cadman

MEK, will work, but don't use it, it really screws up your respiratory system. A safer alternative is something like Zinseer paint remover. It does have acidic qualities and you don't want to splash it in your eyes, but at least you can breathe. See attached PDF. I'm sure almost any paint stripper will work. Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf Zinseer Stripper 2013.pdf

Welcome to Tackle Underground. Lot of very knowledgeable people here. The easiest thing to do is put them all in a bowl, and pour in paint stripper. In about 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how many jigs you have, you can take the jigs out and wipe the paint right off. When done wash them in soap (I use Dawn) and water, let dry and put on your new powder paint. If you want a really nice paint job, then do not paint over existing paint, as you will be very disappointed and you will have to start from the beginning. Take the time to do it right and you will be a happy camper.

Mustang Wire will custom make anything you want. You might have to buy 10,000 pieces to run them though. There are two other places, but I can't think of them right now. Others will post and give you the other two.

I sent you another PM. Maybe because your post count is low, you are not able to get them. I don't know why. Anyway if you don't see it PM me your e-mail address.

I already found a jig that I catch a boatload of fish on. Snootie Jig, 1/8 or 3/16 oz. 12 strand fiber weedguard. Silicone or silicote skirt.Rubber collar for myself for everyone else always hand tie. Keeper doesn't matter to me, I have fished jigs without a bait keeper and never had a problem. Owner 5304 hook, Mustad Ultra Points or Eagle Claw laser hook. Snootie Jig, Black and blue head. This jigs accepts eyes, I don't put them on for myself. But I do for others.

Brent, I have both of the molds. The hidden eye does not fill. However, I have had problems with this mold releasing the jig after it's poured.. I think I have a bad mold. With that said others have not complained about it, so it should be good. Maybe others will comment.

PM sent. I have found that send merchandise to Canada is very expensive for shipping.

Definitely a good find. I will have to check them, out when I need some molds. Thanks for the info.

On your hot glue hooks. How do you get the glue in the mold, as I see you have already done this in the pic above. Do you just squeeze the hot glue in a closed cold Do-It mold and then fill all the way up? If so how long before you can take it out and do you coat the cavities with anything to release the glued hook? I'm curious in your process if you are willing to explain. If it's confidential than that is fine as well. Don't give out any of your trade secrets if you don't want to.

Joel, Some things to think about. I tried something similar to Great Stuff on one of my molds many years ago, and I couldn't get that stuff out of my mold. Once it sticks and dries it is almost impossible to get out. I have also currently used Great Stuff to seal up air leaks, and again once it dries it doesn't seem to want to come off. A real P.I.T.A . especially if you had to clean a mold to get it off. However if you try it let us know how it goes. Now on the hot glue. At one time I tried hot glue to hold in my weedguards. Once the glue cooled, I waited a day and dropped my jig in a cup of water for a couple of weeks. At one point the hot glue did not hold the weedguard in place. So I guess it is not waterproof. Anyway I thought I would toss this out there as you plan on making jigs with hot glue. Maybe there is a different type of hot glue you can use.

If they are powder painted and you just don't like the paint job, paint stripper is much faster and you can just rinse them off, dry and repaint. The reason paint stripper is faster, is that it takes awhile for the pot to melt the paint and then it has to melt the lead under the paint, which the powder paint acts as an insulator. If I were to do one or two painted bass jigs, then I would dip them in the pot. If I had 6 or more then paint stripper. Also if you put powder paint in a melting pot, the paint does smell when it starts to melt and burn.

Joel, You have a valid point with making the lead flow faster. However there is at some point a trade-off. Reason being is the faster the lead flows or pours the better chance of getting air pockets which means you will get bad or incomplete pours again as trapped air will not allow lead to seep in. I have tried this (not to say I did it right or correctly), and that was my result. Maybe a faster flow with a bigger sprue opening. However a bigger sprue means you will have to saw it off and won't be able to use gate shears. There are soooo many variables. On bigger jigs this might work. On smaller jigs I found slow and steady with a tilted mold works 90% of the time. Then you have lead composition, humidity, reliefs in mold to let air escape and other things. I have shoved lead mold sprue holes up against pot nozzles and let gravity force the lead into the cavity but this was on mainly smaller jigs biggest being 1 oz. This is a very interesting topic to explore and I would like to hear everyone's input on how they do all of their finicky pours.

I do it all the time as well. You will not damage the temper of the bass hooks we use. Now if you are using std. Aberdeen hooks, that might be a different story. I accidentally forgot a hook that was sitting in my pot for a full day of pouring, and other then discolor the hook, it felt like the hook was stiffer. But you have to remember that it was lying in the hot lead all day long. On small jigs with Aberdeen hooks, I quickly dip bad pours in hot lead, and those hooks are fine as well.

If anyone has this mold, I am looking for some pics of a top view (profile) of the poured jig looking down on it. Pm me if you can help me out. I am trying to match up a customers jigs. Thanks in advance.

My vote is definitely a Snootie jig my go to bait 95 % of the time followed by the Arkie and finally the Poison Tail. On the Poison Tail if you are not a fan of the EWG hooks, then you can swap it out for a round bend, or teach yourself how to set the hook on an EWG. There is a difference .

I had this color made in a powder paint. I can't help you with mixing createx or any other paint. BTW welcome to TU.

Chris, From the cost effective side, find a Do-it mold or two that you like, and learn how to pour them. Do-It molds are good and I really have no issues with them. Unless you're going to make your molds out of aluminum, anything like Bondo, Plaster of Paris or Durhams, will eventually crack from repeated use. Then you will have to make another one. If you're interested, I have some info on molds and powder paint. Send me a PM.

Chris, Welcome to TU. Without a doubt, definitely cure your powder jigs. No point in using powder paint if you don't intend to do this. If you want even more protection, then put on an epoxy coat. I use Devcon 2 ton 30 minute epoxy. You will lose your jig before your paint wears off, unless you are fishing all rocks. Then there is really nothing that will stop the abrasiveness of dragging jigs over rocks. JMO

So, I assume you want that keeper on a spinnerbait body? Because they make the same head in a jig head format. Anyway, if it was me, I would send it out to get cut, as they will get it centered and equal on both mold halves and all cavities. If you are interested PM me I have a guy that I could recommend that could possibly do this. Now if I was to do this myself, I would make sure that I have enough room on the collar of the SB head to accept the .025 keeper and still have enough room so your lead will pour all around the hook shank and the keeper. You will probably lose the current lead keeper on the SB, as your wire keeper will lie through it. You will then have to decide if you want it on the top or the bottom of the head. Starting this out, lay it all out on your mold. make sure your dimensions are accurate, and then take a dremel and start carving away. I am pretty anal on how my jigs look and I personally would not attempt this as it is in my opinion very very time consuming to do this to get it correct, without it looking like an amateur did it. But if you don't mind some imperfections, than have at it and just take your time and go slow.

I bought some 3d eyes, from an advertisement on this site. I like the eye because of its elliptical pupil, but the self stick adhesive was useless. When I stuck the eye on the jig, the application of the D2T always shifted the eye. So I went back to WTP 2d and 3d eyes. They may not look as fancy as the others but they do stick once you put them on. I stick on the eye, it holds and I apply D2T over the eye and surrounding area. I have tried Loctite gel glue, and it too makes the eye cloudy if you get it on the finished surface. There are some good pointers here , just find what works for you. Just my 2 cents worth.

Chris, It looks like there are no pre-made wireforms for the mold. So you will have to make your own. On Do-Its webiste, it says that they give you instructions on how to make them. Also they suggest using 16 or 14 ga wire. That's some thick stuff. I would use stainless steel instead of what they recommend which is galvanized wire. It will be a little hard to bend but it can be done in a vice. One other thing and that is I'm curious on how that mold pours. With the wires sticking out as heat sinks, I'm wondering if you are going to get complete pours.

I've never heard of them, however that is a good find. If you order from them let us know the outcome and any other info we should know. You have my interest now.

Steve, I used to use this mold for the punch skirts as well. I have since changed to using the Spire jig molds, as they have more of a size selection. Also note: if you buy the Spire mold, you will have to cut a slot at the top of each cavity on both mold halves. I like the spire mold much better. The draw backs to the slip jig mold is that you can only pour one cavity at a time. Do not attempt to pour 2 or even 3 cavities per side, as you will never pull out the pull pin. I also found that you need to get that mold really hot, and you must use mold release spray, as some of the cavities, don't want to fill all the way. The slip jig cavities are parallel with the mold. I do not like this set-up, because you don't get as consistent pours, as you would if the cavities were vertical. Also for the pull pin, I would replace the .063 steel pin with a stainless steel one. The stainless steel one seems to slide out of the cavity better than steel does. Other than that, the mold pours well and works for its intended purpose. These are just some of the quirks I found with the mold and why I switched. JMO

I'm waiting for colors as well. However I don't know what is going on. I have not been able to get anything either.

As far as wire goes you will need to use stainless steel, for the corrosion resistance. As far as wire guage, that is up to you. The heavier the wire the hader it will be to bend and make loops. Do some trial and error on some different guages. Depending on what you are using it for, you can start with (.040) wire and go up or down to suit your needs. Below is a link, of a tutorial that might help you one of the members on this site made. It is for guys who like to make their own custom made screw-locks. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/12037-making-consistent-screw-locks-rev-1-0/ Hope this helps