cadman

Post some pics of the cavities. I would be interested in seeing them if possible.

Wow, I have to commend you for taking this a step further and actually doing experiments and seeing what actually happens. Looks like you are doing your homework and have data, videos and pics to back up your statements. Wish the rest of the companies in the world would back up their product with good sound testing and trial and error work. Job well done.

It's nice that someone other than Smalljaw and myself understand that a stand-up jig will not stand-up if you don't have some kind of buoyant plastic bait to keep the hook floating as well. There are so many guys out there that buy stand-up jigs based on a manufacturers recommendations (a video showing a jig bouncing around in a 10 gal aquarium) and then go out and fish it with a regular plastic bait. I guess they figure that since it's on video, it actually works that way in a real life lake presentation.

Unfortunately the 11760, are currently not available, unless you know someone that has old stock. Now the equivalent to this in EC is 570R, Mustad is 32746NPRB and VMC is 9147. THese are all available according to my supplier in 100 count and 1000 count. I don't know what you mean by moderately priced, if you want more info PM me. How many do you need of each if I can locate the 11760?????

That's why we are all here to help each other. Just think of what you wouldn't learn if there was no internet. Talk about a lot of trial and error along with a lot of frustration. I have learned alot from others as well here. I've been here since 2006, and back then very few guys were powder painting. Tackle Underground has opened the world up to a lot of guys with all the knowledge that is here with it's members.

Mac, I was hoping Hawnjigs was going to chime in. He has helped me a great deal with pouring of bismuth jigs and he knows his alloys. I thought your original question was to pour bismuth jigs. I didn't know you wanted to use it to mix in soft lead, which like hawnjigs said, I would not do that either. I would find a cheaper alternative to harden your lead.

That will work fine. Just clean off the surface with alcohol, or lacquer thinner. If you fill the whole area, you can take the powder paint off with paint stripper and it comes off really easy as at this point it will not be baked on. Practice makes perfect (Sometimes) LOL

Read this. The only problem is trying to find the correct ratio you like to use and what pours well for you. http://www.tackleund...h-for-strength/

Mac, If you want to harden your pure lead, put in some lead tire weights in there. You can also add pewter or acid free solder these will all harden your soft lead. I don't know where you want to be with your hardness, but the only way you will get this accurate and consistant is to weigh the pure lead to a ratio of hard lead. You'll have to do some testing, and this may be a little time consuming to figure out what you want. I on the other hand like my jigs on the hard side. So my mix is 70% hard lead and 30% soft lead. Good luck on your ratios. If you need more help definitely post up your questions. Someone here will for sure know a lot more about bismuth or hardening lead ratios than I do.

Mac, I pour straight bismuth. You can mix it with tin. I have attached a chart on bismuth alloys. First thing you must be sure is that the bismuth you use is either pure bimuth or bismuth tin alloy. As you will see in this chart, you can buy bismuth with trace amounts of lead alloy. With that said, I don't know what kind of alloy Lure Parts on line sells. So you should ask and get a spec sheet from them. Now this may sound stupid, however I do sell bismuth jigs to guys in Massachusettes. If for some reason someone calls me on it I have documentation of when I bought my bismuth and where. Which is always available to my customers. Now on the flip side, to be honest I can's see any DNR guy telling you that your jigs are not lead-free. Because they would have to test it somehow, and I don't think they have enough money in their budget to do this. Also If you ever get called on by a DNR guy about lead free jigs, you can always say that you bought the jigs at a store and the package said bismuth. If he for some reason tests your jig and it is not bismuth, your answer is simple. I bought them at the store and it said bismuth, if they are not lead-free, maybe they didn't put the correct jigs in the package. It's your word against his. You and I know that a majority of these lead-free jigs will be made overseas, and you mean to tell me that they can't screw up packaging especially if they can't read the packaging. I'm not codoning anyone to break the law, but this whole lead-free thing is such a waste of time and and taxpayers money. I will finally tell you that pouring bismuth is a lot more trouble than it is worth. It sticks to aluminum molds even with drop out mold release. Also if you are going to pour in any of the molds, make sure that the molds are simple. Like a round jig or oval or cylindrical. I have some molds that would not release the bismuth from the cavity without damaging your cavity by prying it out. So your best bet if that happens, is to take a propane torch and melt it out. Bismuth is very sharp along the edges and filing is very time consuming. When it cools it expands in the mold so it is better to take it out as soon as you pour. These are the things that I have experienced. Others may have some better insight, as I always look for an easier way. BTW this is just my opinion. BTW bismuth floats for about $20-$25/ lb and a pound doesn't get you alot Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf Bismuth stats.pdf

Jigman, I by no means am an expert at this. But based on your pic, that is the same way I would run my rig. I would think that the wires with the leadhead and plastic, would be heavy enough to keep those three down as you reel because of the weight. But maybe the torque of the baits going throu the water spins your "A" rig. This is what I would try, to keep your 3 baits down. #1 Take off your willows and leave the arm empty, see how it runs maybe less torque from the willows spinning. #2 Cut off the middle wire and one of the outside wires, should balance all three of the outside baits and will keep them down because of the weight distribution. These are only suggestions, as I don't use an "A rig. I don't know if you make these, but if you do, make one with only 3 arms. Maybe somone else has some other suggestions.

Just some info for you guys that want to practice blending colors and to see what colors look good over other colors. This is what I did for hours upon hours on end to learn how to powder paint. Get yourself some clean pieces of aluminum or steel sheets. If you don't have access to this you can use old aluminum siding or pieces of steel from barbecue grilles or whatever and practice on that. Clean the material to get the grease and grime off. Then heat up a small section you want to paint with a heat gun and tap or sprinkle your powder colors all around to achieve the color you want. Re-heat it with a heat gun to smooth out and blend the paint. You will see how it looks. If you don't like it start on another spot on the aluminum. This will give you a lot of practice without wasting jigs. Now if you want to learn how to powder paint and keep the drips down. First I would recommend getting or making a fluid bed. Then something similar to what I did up above. I painted bolt heads, washers, copper tubing, brass valves and so on. Anything that is nsteel, stainless steel, alumiunm, copper or brass will accept powder paint. Bake in oven and check it out. One really crazy idea was I replaced the water valves on my copper pipes that go into my wife's clothes washer. Never could remember which is hot or cold. So I took off the valve handles, cleaned them and then I powder painted one blue and one red. Came out rather nice. Just some info for you guys that want to practice and get really good at powder painting.

This is just what I've heard about Shaw Collins. He is no longer making molds and selling off his surplus. I don't know how true this is.

x2 on less is better. You are correct in saying that because if you put on too much you have to start over. To answer your questions, I will give it a try: "white powder coated spinnerbait body with some baby blue highlights on the upper portion of the head along with a red spot on the neck". You can do this two ways. A......... Entire body white. Flip the spinnerbait belly up, tap on some red on the neck area, flip spinnerbait again dorsal side up and tap on your blue along the dorsal line. B.........Entire body white. Smooth out your red powder on a plate and take the hot spinnerbait belly down and touch the nose to the red powder. The hot spinnerbait will grab the red powder. It is easier and faster to do it this way than step A. Now flip the spinnerbait again dorsal side up and tap on your blue along the dorsal line "plattered glitter effect along with the primary color powder paint, i.e., green pumpkin with black glitter highlights, brown with orange glitter highlights". Glittter to me is a P.I.T.A with powder paint. Reason being is it usually doesn't want to cover consistently and evenly. So this is what I do. On the clear powder with glitter, like CSI, you have to constantly shake the jar even after only one dip. I will tell you that spinnerbaits will have to be put on with the tap brush method since they will not fit in a jar with glitter. I found a better finer glitter from "Herbies Magic Dust" The application to me is much easier to use than CSI. Your last resort and probably the easiest for spinnerbaits with glitter is mix your glitter with Devcon 2 Ton. I will check on some hooks for you later tonight to see what I can find. As far as hooks go and us tacklemakers buying them, hook manufacturers should read some of the comments posted about their products. You and I and many others always want the best product for the best price. I am partial to U.S.A. made products, however if a U.S.A product is substandard in quality we don't have a choice. You have to use what upholds are standards. This is also true if it were the other way around. I put Gami, Owner and other hooks in my molds, because that is what the customer wants. For example Eagle Claw re-tooled there hook line series, and I believe that they are going to be the leader in mass distributed hooks along with their Trokar line. Now nothing against Mustad as they were a U.S.A manufacturer, however ever since they moved their facility overseas, I noticed that their quality is slipping. This is not good and this could kill their product line. We shall see. So you and I have the right to buy what works for you. It's not about allegiance to U.S.A products, it's about using a good product

Smalljaw, That is strange you posted the same time I posted and the posting time was 2:43 for the both of us. How is that for a coincidence. You must have posted first because I didn't see your post until I finished

Smalljaw also airbrushes his powder paints on his jigs and spinnerbaits and he does an amazing job with blending colors. Check out the gallery with his work. I on the other hand have only used the tapping method. With that said, what other info are you looking for? All I can say is that it takes a lot of practice and trial and error to get good at either method. If you have more specific questions just ask and everyone here will help you out.

Several things come into consideration. If you look at the clevices, you will notice that they usually tell you the inside diameter or hole size. So in your case on the clevices, they may have an .040 that will fit the .035 wire and an .045 that will fit the .041 wire. Now if the .045 clevice is not too big, then you can use them for both wires. Also what determines what to use, is the bigger the clevice the more room you have for a blade to rotate. You do not want to use a small clevice and then find that the blade binds on the wire as it spins. I would buy several size clevices. They are not that expensive. On the beads, again they need to fit over the wire diameter. You can use plastic beads as spacers and make the spinnerbait lighter, or metal beads which will add weigh to the spinnerbait and you will be able to fish deeper. A lot of this is personal preferance on what you like on a spinnerbait. They also have tubular spacers as well.................Good Luck

You can try Cabela's, Barlow's, Lure Parts on line. I'm sure others have them as well. They are not cheap, however they do last a long time and I think they are a good investment if you do a lot of tying with thread.

I use Coats and Clarks upholstery thread. Only about 4 or 5 colors, but it will never break. Got mine at Jo-Anne Fabrics.

Yes JB weld will hold for many pours. The only problem is if you need to take it out, you will damage the mold especially in small crevices, because you can't get J B mold out cleanly. If you want to use the mold as a two part mold, better to fill the portion you don't want with high temp silicone. JMO

PM sent

Does anyone have this mold? If any of you guys do, I'm looking for about 30 of the wire weedguards that fit in this mold. I ran out and won't get any more in until the end of the year until I place my order. I don't want to pay $7 shipping for a $4.00 pack of weedguards. PM me if you can spare 30 weedguards, and I'll work something out. Thanks in advance.

I use 22 Ga (.024) copper wire, with three wraps and then twisted at tag ends.

Well if that is your first time it doesn't look like it very nice job. My hat's off to you.

x2 on what Nova said, I believe that is a better choice than the following unless you decide to weld it together. I work with stainless, and yes you can solder stainless to stainless, however it is not recommended, as the shear force is not there like if it were welded. Anyway, make sure you use the correct flux for stainless steel. That is more important than the solder itself, but you do want to use an acid core solder. JMO