Powder Painting Bullet Weights

[charmerbaits]

Have any of you ever powder painted bullet weights?

I've painted them with the vinyl paint but would like to start using my fluid be to paint them. Any ideas or suggestions?

Charlie

[dampeoples]

I've had limited success dropping them on straight shafts with one end bent to prevent them from falling off, and makes it harder for the powder to adhere, but it sometimes does.

[SmokeyJ]

Couldn't you just stick a paper clip or thin wire through and "peg" it with a toothpick, like when you peg one on a texas rig? then you could just dip and hang to bake, right? If you pegged both openings you shouldn't get the powder paint in the opening.

I have never powder painted before, so I have no idea if this would work, but it seems simple enough that it just might work.

[Fatman]

I've tried it and don't like it. Too many get powder down the hole even with a guide wire for dipping and when you bake them to get the powder hard you cant get it all out even with the wire guide.

To me it seems much easier to just paint them by hand, I use testors paint and then epoxy coat them.

I'd imagine stringing them on wires and using an airbrush would be easier but you'd have to wait for the airbrush guys to chime in.

[cadman]

Have any of you ever powder painted bullet weights?

I've painted them with the vinyl paint but would like to start using my fluid be to paint them. Any ideas or suggestions?

Charlie

What color are you looking for, and does it have to be powder. I make bullet jigs for a customer in a multitude of colors, using Spike it Blade Dip. Bake, and then epoxy it with Devcon 2T. Try the Spike It, it comes in 6 or 7 colors. Or you can use Color-Rite by Lake Hawk products, they have abot 20 colors of dyes.

[charmerbaits]

The reason I want to powder coat is because I have all the gear to powder coat and wondered if there were any secrets to powder coating bullet weights.

Charlie

[LooksLikeSinbad]

I used a small hook with the hook cut off (so it was just the shank and eye) and used that to "hold" the bullet. Heating it and dipping it in the powder paint worked great. I did not figure out how to bake it though so I just epoxyed it without baking it and it seems to work pretty well. If anyone knows a good way to bake them though I'd love to hear it.

[cadman]

This is just a wild thought, but when I do my bullet weights in Spike it, I put a piece of wire through the bottom of the bullet weight. On the bottom I have a small loop in the wire, to keep the weight from falling through. Then the wire goes through the bullet weight through the top, and then I bend the wire to form a loop, and hang it on my rack that I put into my toaster oven. What really works well here is christmas tree ornament hook wire. You can bend them really easy many times with out breaking them. The are very flexible. Last year at the end of the season, I bought 10 boxes on clearance for 10 cents a box. When I'm done with them I just throw them away.

[Uncleskippy]

cadman,

Your right on about the Xmas hooks. I have been using them for years to paint bullet weights and spinner lure bodies. Until recently I was using vinyl paint. If powder paint gets in the hole of the weight, you can use a small drill bit to clean it.

[charmerbaits]

As long as the paint doesn't block the hole to keep you from getting a line through is there any other concerns with the paint in the hole possibley fraying the line or cutting it?

Charlie

[cadman]

Do what Uncle Skippy said, when your done powder painting your bullet weight, take a good clean drill bit slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the bullet weight hole, and push it through the hole. With your thumb and fore finger, rotate the drill bit quickly while pushing it up and down both ends of the bullet weight. The drill bit will act as a reamer, and will remove any lead burrs from the pours along with any paint. It actually is pretty fast. Then blow out the shavings if any, and bake away.

[JBlaze]

Youy can also color them with sharpies then clear coat with 2Ton. It gives them a real nice metallic look.

[BLT]

I use a drill press for any holes I need to clean out. If you do have that, check out the hand held bit holders, not sure what the tech name is, but they look like a pen. Holds the bits really well, easy to use if your not doing production mode tackle making. I even run my bank sinker eyes through the drill press just to clean them up. Doubt any of my customers notice, but I do lol.

[SmokeyJ]

The hand held bit holder you are talking about is called a pin vice.

[BLT]

The hand held bit holder you are talking about is called a pin vice.

Ding ding ding, I think we have a winner lol. I don't know why I was having a brain fart with that one!

[basskat]

I gave up on powder paint. Was more of a hassle than it was worth. You end up trashing about as many as you get right. I paint mine with an airbrush then epoxy.

I like the idea of dye. Never thought about that. Going to give it a try.

[charmerbaits]

How are you trashing them? I've powder painted many jigs and haven't had a problem.

Charlie

[dampeoples]

I think he means just the weights, due to the paint filling the holes or other problems

[pkdmslf]

I see this is an old topic but thought I would put my 2 cents in. I powder paint most of my brass lure bodies. A lot of them are bullet shaped. I use  straight .031 SS wires used for making inline spinners and put a small bend at the end to keep the body from sliding off. Stir the powder paint to make it “fluffy”, heat the lure body and dip it into the powder paint then shake the excess off. Put it back over the heat to smooth out the paint (it should smooth and shiny). I tilt the wire at an angle and twist the wire so the lure body doesn’t get stuck and just starts to slide down the shaft. Then dunk the lure body into a bowl or glass of water to cool it a bit and pull the body off the wire. No paint in the hole or at least not enough to plug the hole. I can usually paint 2 or 3 bodies before having to heat up the wire and wipe the excess paint off to do a couple more. When it gunks up I cut the wire to a clean spot and continue painting until I have to get a new wire. Afterwards I use straight .031 SS wire and put on as many bodies as I can with gaps between the bodies and hold them with magnetic paper holders. I ‘stick the magnets onto the metal rack of the toaster oven and cure them. Sometimes have to use pliers to hold the wire and pull the cured bodies off. Occasionally I get a couple that don’t want to come off but usually just 1 or 2 here and there. Works well for me. I painted about 100 different sized bodies today. Hope this helps.

Edited April 17, 2019 by pkdmslf

[SouthBelleGroveOutdoors]

Thanks pkdmslf for bringing this topic to the top.  I just started painting inline spinner bodies and was wondering what the best options were.  I'd prefer powder paint.  I sometimes chip paint off the ends of the bodies when pulling the wires.  Any thoughts on how to prevent that?

[pkdmslf]

As I’m reheating to smooth out the paint, I tilt the wire so the body slides down slightly from the bent end of the wire then dip it into a bowl of water to cool it down. When cooled I pull the body off the wire. After I paint several bodies I cure them in the toaster oven. I can usually paint 3- 7 bodies using one wire (heating the wire and wiping the excess paint off and/or cutting the wire This techinique does go through the SS wires but they’re cheap.

[STO76]

I use a paper clip bent straight with a small kink to keep the weight from sliding off,then bend the top in a hook shape to hang in my toaster oven. I prep a bunch with the clips, hold them by the top hook,then heat and dip in my powder paint and hang in oven. Have 100% success with no issues. I do the same process with all wire through lead baits. Paper clips are about $2 a box and I use them for multiple shop tasks including cleaning out hook eyes prior to baking.

[Mad Moose Baits]

On 10/11/2007 at 8:45 PM, cadman said:

This is just a wild thought, but when I do my bullet weights in Spike it, I put a piece of wire through the bottom of the bullet weight. On the bottom I have a small loop in the wire, to keep the weight from falling through. Then the wire goes through the bullet weight through the top, and then I bend the wire to form a loop, and hang it on my rack that I put into my toaster oven. What really works well here is christmas tree ornament hook wire. You can bend them really easy many times with out breaking them. The are very flexible. Last year at the end of the season, I bought 10 boxes on clearance for 10 cents a box. When I'm done with them I just throw them away.

We are on the same page. I would add I use the wires that jewelry peeps use to make earrings, very soft so you can reuse. One thing I do is after I dip it I lift it up a little to break the initial bond between the pain and the eye at the end of the wire. If you bake it and it is still where you started after dipping, it can be a pain to get the sinker off. I also like to use the acrylic paint from Michael's that is made for glasses etc. I use a small drill bit and put dots on the sinker after dipping and then bake it like normal. 

[LimpNoodle]

I use Teflon wire.  It fills the hole and pulls right out.

 

https://contenti.com/jewelry-casting-supplies/spin-casting-white-metal/mold-making-spincasting/ptfe-wire

[TerryF2858]

do you leave it in until you have done the final bake and then remove it?