Looking for "how to" info for tapping powder paint

[dpalinsk]

I've come across a few posts related to powder coating where "tapping" powder paint onto jigs is a method used to apply multiple colors onto a jig.  I've looked for more details about the methods of tapping, but didn't find much.  I took an old pill bottle and poked holes in a few different ways, but found that I couldn't achieve reasonably precise results.  For example, if I was trying to apply a color to the top of a jig, powder would make its way to the side or sides of it.  I'm also trying to achieve bars and stripes on larger salt water jigs.

Appreciate any and all help!

thanks,

David

[Apdriver]

Well David, from my point of view, I don't have a lot of good news for you as there just isn't a way to tap on powder paint and get a lot of detail. As far as I know and how I did it, you line out the colors you want, dip the jig/bait in your base color first. Then have your accent colors ready and a brush loaded with those colors. Hold the bait appropriately where you want to apply that accent color and tap the brush held over the bait. Kinda like tapping ashes off a cigarette. It takes some practice on how much powder to load in your brush. It's pretty easy to get base and two accent colors. I've done up to five on fire tiger before and you can reheat the jig too, if it becomes too cool. It's rather imprecise though. I can dig up some examples if you need some.

[Darkman]

What kind of brushes do you use?

as you know there are a variety of brushes on the market

from sizes to styles to what materials the brushes are made of

what kind, where do you get them and so one, thanks

[dpalinsk]

Apdriver, appreciate the info and would definitely like to see pics of what you've been able to accomplish.  I'm gonna try some brush tapping tomorrow.

[BLT]

Cadman was nice enough to send a lot of members a tutorial on how to do this.  May want to send him a PM.

[Walking Dead]

search youtube for two color jigs.  You can see some of the process there.

[Apdriver]

9 hours ago, Erick Darkman Prado said:

What kind of brushes do you use?

as you know there are a variety of brushes on the market

from sizes to styles to what materials the brushes are made of

what kind, where do you get them and so one, thanks

Eric, I just got a variety pack from Hobby Lobby and also used some acid brushes I bought in bulk. You really just need something to hold a little powder. I'll try to dig up some examples and post some of what I was able to do. In the end though, I went ahead and set up for airbrushing because the results are better IMO.

 

 

 

[Apdriver]

Here's some of what I did using the tap method.

[Slammingjack]

Those are sweet!

[mark poulson]

You can practice tapping by hold a cold lure over a piece of plastic, like a big baggie, and tapping your loaded brush over it.  Each brush loads different, and taps different, so practicing without losing your powder is a good way to go.  When you finish, just use the plastic to slide the powder back into it's container.

[Walking Dead]

No need to be exact though that does allow for a prettier jig, SB etc.  I use different brush sizes to help.  Bigger for larger amounts of powder, thinner for smaller dabs of powder. I heat the jig and apply the base coat, then dab the top coat on the top and some on the side.  Sometimes I have to reheat to set the powder.  If I want a third color, I touch the bottom into a powder I have poured onto a paper plate, go straight to the heat gun, then bake.  Not sure I have seen a symmetrical looking shad, craw fish or frog in the wild so coloring outside th lines works for me in spite of what the teacher told me.

[mark poulson]

8 hours ago, BLT said:

Cadman was nice enough to send a lot of members a tutorial on how to do this.  May want to send him a PM.

 

Cadman definitely has it down to a science.  His jigs are a work of art.

[dpalinsk]

I want to thank everyone for the very helpful information and the pictures showing the results of using this method.  Got sometime right now so I'm gonna go practice and experiment.  I'll definitely post some pics whether they're good, bad or ugly results.

 

thanks

David

Edited December 7, 2016 by dpalinsk
Grammar

[dpalinsk]

Yikes!  Much more difficult than I was hoping.  I was working with 3 and 4 oz jig heads which made things a little tedious.  Gonna need to spend more time and take care of some basics before the next attempt.  It was ugly!

[stretcher66]

for that size jig you may want to consider using the powder coating airbrush that is offered through a few of the tackle suppliers

[BLT]

You are being to hard on yourself!  That jig will catch fish.  

Badger mini sand blaster works for this if you want to go that route.. I picked one up on Amazon for under $30 on sale.

Looking at your jig, is your powder "smoking" after you dip it?  I guess I should ask are you using fluid bed first?  If it is, the jig is to hot. Looks like your getting to much base coat on there. Your eye has a lot of powder and your "keepers" look full also. No need to even coat the end where your swim bait/plastics will go. Having an over heated jig can cause this.

Amount of powder on the brush, and the height you are tapping from is what will take some practice doing. Depending on what style of jig you are using, the angle you are holding the jig can make a difference as to how it will come out.

The spro heads in my pic are 4oz. I use cheap crayola brushes.  Some of them have the width of the brush tips cut down for those smaller areas I want to get. 

[Walking Dead]

That jig will fish.

Maybe it is just the sequence of powder you need to adjust.  Appears you want the orange as a stripe so I suggest (IMO) you base coat the entire jig in the orange, keep it hot and tap or dip the white for the bottom accent and then tap on the chartreuse.  This may give you the look you want.

[Basseducer]

Columbia Coatings has a product called Powder Water that turns your powder to a liquid. You can spray this with a single stage external mix airbrush. It also allows you to use conventional masking methods.  You may need to do a short bake between colors, but you may get the effects you want.

[SW Lures]

To get lines, unique colors and multi color schemes you can dip. I just finish some jigs with a white first coat then tried a orange. This turned out as a  rose color tan. It seems you want what I call a dusting look of the colors. To get this you are going to have to tap our spray. Even spraying has a technique of doing it, air pressure distance and the size of the paint particles makes a difference. The liquid I have never tried.

The thin stiffer brushes will give a more smaller and somewhat concentrated area of paint. A wide fluffy brush will give you a dusted look with the right amount on the brush. A ladies "blush" brush does some interesting patterns. Yeah I know......I stole one from my wife and modified it a bit...shhhhh. Try different ways, you would be surprised.

Take care,

[mark poulson]

I am lazy, and I only make lures for myself and a few friends, so I can be less exact and it's still fine.

Since I can only do one spinnerbait at a time, I skip the fluid bed with spinnerbaits.   I put the powder jar on top of a big piece of plastic baggie, heat the head, hold it with a pair of small needle nose vicegrips over the jar, and use my fingers to grab a pinch of power and drop in to the head.  Since I'm holding the head over the jar, the majority of the excess falls back into the jar, and I use a putty knife to put the excess on the plastic back into the jar when I'm done.

If I'm doing a two color head,  I put both powder jars on the same piece of plastic, spaced apart, and I can just reheat the head after the first color and do the second.

I find that I have plenty of control if the amount of powder and where it falls using my fingers.  But I am no artist, and that helps.

I actually have more trouble curing the spinnerbaits in my toaster oven.  It is always an awkward arrangement at best, keeping the hook and wire away from the heating elements.  

My next project is to make a wire jig to hold them better.

[jigtier]

I use a spoon that has very thin cup . Thinner the better. You can throw the powder or use the edge to pick up a thin line of pain. Tap it onto the head for stripes. I am going to try a hypodermic new level with a 60 gauge needle. Hopefully it will draw up the powder. Hope this helps 

i will try to add a couple of photos 

Edited December 13, 2016 by jigtier

[SW Lures]

Very nice work. I believe when I made a comment about mixing powder paint in another thread I was misunderstood. This is what I was taking about.

Again very nice and imaginative.

Dale

[dpalinsk]

On 12/7/2016 at 1:46 AM, BLT said:

You are being to hard on yourself!  That jig will catch fish.  

Badger mini sand blaster works for this if you want to go that route.. I picked one up on Amazon for under $30 on sale.

Looking at your jig, is your powder "smoking" after you dip it?  I guess I should ask are you using fluid bed first?  If it is, the jig is to hot. Looks like your getting to much base coat on there. Your eye has a lot of powder and your "keepers" look full also. No need to even coat the end where your swim bait/plastics will go. Having an over heated jig can cause this.

Amount of powder on the brush, and the height you are tapping from is what will take some practice doing. Depending on what style of jig you are using, the angle you are holding the jig can make a difference as to how it will come out.

The spro heads in my pic are 4oz. I use cheap crayola brushes.  Some of them have the width of the brush tips cut down for those smaller areas I want to get. 

 

Just able to get back to this project last night.  (Father in law passed away.). 

Yes, I am using a fluid bed and I believe you are probably right about overheating the jig.  I was heating them in the oven at 350.  Last night, I was testing some new powder paints from Prismatic and I baked them at 325 and the powder seemed to flow better.

Gonna play around some more this afternoon and work on my processes and techniques based upon the great info y'all have been willing to share.

David

[mark poulson]

I am sorry to hear about your father-in-law.  Please pass along my condolences, and from the rest of the TU family, too.  Losing a loved one always hurts.

Edited December 20, 2016 by mark poulson

[dpalinsk]

3 hours ago, mark poulson said:

I am sorry to hear about your father-in-law.  Please pass along my condolences, and from the rest of the TU family, too.  Losing a loved one always hurts.

Thank you Mark!