Powder Paint Eye Solution

[hog4can]

Don't know if anyone else has tried this but it works for me,get yourself some electrical shrink tubing(different sizes to allow for bigger eye hooks),cut into pieces just long enough to fit over the "eye" of the hook,hold over your heat gun/blow dryer,pinch the now melted shrink wrap closed(to prevent powder paint getting in),you can now preheat your jigs prior to dipping in powder paint,this is by no means a fast method ,but sure beats cleaning out the eyes

Brian

P.S. can be used over swivels as well

[Jig Man]

When I dip my jigs in the powder paint I use a needle nosed vice grip. I close it over the hook eye and dip. I don't get paint in the eyelet.

[Basseducer]

hog4can,

Here is something that works quite well for me. I was working with a commercial powder coater for a solution to have large quantities of wirebaits painted. We came across a product from Shercon used for masking the areas where you don't want any powder and I adapted it to work for me. They are Ultrabake Caps and are made of high temp silicone. You can even put them into your oven while curing. They come in a variety of sizes, but I mainly use the red square and smoke round ones.

I heat the jig as normal and then slip the cap over the hook eye just before dipping. Note: If you put the cap on the hook eye and it slips off on it's own then the jig is too hot. just wait a couple of secons and try again. After you dip simply pull the cap off and place the jig in a pan of water and move on to the next one. I emailed the company for samples and they sent me 4-5 of each size. i have used the red one for well over 1500 jigs and the smoke one for over 800 with no signs of ware.

Here is a link http://www.shercon.com/storefront/defaultpagewithlinks.aspx

Hope this helps.

[Basseducer]

I guess it would help to add some pics.

[BLT]

hog4can,

Here is something that works quite well for me. I was working with a commercial powder coater for a solution to have large quantities of wirebaits painted. We came across a product from Shercon used for masking the areas where you don't want any powder and I adapted it to work for me. They are Ultrabake Caps and are made of high temp silicone. You can even put them into your oven while curing. They come in a variety of sizes, but I mainly use the red square and smoke round ones.

I heat the jig as normal and then slip the cap over the hook eye just before dipping. Note: If you put the cap on the hook eye and it slips off on it's own then the jig is too hot. just wait a couple of secons and try again. After you dip simply pull the cap off and place the jig in a pan of water and move on to the next one. I emailed the company for samples and they sent me 4-5 of each size. i have used the red one for well over 1500 jigs and the smoke one for over 800 with no signs of ware.

Here is a link http://www.shercon.com/storefront/defaultpagewithlinks.aspx

Hope this helps.

Is this very time consuming? When I get a batch to paint, most times, I am doing hundreds in a session. Right now, I just have a box of small, round type toothpics I use to clean the eye out (if it is clogged) a few seconds after it is dipped. It's funny, when I see jigs on the racks of some of the tackle shops I sell to, the eyes ARE clogged shut lol. Some are from major manufacturers, some are from local tiers like me.