cadman

TJ, That's a good question, if that is the case, then it doesn't matter about hooks. However lot of guys buying these from me are using it as a stand-up, so now I don't really know. I guess you can use it for either, and yes it does have a convex bottom....

Smalljaw, Are you ready for this, if so sit down grab a beer and read on. Or maybe I'll grab a beer. Anyway I have poured these over and over and over and this is my take on this jig with the hooks they want you to use. First of all I'm going to address the 1/4 oz jig. The 3/0 Mustad #32786 hooks they want you to use for this cavity is too heavy. What I mean by this is that if you take the 1/4 oz jig with the 3/0 hook in there it wants to topple over backwards and the 4/0 will definitely topple over backwards. There is just not enough weight in the base of the jig to hold this jig in the upright position. I have tried this over and over again with the same results. So maybe going to a thinner hook will lessen the weight and not make it top heavy. When you get to the 3/8 oz, the 3/0 is fine and the 4/0 works and is just at the end of being top heavy where the jig does remain upright. So here is the scenario. If you cast this jig out with an oversize hook, will it fall exactly upright, probably not especially the 1/4 oz. So does it matter if you use an oversize hook probably not. When you cast the 1/4 oz'er out it probably falls on the side, and the skirt will probably prop it up some so it doesn't lay flat. However this may happen to a 3/8 oz jig as well so all of this is a mute point. Now..........You can fix the 1/4 oz'er from toppling backwards, by filing the front half of the bottom of the jig. This will give your jig more lean forward. You can see this really well on a flat table , however is this worth the effort, if you are fishing an uneven lake bottom, probably not.................So let's forget all that and look at a better solution. I have poured many of these this way and they are perfect all the time. Please don't shoot the messenger. A customer of mine buys these like this and it's the cat's a**. What works for these jigs is the Owner #5304 hook. These hooks by far are the lightest hooks I have used and are extremely sharp. If you have not used these you have to try them at least once. They are expensive and they have a squared off hook bend, but for a stand-up brush jig, these can't be beat. So with that I'll leave you to ponder this insanity and I think I'll have my beer now. I'm sure you will have many, many questions. So shoot away.........................Talk to you soon.

No need to bake(cure) each color separately. Put all your colors on at one time . Do all your baits that way, put on rack and bake all at one time. Yes you can use the same temp for all the color I do that all the time and never had any problems. However do a sample test piece first to make sure all your colors come out the way you want it. If you put purple on top of ylw chartreuse, when you bake them you will get green, which is not what you want. More info from others will surely follow.

Sean, I have never tried it but I heard of guiys using the tyvek envelops from the Post Office, and they say they work just fine, however I can't confirm that.

X2

Try McMaster-Carr, they have a lot of useful things for every application.

Frank, I have to pour some and weigh them. This is kind of new to me. All I can say is this, if you are having trouble pouring lead, this stuff is twice as bad. Definitely not for beginners and at almost $20 a pound I can see why these cost so much. Very brittle and hard to get out of the mold and to work with.

Frank, Yes you can. I started pouring bismuth( lead free jigs) and they can't be baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes .So I bake them at 250 - 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes and it works fine. I've benn doing a lot of trial and error now with the bismuth and it is definitely a different animal. I've been getting a lot of help here from one of our members.

No not you too Mark. But you must be, because I thought I had a high thread/post count but you got me beat by more than double. Sorry my friend. You need to be in a nice warm an cozy room too, with no visitors so you can continue on this journey of madness

I bought mine from Zeiner's in Wichita Kansas, good place to buy molds as well as they are the cheaper than others.

Chris, You can try it. I don't know if you can turn it down that low.

Still on the clock so I can type more. One thing I want to mention is that once you spray on the mold release and you make your first pour, you will see the lead run in the mold and out the bottom just like waer. So as fast as lead is pouring in it is pouring out just as fast. This shows you how slick(slippery) this stuff is. Now the statement above is with no hooks or base hole pin on the mold. Naturally lead won't keep pouring out of the mold once you put a hook in and the base hole pin. Glad I clarified that, people will be wanting to know why the lead isn't pouring out after the hooks are in. Doh!!!!!!!

C'mon you have an addiction? Let's be serious If you have an addiction then I need to be in rehab surrounded by all my molds in my happy little corner of the room pouring and paiting. Somewhere around 130 molds. Anyway getting back to business. I have tried a lot of things and only two things worked so far. Candle soot to me (JMO) never worked and it gets my nice dishwater hands dirty. Don't use Pam, it has liquid in it. So about 4 years ago, a friend of mine gave me some CRC teflon spray to try (I think that's what it was). Anyway that did work however it was around $30 for a 12 oz spray can and I didn't want to spend that kind of money at the time. Then someone told me to try Drop Out from Frankford Arsenal. Been using it ever since, and would never look back. If you can't get good pours with Drop Out then you are doing something wrong. You clean your existing mold with lacquer thinner to get all of the oils and crap off. I tape everything on both mold halves except the cavity opening this way it doesn't spray all over. Shake can thoroughly, spray on an even coat on all cavities, both sides (it doesn't take much) and let dry (about 10 minutes). Take off tape. Then get your mold hot and start pouring. It is like night and day. As far as longevity goes. I can roughly pour 500-700 jigs on one coating. Since the coating goes on gray, you will see it wear off as your silver aluminum starts showing through. Then clean the mold all over again and spray again. One thing I did want to mention is this. I started to get lazy and didn't want to clean the old spray off. Well that is not a good idea. reason being is when I kept re-applying with out cleaning the old stuff off, the spray started to build up and if you have any dirt in there or excessive drip from the spray, this will transfer on the jig. I found that out the hard way as one time my football jigs all of a sudden started to develope a small dimple on one side. I couldn't figure it out until I looked in the mold half and scraped the cavity with my fingernail. Apparently as I was reapplying the spray, a small particle of dirt was sitting in the cavity and the spray covered it, leaving a bulge, which transfered onto the jig. Sorry for the long dissertation, but I'm at work doing this and getting paid for it.

Dan, I try to word things so when I say them people don't think I'm a know it all or I'm challenging their way of doing things or knowledge. I try to rephrase things so when they read what I write it makes them re-evaluate the way they do things and re-think what they are doing. It's tough to give advice without stepping on people's toes and they think I'm encroaching on them as a person. I'm glad you took it constructively and not persoanlly.

Thanks for all the info guys, you've been great.

Dan, This is a tough question. The reason being is that if you know how to powder paint jigs, blend powder paint on a jig and do this with multiple colors than I would say that you could maybe get away with a high low heat gun. I 'm not saying here that you don't know what you're doing so don't take this wrong. Now I myself would not be without a multi-temp heat gun. I do so many multi-color jigs that at some point you have to reduce the heat to keep from burning the paint. As a matter of fact I have 3 variable temp heat guns two are spares in case the one I'm using burns out. Also if you get a variable temp heat gun, you can use it for other things. Like heating up the clear coat, or other things around the house. I'm sure you will get many answers here.

Glad to be of help.

This is the correct way to use the pins. #1 put the pin in a raw lead jig. #2 heat jig over heat gun, when jig is hot dip in powder paint. #3 immediately pull the jig out of the paint it will gloss over and immediately pull out the pin. #4 put jigs on rack and then put in toaster oven to bake. Done.

I have a feeling you are right. I have used tinned hooks before for saltwater jigs, however a customer wants a jig I can't get in a tinned hook, unless I get them tinned. Thanks.

Mike, I don't have this mold, but I can tell you one thing about the "V" in the hook shank. There is reason why Do-It does this. #1 The "V " or crimp in the hook keeps the head from spinning around on the hook shank. Since this is a round head it doesn't matter, if it were a profile head your head would be askew from the hook eye, thus making it not lay right. The other reason the "V" is there is it keeps the head from sliding down the hook shank. This does happen often when you pour lead, as if when the lead cools, sometimes the heads are lose on the hooks. If this happens then your jig would be useless. So to answer your question, would a spinnerbait hook work probably, however how are you going to keep the head part from sliding down if it does happen. Also yes powder paint will help hold it in place. However from constant use of the jig it may still loosen up. JMO.

Can someone tell me if the Black Pearl or Black Nickel finish on the Mustad and Eagle Claw hooks can be used in saltwater?? Thanks in advance

I would never flux in a residence either. First of all any lead that drips or splashes on anything will instantly damage it. So if you are pouring in the house and you have a carpeted, wood or linoleum floor odds are at some point you will damage it. Do not do this inside your home. Garage is fine. If you have to pour indoors, then do not pour, buy your jigs raw and then powder paint them etc.. That is a much better choice and safer choice.

As far as I know they do not sell them. PM sent

Good to know on the coffee filter. Are you the same guy on BBC?

I sent you an e-mail with the pics.