Kdog

Once in a while I find them on Ebay considerable cheaper. If you want lots of them Mustang Wire can probably help you. Long time ago I saw them in Hagens catalogue but they no longer appear there. Maybe is was an accidental omission. Custom blades are a different story and will not be inexpensive or you may be forced to buy 10,000 or more.

Although I have progressed to the point where I rearely have plugged eyes, I Epoxy coat quite a few jig heads and often have cured epoxy in the eyes. My solution was to modify a soldering iron cheapest oone I could find to use a needle for the soldering tip. Plug it in and 5 mintues later needle is really hot and vaporizes the cured material from the eyes.

Having grown tired of hooks slipping and causing mashed slots (Unfortunately I have very little feeling in my hands, strength is still there but I can grab something hot and only know I get burned is A, smell of burning skin, or) B. The blister formation) so I bought a bunch of these magnets http://tinyurl.com/m3s9lxv Drill a 1/8" hole about 3/16" deep on the outer part of the eye slot. Put some hi temp epoxy in the hole, insert magnet, place hook and close mold. let cure. have done the same on the shank slot but not sure that step is necessary. I will say with 2 magnets you get the hook close and it will self position and be right. The 3mm x 3mm may be a bit overkill but that is what I bought. 3mm x 1mm are more readily available and much cheaper.

Am wondering if the lip is gonna cut your line? Be really cool if you could somehow hinge the lip for line clearance

It sounds like an adhesion problem, Either base was dirty or too slick for the paint to adhere. I used to hand paint a lot of blades and know from experience that they need proper preparation. SS or brass blades are best for painting but usually have a clear coat that needs to be removed. Some uncoated, unpolished brass blades are available for this purpose. They just need a good cleaning to remove oil/wax from the stamping process. but a fine sanding will ensure adhesion. I powder coat blades and have no issue with chipping as follows Hot water wash Air dry Glass bead blast blow off alcohol rinse PC via fluid bed Cure I have air brushed some larger blades with the same prep followed by a self etching primer followed by acrylic paints and use Clear Lacquer to seal and protect. It takes a lot to chip it. However, I use GST international concrete sealer on jig heads both painted and powder coated jigs and spoons to seal eyes etc and find it to be durable and highly chip resistant. Added benefit is it is a very thin coating which is important with blades

Roseys had good selectiion, shipping and price.http://www.roseyspowdercoating.com/all.html

Hoard that tap magic! It was one of he best products ever made to tapping aluminum. I know its hazzardous but I got the last gallon from our shop when we finally had to stop using it. I do not use it very often and have a life time supply but when you need it, its priceless. My last use was tapping 25 2-56 thru holes in a 3/8" thick aluminum plate.

Had a suggestion from another site that I am gonna try next time I have a run of pony heads. Suggestion was teflon thread sealing tape. Wrap it and heat then coat, easily removed after. My Go to method has always been hold the hook eye with forceps after heating to prevent pc build on forceps, dip swivel in water to quick cool, then dip in PC

Try ebay... no, i am not affiliated with them. This Kit is for nickle but I have been told that Gold is available. http://www.ebay.com/itm/270983914256?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I shoot it with a Badger 150 0.5mm tip thinned 50/50 ~30 - 32 psi. Very light coats. On nickle plated blades, I usually soak them in lacquer thinner or run them thru my tumbler with a bit of SiC abrasive to remove any protective coatings. IMO If your coating is running off, spray is too heavy or your blades are contaminated. It is a bit tricky but very light thin coats are best. When I do Vibe blades, 3-5 coats fan dried between for 5-10 mins between coats.

Although not cheap, it lasts forever. I bought mine in the early 80s, It is a supreme dynamaster and still being sold. output is 200 cubic inches/minute per cylinder. 2 cylinder model and I only use 1 and have a second air valve I use as a bleeder. I did find this one that may do a good job http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/95291/GROW-AAPA70L.html?utm_source=SmartFeedGoogleBase&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_term=GROW-AAPA70L&utm_content=Air+Pumps&utm_campaign=SmartFeedGoogleBaseShopping&gclid=CImwotjs9rwCFY19Ogod1SwAQw its output is ~ 271 Cubic inches per minute. = 4400 cc/m The more I look, the more confused I get. Pressure and flow are items every aquarium pump mfg seems reluctant to share. Many folks say you need one for at least a 30 gallon aquarium but there is so little info it is hard to choose. I would look at the ones for a 100 - 150 gallon aquarium which are around $30 Sure wish folks would post brand and size they are using. Most pumps I see are very vague as far as aquarium size. I know my dynamaster works on one cylinder and can run up to 3 cups at a time. I originally used to to power a 250 gallon aquarium. Which it did well and was using both cylinders.

I do not paint a lot of jigs as I use small jigs and lack the skills to do much with a 1/48 or 1/32 jig head but I do paint a lot of lead baits. First, I use createx paints, all water based water clean up and not bad smelling. Step 1 is a quick cleaning of the jigs in alcohol Step 2 Base coat, white, black or gray to seal and prime the lead as well as provide background color. A minimum of 2 coats and usually 3 to be sure you have full coverage and a nice uniform base. Step 3 Oven dry 175 degrees 15 mins or airdry overnight Step 4 Start painting with color, Dry with heat gun between coats Step 5 After all colors are done, I dry in oven again or overnight air dry. I prefer the oven as it always gets them dry. Step 6 Glue on eyes with sally hansons hard as nails clear fingernail polish. Step 7 Coat each head with D2T*** epoxy and place in jig turner for overnight cure. *** I have used a myriad of top coats including Sally Hansons Hard As Nails, Solarez,, envirotex. Dick Nites, D2T and Johnsons acrylic floor polish. Just depends on the bait and what I think its life will be. Good luck and dont be afraid to try something new.

I use Kirby Heavy Duty vaccum bags just glue onto the bottom of my pipe. trim and sand excess and back in business,

I have a old production pot, bottom pour that I started using in 1978. Last fall, I got tired of the dripping, had gotten to the point where I felt it was a safety issue. Tried all sorts of cleaning suggestions and finally said F*))& it. Looked at Lees site and bought a replacement pot ~$12.00 took mine apart, installed the new pot. maybe 15 minutes total. New pot works great, wish I had done it sooner. Looking at the old pot, I still cannot figure out why it was leaking. There must be some corrosion or erosion in the gooseneck area that I cannot see. I will say that after changing the pot, and seeing how easy it was and how effective the repair was, I bought a spare to put on the shelf along with a spare for my 20# melter

Buy a round plastic cutting board and attach it to the undecorated side. Flip to cut, wash off and place cutting board down to display the decoration.

I have used a similar product for welding, never thought about for mold repair as it stays in putty form kinda like modelling clay. Might be good for holding hooks, inserts etc if you have a mold with a sloppy fit problem

Have never found a solvent that would work. Although it takes patience, a dental pick will get you started and once you start get down to the mold surface it gets easier, Once I have most of the big chunks pulled/scratched out I use a hobby blaster (Air brush abrasive blaster and baking soda to finish the cleaning also have a good supply of ground glass abrasive more agressive than baking soda and will cut cavity edges if you are not careful). Some bits are left but easily picked off with the dental tool. Once I was so frustrated that I took the mold out to the garage and used my big sand blaster and a 200 grit silicone carbide abrasive made short work of the JB weld be careful though or you will remove mold metal as well. I used a steel washer just a bit smaller than the cavity and concentrated the blast in the hole in the washer.

I found that for me the best all around way to thoroughly clean a mold is simple green and baking soda used with a colgate spinbrush toothbrush. I did have one that was really bad lots of wax and other buildup and used goop handcleaner and the same spinbrush. A couple minutes of attention and a quik hot water rinse and mold looked new.

I have an old lil mac midget mold that made 2 1/32 and 1 1/16 jigs. I modified one of the the 1/32 cavities using a 3/16 round nose router bit. Chucked the bit in a drill press then just touched bottom. almost a perfect 1/24 of an ounce including #4 sickle hook. according to my scale 24 jigs are 1.0 ounces

remelting, salvaging lead, wheel weights, range lead etc is a good idea but messy and often has lots of fumes and is best done outside, Something I started a few years back was to put a couple inches of salvage material in my melting pot, cover with 3-4 inches of sawdust and a cup or 2 of Borax then fill with balance of lead scrap. Light the burner and go inside. The sawdust will char quickly and seems to be a great flux the Borax supposedly removes tin from the melt, not real sure but end up with a lot more dross and metal treated this way seems to be easier to cast. Borax on melted material is a popping cracking mess and not a good idea. If I can hear the reaction, it is way too close to explosion for comfort.

Years ago my father and I made a lot of balsa wood plugs. This was really old school but we whittled then from blanks, rasped and sanded to shape all by hand, Made our lips from aluminum plate and attached to bodies with screws. Once we had the blank where we wanted it, we would dip it in shellac 2 - 3 with a light sanding between coats. We finished them with foil (elmers glue and aluminum foil and occasionally gold leaf) and various paints all applied with a brush. Lures were not exceptional but very functional. Our final finishing stage was to dip coat in spar varnish 4 - 5 coats if memory serves me correctly. I still have 2 of these lures buried in tackle box somewhere. They were durable and usually lasted until they got snagged or broken off. Old mono (1960's) was not always reliable and the drags on the mitchell 300's and 308's left a bit to be desired. With all the modern finishes, I still go back to shellac when finishing soft woods. It does a great job of sealing and surface hardening the wood and for me brings back many fond memories.

I have had some success by putting Bondo in a rectangular frame, smoothing it and covering with saran wrap. Place the master for the mold half way in then cover with another sheet of saran wrap then a second frame which is then filled with bondo. After bondo is cured, simply separate the 2 halves and you have a rectangular mold ready for cutting your sprue. Never have a problem with castings being released.

Years ago we butchered our own hogs and I had to fight for the belly skin so I could make pork rinds for fishing. The back and side hide was too tough to accurately cut. The process itself is simple. Chill the skin and fat to almost freezing. It really helps to place the hide skin down on a baking sheet, cover it with wax paper weight it with something flat and put in freezer for a hour or two, Sharpen your knife and a good fillet knife works well but I prefer a good butchers knife Remove from freezer extract the pork side and place on cutting board and slice desired shapes. Trim fat to desired thickness. I used a metal straight edge and cut isosceles triangles about 1/2 - 3/8 inches wide at base of triangle by 10 - 12 inches long. Also cut pork frogs and several mini sizes. It is a good idea to use an ice pick punch your hook hole before brining A brine solution 5 pounds of salt dissolved in a gallon of water usually done with boiling water to dissolve the salt quickly. loosely fill a gallon mason jar with your cut strips fill to rim with the brine solution store in a cool place and they seem to last forever. Note standard ball jar lids will corrode making it almost impossible to open the jar. We had a bunch of the old glass lid jars with a clamp and rubber seals that worked well closest thing I can find now is at this site. http://www.specialtybottle.com/swingtopbalejarsmi.aspx to go fishing dredge out a hand full, place in a plastic bag and head to the lake, pond wherever. Can be colored with food coloring if desired. We used to keep them for a couple years sometimes longer,