cadman

Shorty's Hook Sales like Jig Man stated or Capt'n Hooks.

Mark, That is what I did. Fortunately, I put the printed side inward towards where the powder would sit. I guess somebody was looking out for me, as I didn't know there is a good side and a bad side so to speak. So far so good on white.

Thank You. Now I can relate to the material I have and use the correct verbage.

So I still have this question. Is Tyvek look like spun fibers? Also I never leave my powder paint in the fluid bed. It goes in when I need it and comes out when I'm done. This saves a lot of time with moisture and humidity problems. Hopefully this will wok on a regular basis.

Mark, You seem like you know your Tyvek. So here is my question to you. I always thought that Tyvek was a plastic sheating you put over houses exterior before siding goes on as a moisture barrier. If that is correct, I am confused. Because the stuff I picked up at the Post Office looks to me like a series of fused fiberglass strands. So is the stuff I have really Tyvek? Maybe I am using this word incorrectly. Please elaborate. If you get to the Post office, and see this stuff let me know if it is Tyvek, so I use the correct terminology, or I can send you a piece of the stuff I have for your identification. Thanks for any help'

Just to clarify, I by all means don't have this figured out. LOL I am thinking that this is a fluke. The reason I say this is I've tried everything for fluid be media except this. I have been pouring jigs for about 9 years . I have been powder painting for the last 8 and although i have had a fluid bed for a long time I have struggled to make this thing work the way it is supposed to. We all know that different powders have different chemical make-up thus making some work more fluid then others. At some point and time I got so frustrated with a fluid bed that I didn't use it for several years which forced me to use my current method, which I laboriously practiced for years and got decent at it. I like the fluid bed especially for one color applications. It is so much easier than dipping in a jar. Now the reason I say that this could be a fluke is that everything for me works flawlessly in winter. The air is really dry, so naturally the powder paint will be as well. Also I can pour 100's of jig in the dead of winter with it being below zero outside, and I rarely have any bad pours from any of my molds. So I've come to a conclusion, that humidity is a killer for me. I do know it affects powder paint, however I don't understand how it affects lead pouring. Come Spring time I will start having issue with pouring, though powder paint does not give me the problems the way pouring does. Now to answer your question regarding using caps or just straight filter media. I have never used the test caps, so I can not give you an accurate answer. However I have always glued the media to the entire bottom of the cup. My thinking on this is ( don't know if it's correct) that if I get as much surface area open to the powder, I should get a more even powder flow distribution, because there will be no dead spots for the powder to sit. This is just my personal opinion, I have not done any studies or testing on air movement in relation to open air area. I am going to rip open my other cup tomorrow and put a piece of Tyvek on that cup to see how that works with a different color. The real test will be with green pumpkin color. The one I have is very heavy and has to be constantly shaken or stirred. I want to see if it fluidizes the green pumpkin. I will post results as time goes on. Again this is going too easy for me. The sky has to fall out sooner or later. LOL

I have always had problems with my white powder paint when it came to fluid beds. I have tried over 30 brands of white and have finally had one custom blended to where I thought it was as good as it gets when it comes to using it in a fluid bed. I still got volcanoes with my final white, but nowhere near to what I have had in the past. In my final white I would get the volcanoes and then I would just take a popsicle stick and stir it occasionally and they would go away, only to come back shortly thereafter. Yeah, I know you can get a vibrator to put under the fluid bed, but I didn't want to start clamping and drilling and gluing to retrofit my fluid bed. So I had some time yesterday and thought of a post or posts by someone who said that they used the "Tyvek" envelopes you get from the Post Office. In looking at these, doesn't seem like much and I was very wary. I've been down this road before and I didn't want to go there again. I put the envelope to my mouth and blew in there to see if air would indeed escape. Wow don't think this is going to work. Anyway my curiosity got the best of me, and I cut out a couple 3" diameter discs. I took out a new fluid bed cup, and glued the disc on with gel superglue. Turned the cup over and placed it on some wax paper on my workbench, which then I put some heavy books on top of the cup to hold it in place to let it dry. Today about 2:00 pm I need to paint about 100 white jigs. I took the books off, pulled off the waxpaper from the bottom of the cup, and everything looked fine so far. I then sanded off all the excess glue on the side of the cup, stuck the cup into the fluid bed and started to add my white powder. Plugged in the air pump, opened the air valve and nothing. A little bit more and nothing (you tend to do this really slow with powder paint as I don't have to explain) a little bit more and voila my powder was boiling soooo nicely. I let it run for 10 minutes to see what would happen. This is what powder paint fluid bed dreams are made of. The powder boiled nicely, slowly turning over on itself as the bottom came to the top. I marveled at this creation and thought to myself why didn't I try this before. Finished the 100 jigs in no-time and the powder was still bubbling like it did when I started it couple of hours ago. So with that said, I hope this isn't a fluke and that all the stars were lined up for me today to make this happen. I will post back with my findings in several months, to let you know how this goes. I'm thinking that since it is winter here in IL, the powder is drier, thus making everything ideal. We shall see when April comes. Finally I want to thank whomever that person(s) was who posted this info. I posted this to let you guys know that this might be something to try if you haven't done so yet. This is all in the early stages for me so we'll see how it goes.

I have used motor oil, 3 in 1 oil and machinist oil. No matter what you use it's all good. Some lubrication is better than none. I apply about every 6 months especially on molds that I use more often. I know a guy also that has never used any oil on his molds and he has been pouring for 20 years. Never had a problem with his molds. I think you might run into more problems if you leave your molds in the garage year around where the temps constantly change, along with high humidity and moisture. That's where I can see the roll pin that is used to hold the mold halves start to rust. I don't believe those roll pins are stainless steel. Also the other problem with aluminum molds being exposed to elements, is that aluminum unless entirely anodized will start to pit and oxidize going from gray color to whiet powdery residue. But this will take a really long time to get to this state and the raw aluminum would have to be out in the elements 24 -7 .

I was never good at painting eyes, so I use stick on eyes. You can buy 3D eyes with eliptical pupils.

No problem and no harm done. I didn't take any offense, I just don't want people to think that I have all the answers, and my way is correct. Anytime I comment on someones thread or post, it is about things that I've encountered in my travels. There are a lot of things I don't know and I learn from others as well. We're here to help each other learn and to hopefully give each other insight from things that we have come across so it makes it easier for others.

Soopd now that you clarified the hook. I would like to rephrase my statement. I don't want to come across as a know-it all or an arrogant person. But if you were to tell me that you wanted to use an EC 570,575 or a Mustad 32756 hook then I would say that those hooks are too weak for bass fishing. Reason being is I have fished those hooks I have mentioned, and I used them for river fishing for walleye. The aberdeen hooks are made to bend when they are hooked on a picee of wood or caught in rocks, so then you can pull the jig through so you don't lose it. You can physically bend and rebend the 570's many times and they don't break. However they do bend out and straighten. So for that reason I would not use the hooks I mentioned for bass. I personally believe that you should have a stronger hook for bass fishing. Now the 32746 hook is a stouter hook. The 4/0 is around .044 thk diameter, plus they are a premium hook. This hook I would definitely use, because taking this hook in my hand I can feel that you can not bend this hook out real easily. I can't comment on the EC L2706BP, because I have never used them. I do want to clarify that yes you can use any hook to catch a fish and yes you can catch a bass on an aberdeen hook, however I wouldn't use it at all as my go to hook on a jig, because I don't have the confidence in that hook to hold a bass. This is just again personal opinion.

Welcome to Tackle Underground. I don't know what fish you are targeting but that mold takes an aberdeen hook. With that said, I personally wouldn't use an aberdeen hook for bass fishing. However I do know that they make a 575H hook, which is the heavier version of the 575. I couldn't tell you if the 575H fits in that mold. Out of curiosity, what is a Mustad 46 hook? If you are looking for a stronger hook I would go with a different mold like a FBB-4H-AFM or a FBB-3M-AFM, much more verstile mold and hook options. Just my opinion

It should work fine. Just don't saturate the swab, also be careful, so you don't get any on the painted side, lacquer thinner will dull the finish really fast. Even with the vapors around the paint. It is kind of a P.I.T.A. way to do it, but it does work. I haven't found an easier way so far.

So you want to be a Rembrandt Huh? LOL Just kidding. I do this all the time with my spinnerbait blades. Paint the top (Concave) side and leave the (Convex) bottom shiny side shiny. I still think the tapping method is your best bet, because you can control how much powder you put on. It is easier to do jigs, because you can hold the jig by the hooks. With a blade you have to hold it by the eyelet and then repaint the eylet. Anyway, I'm sure you know how to paint so this is what I would do and you might already do this. First heat your jig with a heat gun. Heat the bottom side ( the side not being painted). Once hot, hold your jig with a pair of forceps on a 45 degree angle with the side you want painted up. Now take some powder in your brush and lightly tap it onto the top side. The excess will slide off the jig. This way you won't apply too much. Put under heat to melt paint, and see if it covered. If not put on a little more paint. Tap on paint sparingly, as these are not big jigs. Once done let cool. Now if you happen to get paint on the underside, take a Q-Tip and dip it in some lacquer thinner (I don't know if Acetone will work) anyway make sure the Q-tip is not soaking wet. Now take the lacquer thinner dipped Q-tip and rub on the back side of the side you want clean. It will take off any residue paint. Note clean before you bake the jigs, as baking will harden the paint. That's it. I will try to post a pic of a blade I did to see if that is what you are referring to.

Gonfishn, At the time when I built my fluid bed, I tried all of the normal stuff most guys use. Then I was getting volcanoes on some powders. So I bought the stuff from CSI (yes it is expensive) with the hopes that it would produce better to perfect results. To my disappointment on some of the powders I had the same problem as with my previous media. With that said all powder will not always work perfectly in a fluid bed. Also when summer comes and it gets huimid, some powders get progressively worse. So I don't think you will find a perfect solution for every powder. I now use vacuum cleaner bags and micro fiber pillow cases. In closing I have not found the pourous material you are looking for at a really cheap price, especially in small quantities.

Mark, I only stock three color eyes, red, gold and silver. I think those colors will cover almost anything you want to make. Eye color is personal preferance. I don't or rarely use eyes on the jigs I fish. It's more of a selling point for me. However eyes do make a jig look really good especially if you make a jig with light colors For some reason a white jig doesn't look complete if it has provisions for eyes and you don't put any in. These are the colors combos that I use. Red and silver eyes on blk, black/blue jigs, gold eyes on brown, green pumpkin and watermelon jigs. Now when you get into lighter colors, red looks really good on white, white/yellow chart and yellow chart. jigs. Silver also looks good on a white jig with silver sides and a black dorsal line. So to put it in a nutshell, whatever you think looks good is all that matters.

Ron, I don't know how light you want to go but there are a lot of equivalents. The only thing is I don't know what mold you are using these hooks on and their fit. However if you want an EWG, you can use EC(Eagle Claw) L111BP or a gami 2014, regular round bend hooks are Mustad 32786 and 32729, EC L786, Owner 5317 and 5304, and Gami 291

Jig Man, I've tried over the years several things to peel 2d and 3d eyes off the paper rolls or cards. What I found easier for me was apair of tweezers you use to take out slivers. If you are going to buy them get the ones that have the really pointy ends. This helps in digging the tips between the paper and the eye.. The tweezers then help in holding and positioning the eye on the jig. You can buy these at any drug center. I believe I paid around $7. As far as getting eyes to hold on before clearcoating, I get all of my eyes from WTP. They are a little more expensive, however their adhesive is much better than most any eyes I've used out there. Just my thoughts on it. Below is a pic of the tweezers.

That is the best solution if you can keep everything really warm including the epoxy and the room.

Denatured alcohol. However I personally don't advise it as I believe it will weaken the epoxy. You can also heat the mixed epoxy a bit and it will flow more freely, however when you heat it, it accelerates the curing process. I apply it on as is. You realistically can only do maybe (10) 1/2 oz baits if you are really fast and have the system down.

I don't doubt all the testing you've done, and I'm sure your testing is thorough. I also don't doubt that you catch fish with what your molds produce for you. I am not saying what you produce is not correct. My basis is on molds that I've poured or customized in the past or stand-up jigs that I've bought at the store. None of them worked for me the way they are supposed to. So you may be correct that I do not have all the knowledge that you have in a custom mold and your testing. Until someone can take me on a lake or river system and physically show me that this works all the time, I am not convinced. I try to be open minded and give my honest opinion of what I know. You maybe 100% correct with your system. I don't wish to argue the facts, we can all agree to disagree. We all have our own opinions of what we have seen or what we have to work with. Also that is an unfair statement about me reigning as a jig expert. I never made that claim and don't to this day, there are a lot of things I don't know. Like when I mentioned in my post "with what little testing I did". Also I never claimed to be a custom mold expert. Yes all of my molds are Do-it molds stock or modified. You can make a point just like anyone else, whether it is correct or not. You don't see me making comments about yourself or others on this forum. If I'm wrong fine, we all have a right to speak and say what we want, whether others want to agree with our thought process or not. To each his own.

Just to put in my 2 cents worth, and with what little testintg I did, I am not a proponent of stand-up jigs at all. The reason being is the same thing Smalljaw said. Everything works fine in a controlled environment with no currents, no rocky structure, no tree braches or anything else littering our lake bottoms. People always use the aquarium example in sports shows to show how a stand up jig works so great. OK I'll bite, how deep is a10 gal aquarium 14-16" max with gravel. Also they use a little stick with line attached to it jigging the jig vertically. Well that's all fine how many of us fish in an aquarium under those perfect conditions? With that said, you add current in a 10 gal. aquarium and your stand up jig will topple over, if it even gets to stand up at all when it drops to the bottom. You go to a lake and you cast out in 8 FOW, I will bet your weeks paycheck, that by the time that jig falls down and hits bottom it will be on its side. Even if you cast out and the jig falls on a slack line, what are the odds of it standing up 100% of the time? So, I don't buy all the stand-up jig hype. JMPO. It's funny but I sell a lot of (supposedly) stand-up jigs. Why do I do this since I don't believe it? Well because it's like everything else in life, if someone has to have, I provide a service. I also tell all these people that buy my stand-up jigs, that in reality they really don't work as well or at all and I try to sway them away from them. But marketing and sponsored Mr. Superfisherman says they work so I guess it has to be. Many guys don't even have the common sense to put on a floating bait on a stand-up jig and many people selling stand up jigs don't tell their customers that it should be used with a floating plastic bait. Also a heavier stand up jig would need a platic bait that has more buoyancy to raise the jig in theory. So where is all this info from manufacturers selling their product. None that I see anywhere. Anyway not to offend anyone here this is just my take on it, whether you agree or disagree. Also no I don't use stand-up jigs and I won't use them in my fishing exploits. For those that use them and tyhey work for you that is really all that matters right?

Very nice

Good Luck and hope he will be selling more.

There is a lot of rumor of what has happened and what is going on . I heard many stories, however with that said I will not post my opinion here. Andy when he makes a mold he does a phenominal job with it. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about his quality. Also heard that all his molds pour really well. BTW nice looking molds. I'm sure you will get some excellent pours with those.