measure the blade and start calling blade companies. Tell them the size you have and see if that matches their size blades. If not go on to the next company. Can find a lot of this by looking on the i-net. Eventually someone will have a blade close to what you want.