walleye warrior Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Has anyone ever tried an electric frying pan to preheat jigs beforere dipping into fluid bed. My thought behind this if bare lead jig is making direct contact to fry pan it may retain heat longer so they can be dipped then hung in toaster oven for curing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 It might be worth a try. I either use my toaster oven or heat gun. I don't think my wife would let me use her electric skillet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 How would that save time or be a better method than just heating the jig and then hang in a toaster oven? I can understand using a toaster oven to heat a bunch of jigs and then taking them out one at a time and dip then hang but you still have to cure for a certain period of time so if you heat all the jigs at one time you are still dipping and then hanging and curing all at the same time, not individually or am I wrong? Help me understand why that would be better than just heating the jig with a heat gun and then dip and hang? I apologize for sounding like I'm trying to be smart, I am truly interested in this line of thinking as I've been using a small torch forever, I did try using the oven but after a few jigs they end up cooling down from opening the door all the time and they still got hung and cured at the same time, at least that is how I see it and I'm curious as to what advantage would you gain by heating them like that, is it time or am I missing something? Help me understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Has anyone ever tried an electric frying pan to preheat jigs beforere dipping into fluid bed. My thought behind this if bare lead jig is making direct contact to fry pan it may retain heat longer so they can be dipped then hung in toaster oven for curing? In my opinion, I don't believe you will get even heat throughout the jig, leaving cold spots when you then dip the jig in powder paint, which in turn will leave bare spots on the jig. If this does happen how are you going to reheat the jig to get better paint coverage once the jig cools down. My thinking behind this and maybe I'm wrong, is you will have one side on the skillet, which will be hot and the top side to the air, which will be cooler. Now if you crank up the heat to compensate the top side to get more heat, your bottom side will be too hot and when you go to dip the jig, that side will grab more powder paint than the other side. Interesting concept, however I see a lot of wasted time here, and that is not something that I can afford to do. Let us know how your experiment goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye warrior Posted December 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 My thought behind the skillet is that I would not lose as much heat as I do with opening the oven door for each jig. I considered using a second oven, one to heat and one to cure, unfortunately the circuit I use in my work area does not have enough capacity to handle 2 ovens, lights and misc. for the workshop. In the grand scheme of things I am just trying to increase the number of jigs I can paint and cure in an 2-3 hour sitting. I too thought that using a skillet would leave the piece with cold spots or uneven heat but thought I would throw it out there to see if anyone else has tried this method or anything similar and what the results might have been. I have used the heat gun method but it is my least favorite way to heat and again uses a lot of electricity pushing my circuit to its limits. any other thoughts would be appreciated and increasing my electrical capacity is not in the cards right know but I know its inevitably unavoidable. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasilofchrisn Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 I do not think the skillet is a very good idea for all reasons mentioned. I make a lot of larger saltwater jigs(1oz -48 oz) and the heat gun just isn't practical for that. So my procedure for that is to heat them in the toaster oven. For bigger jigs it works well for me. I don't need two toaster ovens to make it work either. I heat them well in the oven and then paint them one at a time. Then I hang them on a rack to cool. When they are all painted I load as many of them as will fit into the now empty oven and cure them out at ~350* for ~25 minutes. Maybe the bigger jigs hold heat better or possibly the longer time painting the bigger jigs mans less time with the oven door open either way it works for me. I use a heat gun for all my smaller jigs and that works well. An electric Skillet doesn't seem like it would work as intended.Maybe with a lid on it but then it's just like opening an oven door. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 My thought behind the skillet is that I would not lose as much heat as I do with opening the oven door for each jig. I considered using a second oven, one to heat and one to cure, unfortunately the circuit I use in my work area does not have enough capacity to handle 2 ovens, lights and misc. for the workshop. In the grand scheme of things I am just trying to increase the number of jigs I can paint and cure in an 2-3 hour sitting. I too thought that using a skillet would leave the piece with cold spots or uneven heat but thought I would throw it out there to see if anyone else has tried this method or anything similar and what the results might have been. I have used the heat gun method but it is my least favorite way to heat and again uses a lot of electricity pushing my circuit to its limits. any other thoughts would be appreciated and increasing my electrical capacity is not in the cards right know but I know its inevitably unavoidable. thanks I use a propane torch and in a 3 hour period I can heat, paint and cure probably 300 jig, about 100 per hour but that is single color. I've used the torch from day 1 because I saw a live demonstration at Cabelas and the people were using a torch so I did. It is fast, and uses no electricity but you have to use propane, I tried map gas and I ended up melting a lot of lead right off the hooks, that stuff burns too hot but the torch is perfect. I fire it up and for a 1/2oz jig it is 7 seconds on one side, turn it over and another 7 seconds and dip in fluid bed and it is perfect every time but not everyone is comfortable with an open flame. I find it much easier to do my jigs in lots of 50, I made my own little racks to put in the toaster oven, so I'll paint and hang until I have my rack filled and then as that one is in the oven curing, I'm painting my second rack, when the bell goes off I'll have my next rack ready to go and then I'll take one out and put the other in and continue painting. Doing it like that lets me get a decent amount of production but the important part is it works for me, and thanks for letting me in on the reason for doing that, I've been doing it this way since 2003 and believe me, I tried to figure out ways and have done the two oven method but it took longer to open the oven door, pull out a jig and dip it, hang it and then open the door....Too many steps so for me the single oven with a propane torch is the way to go. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Ditto Smallmouth .. xcept for one thing .. I use the heat gun on 1/8 and smaller ... otherwise its the torch. Just do not see where heating a bunch at one time can save you any time .. frying pan I would follow along with what most have said .. hot on one side cool on the other and if you get to hot .. well you know what will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Harbor Freight heat gun for me with the same timing on each side (7 secs). I started with the torch but realized electricity is cheaper than propane and supply is constant. I'm also not a big fan of open flames. After painting I drop or dip them in a metal pan with water in it to cool them quickly so I can inspect and clear the eye if needed. The Heat Gun I like has a cool down feature that adds another element of safety. Of course, I'm not doing anywhere near as many jigs as some of you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLT Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 What weight jigs are you doing? Can beat a heat gun for the smaller sizes and multiple colors. I do use the torch for the larger multi color spro heads and popeye jigs, but 1/2 and less get the gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye warrior Posted December 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 What weight jigs are you doing? Can beat a heat gun for the smaller sizes and multiple colors. I do use the torch for the larger multi color spro heads and popeye jigs, but 1/2 and less get the gun. 5/8, 3/4, 1oz. Roundball walleye jigs. I pour around 2000 each year but wanted to try and triple production this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLT Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 5/8, 3/4, 1oz. Roundball walleye jigs. I pour around 2000 each year but wanted to try and triple production this year. One to 2 colors, I am using the torch on those weights. Goodluck on your production goals. Hope you hit it. I know I set mine with a hefty increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robalo01 Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Someone here suggested dipping a jig immediately after pouring (while it is still hot). If you work quickly, it is the most efficient way to paint jigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLT Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Someone here suggested dipping a jig immediately after pouring (while it is still hot). If you work quickly, it is the most efficient way to paint jigs. For my own use, yes it is. For me to sell, I feel the need to file the spru down. Most people that buy them may not care, but it's a craft/pride thing for me. I have tried several type of gate/flat cutting shears, none cut it off clean enough for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robalo01 Posted December 30, 2014 Report Share Posted December 30, 2014 I take a small pair of wire cutters, grind off the back until sharp, then sand and polish it until it is smooth. If you twist when you cut, it will leave a very smooth surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpNoodle Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Guess I'm the oddball. I use an electric frying pan to preheat my jigs and slabs. Works best if the lead is in contact with the heating surface. My method is this. Heat in pan. Dip in fluid bed. Pass over heat gun to melt all the paint. Drop into a bucket of water. When I'm done I load my racks and heat the heads in the oven to set the paint. If I'm doing a top coat or applying other colors with a brush I do it after the heat gun. But before any jig goes in the bucket it's passed over the heat gun again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye warrior Posted December 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Well after 5 differant sessions using a torch on low heat I am doing around 100 jigs an hour. I purchased a 2md oven today so I can have one loaded and ready to go as soon as the first one times out. Still getting paint in the eye of around 90% of them, but im sure that will get better with repetition. Thanks for all the adbice and suggestions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
