atijigs

I personally prefer softer lead for my castings. However, I started casting bullets due to the problems associated with trying to buy them. The hardness of the alloy is not critical for lures but is for bullets. What I found out by spending a day at my computer is you can get a very good idea of the hardness of your alloy with artist pencils. They cost about 13$ at Walmart. The bullet guys are sloppy in their pouring techniques but they know their alloys. I had a head ache from trying to soak it all in. Pretty much the same way I felt when I first came to this site. I'm heading to Wally World tomorrow. If there is any interest I can follow up on this.

I have one do-it buzz bait mold that is impossible. The sprue empties into the terminal part of the bait where it is the thinnest.. The sprue can rarely be removed without pulling the lead away from the hook. I don't use hard lead for these so I don't know if that would help or not. The design was changed for good reason. The new design is easy. ( I don't know when the change occurred but I am going to give the old one away with free shipping on Ebay )

The answer to the question is that dyed hooks will lose their color when heated. They will also lose their color when getting dragged on rocks or rattling around in your tackle box. If you want red hooks they can be powder painted electrostatic-ally. . .

Be sure to cover those vinyl painted eyes with clear coat or epoxy if there is any chance of them coming into contact with hand poured soft plastics. Powder paints are not a problem. Not so with the vinyls.

I'm glad I saw this thread. I saw that i had warning points and did not understand either. After a little research I was able to figure out why I got mine. I did not know at the time and I have no remorse. Do the warning points ever go away?

When using vinyl paint you must clear coat with D2T or seal coat. The vinyl paint reacts with the plasticiser in you plastic baits. Turns it into a gooey mess.

Another option is making a rubber stamp out of the eraser on a pencil. Just shape it the way you want.

I just use a two sided old dental intstrument. I filed the tips to points. Scoop up an eye spin it, scoop up the other eye. Transfer the eyes to the jig. The process only takes seconds.

Don't overlook vinyl paints. They are easy to use. They come in a nice array of colors that can be mixed. They have nice glow colors as well.

Hagen's caries them.

You just need the kind that does not harden. You should be able to find it in any craft store. We always used it in grade school. I use it anywhere I have made modifications in a mold to eliminate any flash. It seems as it heats up it becomes slightly stiffer but never hard.

Modeling clay works great and is removable. You don't need to fill the whole collar either. Just the 3-4 mms where the collar starts.

Thats a nice hard wax. You will be able to carve that easily. The low shinkage caught my attention. Shrinkage was the problem I ran into with inlay wax. A piece of nylon will smooth this wax to a mirror like finish.

The lost wax tecnique is also used in Dentistry. I am not familiar with the wax you are using but if it is hard you should be able to get a wax carving set at any Micheals or craft store. Most waxes you want to keep hard and cool and carve with sharp instrument. Depending on your wax hardness rubbing with a nylon will give you a glassy smooth finish. I tried using dental inlay wax in a mold but the shinkage was excesive. It works great for small items and the wax addition technique( where you add the wax in tiny increments). I don't see how investing and casting would really be of any benefit when centrifical casting with silicone molds is much more efficient. Pk Thomas wax intrument is one tool for adding wax in the incremental technique. Rotory and hot tools will not work well.