Powder Air Guns

[mikel7@mac.com]

I've Been Thinking Of Buying An Air Gun But Have Been Waiting For The Rest Of You To Use Yours For Awhile. I Hate To Dip, With Or With Out An Air Gizzmo. So Let's Have The Pro's And Cons Of This Thing Before I Buy One. I Will Only Use It For Jigs So Keep That In Mind. My Biggest Concern Is Waste And Mess. And If It Fills The Eye's With Paint. I Always Forget To Clean The #&*% Eyes Before Baking. I Am Not Concerned A Whole Lot About Price Since I Have Already Spent Enough On This Hobby To Put A Kid Through College. My Wife Always Said If You By The Best First You Only Cry Once. Thanks

[JSC]

"My Wife Always Said If You Buy The Best First You Only Cry Once. Thanks"

I love that line.

Can't help on that painting .. all I have done is dip (and drip)

JSC

[Zib]

"My Wife Always Said If You Buy The Best First You Only Cry Once. Thanks"

I love that line.

Me 2

It's so true.

[Basseducer]

Ol Mike,

I just picked up that one from Sears and will try it out this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

TJ

[mikel7@mac.com]

I didn't get much out of this huh.

[pirkfan]

I have no experience with electrostatic powder systems, however they all look to be on too large a scale for lure painting. Fluidized beds are really the way to go for lures, very little waste, and when they're working properly, don't usually clog hook eyes, unless you're "double dipping". You can spray secondary "countershading" colors with an inexpensive Badger abrasive gun, they adhere very well if the primary "dipped" color is still melted. A hot air gun completes the system, quickly heating jigs and curing the powder once dipped. All this for approximately the same price as the Sears electrostatic gun. I don't know whether it's really necessary to cure powder coated jigheads in an oven once they've been hit with a hot air gun, may not be quite as tough, but still pretty darn good, and they're probably going to end up sticking in a stump or wrapped around a limb before they show any significant paint breakdown (at least the way I fish). With an electrostatic system, there's no getting around it, you'll have to have a curing oven.

[cadman]

I have no experience with electrostatic powder systems, however they all look to be on too large a scale for lure painting. Fluidized beds are really the way to go for lures, very little waste, and when they're working properly, don't usually clog hook eyes, unless you're "double dipping". You can spray secondary "countershading" colors with an inexpensive Badger abrasive gun, they adhere very well if the primary "dipped" color is still melted. A hot air gun completes the system, quickly heating jigs and curing the powder once dipped. All this for approximately the same price as the Sears electrostatic gun. I don't know whether it's really necessary to cure powder coated jigheads in an oven once they've been hit with a hot air gun, may not be quite as tough, but still pretty darn good, and they're probably going to end up sticking in a stump or wrapped around a limb before they show any significant paint breakdown (at least the way I fish). With an electrostatic system, there's no getting around it, you'll have to have a curing oven.

You are definitely right about some things here. Our company makes sheet metal parts, and 95% of every part we make gets powder painted. Yes it is an electrostatic system, and yes it must be baked on for durability. The other down side to an EC system, is that there is a lot of overspray and paint waste. We have a recovery system for the powder, but in our case the powder is not re-usable, since we spray so many different colors. My personal opinion, for small guys like us is, it is not practical. If you don

[mikel7@mac.com]

Thanks guy's, i think i will just keep on dipping. i have a fluid bed but i don't have that much luck with it. I have tried coffee filters. cloth, papper bags, turned the pressure up and down and i don't see where it is any better than just keeping the powder stirred good. Maybe a hammer will work.

[cadman]

Thanks guy's, i think i will just keep on dipping. i have a fluid bed but i don't have that much luck with it. I have tried coffee filters. cloth, papper bags, turned the pressure up and down and i don't see where it is any better than just keeping the powder stirred good. Maybe a hammer will work.

Once you get into multi-color work, you will see that you use your fluid bed less and less. I now only use it for my production runs of single colors. You can't beat it for that purpose. As far as a hammer working, are you doing paint hardness tests?

[mikel7@mac.com]

I don't even know what a hardness test is.I only get to fool with this stuff in the winter when the weather is bad. This whole thing started last october when i bought 7 molds at a yard sale for $30 bucks just thinking i might do it some day. Then at xmas my wife and inlaws got me 6 more molds a pot & ladle and i don't know what all. Now my boat barn is full of skirts feathers lead about 7# of powder paint and i don't know what else. It's a good thing i never tried dope i'd be a junkie.

[cadman]

I don't even know what a hardness test is.I only get to fool with this stuff in the winter when the weather is bad. This whole thing started last october when i bought 7 molds at a yard sale for $30 bucks just thinking i might do it some day. Then at xmas my wife and inlaws got me 6 more molds a pot & ladle and i don't know what all. Now my boat barn is full of skirts feathers lead about 7# of powder paint and i don't know what else. It's a good thing i never tried dope i'd be a junkie.

This is just like being a junkie, it is very addictive, except this is a good addiction. I started out with 2 molds some powder paint and a Lee bottom pour pot. 8 years later, I now have about 50 molds, (2) lee pots, (2) hot pots, about 700 lbs of powder give or take a few lbs, and 1000's of hooks and skirts. It just snowballed into something bigger. Now when I don't pour or paint for a while, I get withdrawals.