Iamscubasteve Posted February 11, 2018 Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 What do you all do to keep the indents on jigs with eyes from collecting paint and causing 3d eyes to not lay correctly? Is this purely a too much paint issue and do I need to learn my powder painting technique better? Last year I didn't even try to glue any eyes on since I knew from looking at them they would look like dog poo. I just finished pouring a bunch of new jigs and before I paint this time I figured I would ask what some of you all do to help prevent this, or if it is purely a skill learned in laying paint. I paint with a heat gun, fluid bed and cure with a small toaster oven. They seem to be better before curing and then after curing they are a worse. And thanks to smalljaws youtube videos I now have a fly tying vice, an arsenal of tools and materials just waiting to be used on some jigs! His videos are awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 11, 2018 Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) I powder paint my jigs the same way you do. Fluid bed for a base coat, multiple colors, heat gun and toaster oven. You should not get a lot of paint build up with a fluid bed. If that is the case, then you are keeping your jig too long in the fluid bed. The point of a fluid bed is to get a thin even coat of paint. As soon as you heat your with your heat gun, take your jig and quickly swish it through your fluid bed. Do not keep it in there. I think you are getting too much paint on your jigs. Now one other thing, some molds have deeper eye sockets than others, so that could be problematic as well. What mold are you using? BTW welcome to Tackle Underground. Edited February 11, 2018 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamscubasteve Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) Poison Tail, Ultra Minnow and Walleye Jig. All Do-It Mold products. It could be to much time in the bed, but it seems like I literally dip in the bed and pull right out. I do not let it sit in the bed. I will sacrifice a few jigs and try to do it even quicker and see what happens. I may turn the air up a little as well and see if I can thin the bed even more. Thank you for the welcome. I became a member last year when I went from just pouring round jig heads for simple crappie/walleye fishing to more detailed jigs. You helped me with a couple questions last year. The Frankfurt release and devcon recommendations were spot on. : ) Edited February 11, 2018 by Iamscubasteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 11, 2018 Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) The other thing you can try is less heat. Count out your seconds for the jig in your heat gun let's say 6 seconds. Swish it thru the fluid bed, if your jig gets really shiny fast your jig is too hot if the powder is dull on the jig, the jig is not hot enough. If your jig is not hot enough, add a second or two, try again and see what happens. You need to get that balance when your jig just turns wet looking like candy. Now I will tell you this that different powders act differently in the fluid bed. I use to have a problem with white. The powder was very heavy, and it was hard to use in a fluid bed without volcanoes. Green Pumpkin also seems like a heavy powder. The heavier powders don't want to fluidize or fluff up. So you may want to mix your powder in the fluid bed to help fluff the powder. Lot of the things I'm telling you seem very monotonous to do, but if it helps with your dilemma, then to me it's worth it. Let us know what your solution was. The Poison Tail and the Ultra Minnow have deep eye sockets on my mold. The Walleye Jig's eyes are shallower. Also all molds aren't the same when it comes to pouring. Yours may have shallower eyes, and they fill in faster. There are a lot of variables to try. Edited February 11, 2018 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamscubasteve Posted February 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 Alright, I think my issue was a little too much heat and too much time in the bed. I ran some poison tails and some ultra minnows basically doing exactly what you said, playing with the time in the heat. I also think I may have had my oven temp too high as well. Even though I knew better, I never put a thermometer in it and figured the oven thermostat would be close enough. I believe it may have made an already heavy paint job run even harder causing it to settle in the eye sockets. The results are much better! I tried doing some 2 color heads using the paint brush technique for the 2nd color. I dipped them in pearl white and then added sapphire blue on the top side using the brush. Yea, I'm going to need a lot of practice with those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted February 12, 2018 Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 I don’t remember who makes it, or where I bought it, but if you can find “Fluffy Stuff” add a small amount to your heavy powders and they will fluidize better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 12, 2018 Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 (edited) 9 hours ago, Iamscubasteve said: Alright, I think my issue was a little too much heat and too much time in the bed. I ran some poison tails and some ultra minnows basically doing exactly what you said, playing with the time in the heat. I also think I may have had my oven temp too high as well. Even though I knew better, I never put a thermometer in it and figured the oven thermostat would be close enough. I believe it may have made an already heavy paint job run even harder causing it to settle in the eye sockets. The results are much better! I tried doing some 2 color heads using the paint brush technique for the 2nd color. I dipped them in pearl white and then added sapphire blue on the top side using the brush. Yea, I'm going to need a lot of practice with those! You live and learn. That's why this forum is such a invaluable tool for anyone that wants to learn and get answers to their questions. A lot of talented people on here with a wealth of knowledge. Just ask and someone will always answer and be willing to help. I didn't even think about the oven being too hot. That definitely will cause the paint to run. Definitely get your self a thermometer and check your oven temp. What is set on the dial isn't always what the oven temp is. Glad you got it figured out. Yes there is a lot of trail and error, don't get discouraged but yes there is a lot of practice involved in powder painting. Good Luck. Edited February 12, 2018 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted February 12, 2018 Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 9 hours ago, Painter1 said: I don’t remember who makes it, or where I bought it, but if you can find “Fluffy Stuff” add a small amount to your heavy powders and they will fluidize better. I will have to look into that when I have some time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 13, 2018 Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 I also get too much powder in my eye socket. After the heads are cured, I put a couple of drops of gap filling ZAP super glue into the eye socket, and then place the eyes over them. Once one side of a batch of ten is done, they are set enough to turn over gently and do the other side. Fifteen minutes later, I coat the eyes and surrounding socket with clear nail polish, and it holds the eyes on just fine. I like big eyes, and they sometimes don't lay completely flat. The nail polish helps to fill in any voids around the edges of the eyes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
