cadman

I bought my material from a rep in China which are pre-cut. I use them for pouring and painting every jig I have. In pouring the old style steel pins get stuck many times in the lead, because the lead shrinks as it cools. So many times in the past I had to use pliers to pull the steel pins out. Well after fighting this.................no more. The pins I have pull out really easy. The same process for painting. I put clean pins in the jigs after the jigs have been polished. Heat the jig over a heat gun, swish it through the paint, pull the pin out and hang on the rack . Once all done put the jigs in the oven to cure. Your weedguard holes will be as clean as a whistle. No more drilling out paint from weedguard holes. I pull the pins out right away, from my jigs because I have left them in when I first started this and if you let the jig cool and then take them out , the paint has a tenency to chip around the weedguard hole. Mine are heat proof to 700 degrees. You can not use them over an open flame. Only a heat gun.

I have the nylon pins. PM sent. I use Loc-Tite Gel super glue currently.

Steve, I have never had any luck with powder painting jigs with the weed guard in place. I've tried it once and I did'nt like the results. Maybe since I do mostly multi-color jigs there is too much heat , and the weedguards seem to start to curl and disfigure. Maybe I just didn't give it enough of a chance, so I can't honestly say. When I started powder painting they didn't have the little copper tubes that are now so readily available. With that said, I like my current process now, because I believe you get a better paint job without the weedguards. Also if you screw up several jigs with paint on it, you can dump it in paint stripper and not waste a weedguard. Another thing is, with the new nylon pins I use for painting, it is a breeze for me , because no more redrilling out the paint. Finally, I put on skirts after the weedguards are dry. It is a little inconvenient, but I have hand tied many skirts with thread, and it doesn't bother me any more. This is just my opinion.

Cancel that, I didn't notice that you want to pay 10 cents each for them. I thought it was a quantity of 10.

If you're still interested PM me, I have the mold

A 2/0 will fit in the 1/2 and a 3/0 will fit in the 3/4 in a Mustad #32786 hook

I tried smoking molds when I first started pouring, and I found it very messy and didn't do the job everyone claimed to do. This is just my personal opinion. So I have never smoked a mold since. About a year ago someone on this forum recommended mold release by Frankford Arsenal. I've used it, and swear by it. I use it all the time on all my hard to pour molds. Honestly I wouln't waste my time smoking a mold as the results if any are inconsistant in my opinion. I'm sure others will have more info on this as well.

Never had that problem ever.

There is no set time for curing or baking after initial painting. I usually try to do them right away. The only thing I would do if you are not going to bake them for awhile, is to cover them to keep the dust or any other foreign objects from gathering on them.

Yep, I do it all the time. Saves on money and time.

If you are saying you have a bad paint job you don't have to remake the jig. Put the painted jig in some paint stripper, wait about an hour and the paint will fall rght off.Then take jig wash with soap and water, dry and repaint. It will be as good as new. I've done this many times and it's easy. I wait till I have about a dozen or so, so I can do them all at once.

I will agree with this statement 100%. I have over a 100 molds and they all pour differently on different days. Believe it or not I get 100% perfect pours in winter here by us. When it's in the 30's. Also it is very dry here in winter. In the heat of summer and with high humidity my percentage drops some.

I guess there are many ways to get clean eyes. I rarely use a fluid bed anymore because I do so many multi-colored jigs that using a fluid bed is impractical for me. However for one color jigs or a base coat a fluid bed is faster and definitely gives a more even coating. So I paint my jigs similar to atijigs. I look for good coverage and a thin application. My paint even with 6 colors does not run in the toaster oven. It all comes with a lot of prcatice. On bigger jigs like a 3/8 oz and up, I rarely get paint that fills up my hook eyes, and like atijigs said "that is heat control". Find the magic # between heating a jig hot enough to swish it through the powder and not get paint build-up. Too long in the heat and the paint will adhere like a magnet, also too long in the powder paint will do the same. On smaller jigs with smaller eyelet holes, I do the same as you dirtygirltackle, as soon as I take a hot jig from the powder paint, I run a new drill bit (shank first) completely through the eyelet from one side to the other. It works for me everytime. The filmy strands you see is excess paint that was in the hook eye hole, which the drill bit pushed out. This is what you want as the hook eye hole is now clean. On the filmy strands just pull them off with yur figers, any excess strands when you put your jig in the toaster oven, will melt back into the jig to give it a nice glossy finish. Once you learn how to put on thinner coats, you will notice your eyes will be cleaner and your paint will not run. If after you bake your jigs and your holes fill up again you have way too much paint on. I'm sure there will be more responses and ideas. This is just the way I do it.

Squigster, I have that mold as well and I like sdsaw have no problem and I use 70/30 mix. 70 hard and 30 soft. By what you say it sounds like you know what you're doing. Soft lead is the easiest to pour. Try this but I'm stumped. Lower your pot temp (LeeIV I presume?) to 7 or 7.5 to start. I think you are pouring way too hot. On the flip side is your pot heating properly? It sounds like your lead is not hot enough. Do you have other molds that you have poured? If so ty to pour those to see if they fill. I'm still thinking pot not heating hot enough. You said you already cracked your mold to pour and that didn't work. Check your Sohumi hooks to see what diameter they are compare to an Eagle Claw or Mustad aberdeen hook. Many times if the hoonk shank is a perfect fit in the hook shank cavity, the air won't escape and lead will not flow. Also like sdsaw said I wouldn't start opening up the pour spout, you could make it worse. Take the lead out of your pot and see if there is anything blocking your spout, clean thoroughly with steel wool and refill, then try again. I'm still thinking pot is not heating hot enough. These are just suggestions, I'm not questioning your pouring ability. Others mentioned tilting the mold front to back or left to right all of the suggestions here are worth trying again. If you can take a pic of your mold cavity and post maybe we can see something in your mold, drop out mold release works very well. Let us know your final solution, you have peaked my curiosity.

Smalljaw, I checked it this morning and you sure can. No problems at all and it should pour fine with no hook bending needed. The only thing I have ever noticed on going a size down is that usually the hook shank diameter is smaller, and you will get some lead flow out below the barb on the hook shank. But that is no big deal and easily trimmed off. You should get perfect pours, because the smaller diameter hook will allow air to escape below the barb.

Ken , Welcome to Tackle Underground. I sent you an e-mail. Join us in the wirebait forum.

That's interesting as I've never kept mine in the garage................Good info, maybe I'll keep a 100 or so of the common ones I use, so I don't have to constantly go into the house.

I store all my hooks in the boxes they came in. I do not keep them in the basement or garage as there is too much humidity and dampness there at certain times of the year. I keep all my immediate used hooks in my den where I tie jigs and all of the other 50 boxes in my closet bedroom. I have a lot of Mustad hooks and they are coated with a black oil. Never had a problem with them. Now I also have 5 boxes of Eagle Claw hooks for 6 years and they have no rust as well on them. Bronze hooks are notorious for rusting in humid and damp conditions. All I can say is keep them in the house where the temp doesn't fluctuate as much and take out a couple hundred at a time which you use weekly.

Hi Rich, Welcome to Tackle Underground...............E-mail sent.

Pete here are a couple of things to try. #1 Preheat your hooks to the point of being hot to the touch. What I use is a small black metal tray toss all my hooks in there. I then take a 100 watt lightbulb the one with a reflector and aim it pretty close to the hooks. This will warm up the hooks really well. If you need pics. PM me your e-mail and I will send them to you. #2 Put a small groove on 1/2 the mold by the barb. Make sure you cut from the cavity out so you don't damage the cavity. This is a vent line that may release some air that is preventing the lead from pouring. #3 What also works is opening up both sides of the mold where the hook sits in the cavity. What this does is lets the air escape. You might get some flash from the bottom of the hook, but that is easily trimmed off. #4 You can stick a piece of tape in between the mold halves near the cavity. This will crack the mold some and let air escape. Don't crack it too much or the lead will solidify before it gets to the bottom. I would start with #1 and work down. If you need any pics of what I'm talking about or a better explanation don't hesitste to ask.

The reason you can't find it is because it was custom made for the manufacturer. The only way you are going to get that exact mold is to have a machinist recreate. However that head type may be patented, so stealing someones idea is a big no-no if you are going to sell these.

Larryem, I do not have this mold but I do have the original which this one was made from wih a few mods. I have researched this and the Mustad #32831 BLN long shank hook is a direct replacement. However it only comes in 2/0, 3/0 and 4/0. I'm sure all the thinner wire aberdeen hooks will fit as well like EC 570, Mustad 32746 and Mustad 32756.

See that wasn't so difficult after all. Job well done. "BTW the pink message and checkbox is awkward isn't it." What does this mean????

I couldn't tell you what's on e-bay because I don't buy from there and I don't know what size they are. All I can tell you is I had mine made and they fit my molds and my jig weedguard holes. I had to buy a 500' spool and the supplier cut them down for me in 1" strips.

Of course the teflon pins worked, would I lead you guys astray? Believe it or not I got tired of fighting with the steel pull pins in the pouring part and the painting part. These are so much easier and user friendly. No more grabbing long nose and trying to pry the pin out of a cold jig. As far as the paint goes I have gone through about 30 different paint manufactureres to find the perfect white. Well they all are different however they all are the same. The white I got still has problems in a fluid bed. It's just the nature of the beast. However I still keep on looking for the perfect white. When I find it I will let you know.