smallmouthaholic

I have been airbrushing CS water base,2 part epoxy for years.Yes you have to mix it ,add 10%+/- water by volume and let it sit 20 minutes before spraying. It holds up much better then their seal coat. I use a custom made drying wheel when coating painted,wooden plugs w/ the CS- 2 part epoxy.

I have the old Lure craft watermelon. I agree that by itself is not good. Add some green pumpkin/possibly a toothpick of black to it and walla- Zoom watermelon. . You have to be willing to experiment w/ multiple colors to get the exact color you desire. Lure craft colors are bleeders too I only use them when single colors are necessary. Spike-it and MF have non-bleed colors.

My bad- thanks for the correction!

Pardon me for raining on your parade but your cost quotes are a bit off- 3/4 oz jigs x 1000 = 750 pds of lead. @ the cost of $.25 a pound for lead ( which is ridiculously cheap) -your lead cost is $187.50. Now factor in the cost of 1000 hooks. You may wish to check your arithmetic. Don't forget the 10% excise tax due on gross sales before you raise the profit banner. I have not even mentioned/deducted the cost of molds,lead melting equipment and utility cost Back on topic- I manufacture custom jigs from custom CNC molds- w/ and w/out flexible wire guards- which are not available through local retailers.They are dedicated for specific,custom soft-baits that I make.One jig/weight/style does not fit all. Cadman hit the nail squarely on the head- Self satisfaction from making a custom product. Jig manufacturing for the smaller tackle maker is not the road towards early retirement

Swirl the UN-painted jigs back and forth in Acetone. Place them on a paper towel afterwards.You need good ventilation when using Acetone- Acetone evaporates very quickly. Remove the open container(pour excess back into can) then heat and powder paint after 5 minutes of drying time.. Follow precautions on the label and do not smoke or have any open flame neat by. I do 1000's of jigs using this method of jig preparation inside a ventilated spray booth and have never had a problem. The exhaust fan motor is sealed / brush less and produces no sparks. You can also use this method on a table by sitting outside if comfortable air temps. prevail Clean jigs hold and retain paint better! No jig finish is rock proof forever.

Jeff sent me a 1 gallon sample last month.Good ,consistent MF quality that their previous plastisol products have. Never a hard packing problem,no bubbles and non-sticky finished product w/ excellent color retention.

Ultra-fine salt does not make soft-plastics weaker- course granular salt does. A simple,comparison stretch test will prove that. Topical salt in the bag is used to keep tube tails from sticking together.A small amount of scented worm oil( equally dispersed) keeps worms, lizards etc. from sticking and makes them much easier to package. Salted baits will draw moisture in the bag.That said,internally,impregnated salted baits will draw topically applied, scented worm oil into the bait.

Absolutely- did that 20 years ago and it works in spades.

Good luck to those who wish to deal w/ Del Wilcox. I paid in full,in front 6 years ago for 3 different custom molds.They were promised within 3 months. I called and left messages via telephone and e-mail when nothing had been delivered after 80 days. Of course Mr. Wilcox couldn't be bothered to answer any replies. I was a contractor for 30 years and know how to deal w/ these type of jerk-wads.I filled grievances w/ my credit card company since that was the method of payment. I received prompt payment for 2 of them and the 3rd. mold arrived. It did not shoot as promised so I returned the mold in new condition.Mr. Wilcox refunded 60% of the amount paid and said custom molds are not returnable.

I glad your happy w/ the prehistoric tool. I used one years ago w/ oil and a special circuit board base Shawn recommended. Precision tails where not a result of using that tool I.M.O. and experience.

I don't add stabilizer either as I've never witnessed it making a difference in white/pearl colors since I use Presto pots w/ stirrers.

Don't waste your money on that!

45 - to a max of 55 strands-w/ the average being 50 depending upon the jig and plastic trailer used.I do not want to obscure the action of the crayfish trailer.

I inject all my tubes.Frustration and in consistencies cutting tube tales made me do so 5 years ago. I even made my own cutter from razor sharp.fabric discs- expensive and dangerous to use

Calhoun's turns amber very quickly w/ microwave heat. I stopped using Calhoun's years ago because of that. All plastisols will eventually turn amber/yellow w/ re-heats in a micro wave- some do it faster then others. I love MF but even theirs will turn yellow w/ excessive heat and heating duration times in a Microwave.

It all depends on the angle of the weed guard,the type of hook and distance from the hook. Bullet style jigs are best for brush and trees. Simple test: 1-Extend the palm of your hand 2-Hold the jig against the palm of your hand 3- Carefully slide the jig downward towards the ground depressing the weed guard 4- if the hook point does not stick in your palm you will have serious hooking problems I do not "use/ like" jig hooks w/ the hook angle pointed downward. Carefully change the angle until the palm test works and you feel the hook point. I find it best to fan out the fiber guards-splitting/spreading them in the middle and sliding your finger between them.

A smaller unit will be available in the coming months.

The absolute truth-without question.

Dinkerblue, You do not have to apologize.Unfortunately,all plastisols are not created equal.You'll just have to absorb what has been presented throughout the discussion and make your own decision based on what you believe will be the best plastisol for your application.

Consider this- Container Sweat It occurs when the skin of the container is cooled to a temperature below that of the dew point of the air enclosed within the container. This results in water droplets forming on the interior roof and side panels. Years ago I ordered 55 gallons Of Chemionics Plastisol in 5 gallon pales. The plastic was awesome for the 1st 3 months-then bubbling became profuse using small amounts in a microwave.The original containers were stacked on the garage floor,sealed and never opened until transfer and use.. There was no problem using the plastisol in presto pots w/ stirrers. The chemist @ Chemionics gave me the usual corporate song and dance followed by-" We guarantee our plastisols for 3 months." MF has never done this stored the exact same way for the same length of time and transferred to small 1 gallon containers the exact same method. WHY? Where did the moister come from?Chemionics seperates in storage but does not hard pack,MF does not separate nor hard pack. Unfortunately, I must use the manufacturers names for comparison. I'll not air my complaints w/ 4 other brands I have used many times over the years. I agree the microwave is the enemy of plastisol

Time is money in business- one learns that very quickly w/ 5-7 employees in the contracting business. The small,manufacturing bait business has little profit to throw away along w/ plenty of aggravation. That said,I like inexpensive plastisol like anyone else.I can get by w/ the less expensive brands for colored worms and craws(get by means tolerate) but I require good plastisol for injected tubes and multicolored swim-baits that- 1- Does not bubble/ froth/foam like the head on a glass of beer 2- does not hard pack in the container 3- remains clear for multiple re-heats when necessary in a microwave 4- Non sticky finished product 5- Offensive smell/smoke 6-No yellowing and/or color changes 1-3 months later w/ packaged baits. I respect those who have the time and desire to DE-air their own plastisol. I choose to spend a bit more $, not have basic problems and devote my time to manufacturing quality products.I understand the mass producing manufacture using 8-15 drums per years in HIgh volume producing injection machines most certainly wishes to cut cost. This has been an interesting discussion but it seems funny that one manufacture doesn't de-air and their product doesn't have any of the aforementioned problems. The only conclusion I can determine is they must use more expensive products in the manufacturing of their plastisol which is more suitable for hand injection.To each his own-peace!

Injection can produce a life-like representation w/ numerous, small appendages that do not require hand trimming due to flash or over pouring that is usually a problem associated w/ hand pouring. Multi-cavity ,injection molds have superior production ability w/ uniformity & clean consistency.

Peace Leonard

I quoted your entire sentence w/ the topic being MF. Make sure your brain is in motion before engaging your jaw. I interpret sentences the way they are written-in your own words..Have a nice Sunday afternoon. BTW- a word is under lined in red by spell check when the spelling is incorrect. Click on the under lined word and the correct spelling will be available so you can correct the mistake. We're all human and do make mistakes.

you wont have problems with mf" if its not bubbling you got to add 20.00 of heat stable to keep it from yellowing on the first heat." Leonard, I'll be polite and respectfully object to your ludicrous statement concerning the 1st heat w/ MF. I've been using MF for 2+ years.That said, I do agree every manufactured brands of plastisol seem to have their own particular issues/ idiosyncrasies - most more troublesome vs.MF. MF is also not sticky after pouring. I do not receive promotional pricing from Jeff @ MF- just great plastisol and service.