How Do I Bake This Jig?

[curtisb]

I need to bake some powder painted jigs for curing paint.

Problem is jigs already have fiber weedguard in them.

How do I bake it and not ruin weedguard?

 

Thanks

 

[cadman]

Curtis,

    If it were me, I would pull out the old weedguards, powder paint the jig to the color that you want, then bake it to a hard finish and glue-in new weedguards. I have tried tubing sleeves over the weedguard, aluminum foil, and to me they don't work well. You will get a much more durable finish if you do it without the weedguard, because then you can bake the jig at the correct temp and not hav to worry about deforming the weedguard strands. JMO

[gonfishn]

Do a search for topic, it's quicker.  In the meantime, my personal experience is that there's really no sure cure method.  I've used aluminum, the heat sleeves, etc. and I've never had that good a result with any of them.  I have professional relationships with manufacturer's as well and "they" don't do it that way at all.  To a company, they all glue the weedguards in after the dip and cure process.

[smallmouthaholic]

They will bake just fine if:

 

1- You  cover the weed guard when heating the jig w/ an open flame from a pencil torch so you can heat the lead on all sides of the jig- very close to the weed guard stem w/out melting or distorting the fiber guard @ the base. Make the sleeves long enough so you can cut  the curled ends and re-use after each cycle.Cut  the end closets to the jig base on an angle for a close fit and an-"easy on" over the fiber guard..The sleeves must fit tightly over the fiber guards so they don't slide off.

 

2- Bake the jigs w/ the fiber guards in place @ 250 degrees for 15 minutes.

 

Gluing fiber guards in place after painting wastes so much more time, adds cost( with sticky fingers from the glue) including drilling out the opening once harden powerder paint narrows the fiber guard hole.

 

BTW it pays to clean your unpainted jigheads in a solution of 50% vinegar and water with  a tooth brush for excellent adhesion

 

Edited for spelling

Edited January 13, 2013 by smallmouthaholic

[yoda]

I would pull out the weedguard and install a 1/8 diameter Teflon pin bake as needed remove the pin and install weedguard. I bought the pins from jann's netcraft and for newly poured jigs they work great and they are reusable just scrape the paint off lightly and reinstall, but as Al stated for the few your dealing with just hit them with a small butane torch it doesn't take much.

[smallmouthaholic]

Now there are also another option

 

1- clean the jig as mentioned earlier

2-Make a rectangular form from closed sell foam that holds 7-8 jigs per form w/ round slots for the protective sleeves.- a short piece of tape over the slot keeps the airbrushed paint from adhearing to the hook bend and point.

3- primer-paint(two-tone if you think it makes fish bite better) then epoxy finish- all w/ water base paint  and epoxy from Component systems.

 

The paint on a jig head is secondary to the type ,angle and sharplress of the hook, the  multi-colored 40-55 strand silicone skirt and an attractive,life-like trailer that compliments the complete package  w/o folding over the hook point during the retrieve.

 

NO painted jig surface will withstand constant contact w/ rocky substrate w/out eventually wearing off.

Production wise- the aforementioned system  will beat the power paint,glue-in weed guard method hands down if you wish to pour,paint and complete dozens of jigs . You will need a booth w/ exhaust,( you should have one for lead poring work anyway)compressor and air brush but you will already have them if you making and painting spinner-baits,buzz-baits and plugs.

[cadman]

Do a search for topic, it's quicker.  In the meantime, my personal experience is that there's really no sure cure method.  I've used aluminum, the heat sleeves, etc. and I've never had that good a result with any of them.  I have professional relationships with manufacturer's as well and "they" don't do it that way at all.  To a company, they all glue the weedguards in after the dip and cure process.

I totally agree with you. You can not powder paint jigs with the weedguards in place and get a good quality finish that you can be proud of. Now airbrushing is a different story. Also on powder paint if you are going to reduce the baking temp. you need to keep it longer in the oven to make up for the fact that most powder paints need high temp, so that the powder paint molecules can cross-link for adhesion and  then hardness. Our company powder paints many things, so either high temp for the correct time and the correct heat or lower temp for longer periods of time. You really should follow manufacturers paint guidelines for best powder paint adhesion and hardness. Also if you go the powder paint do what everybody in 2013 does and use powder paint pins for weedguard holes like Yoda mentioned. No need to drill out weedguard holes any more from paint seeping into hole.

 

   I know a guy that has a business and spincasts 1000's of jigs and paints them and he glues them in as well.

Edited January 13, 2013 by cadman

[smalljaw]

I can help you with the curing part as I have figured it out by trying a few thing. The first is powder painting with the weedguard in just takes too long but I made and cured around 300 just to make sure I can do it if  I ever need to. To cure you need to put the jigs in the oven at 270 degrees for no less than 20 minutes and no more that 30 minutes. I have tried 200 degrees, 225 degrees, 250 degrees, and then 270, and finally 275, what happened is on the lower temps I tried the paint never went through the curing cycle so when thrown on the ground the paint would chip. Now, starting at 250 degrees, that temp is where it begins to cure but I found any less than 40 minutes is just wasting time as it will not get hard enough and 40 minutes to cure jigs is too long. 275 degrees for 15 minutes is the same thing but 20 minutes and the weedguard begins to curl so 270 degrees for 20 minutes seems perfect, I have hit my jigs across the yard with an aluminum basesball bat and dented the jig but the paint was good. If you are going to powder paint you are better served to do the paint without the weedguard and then cure at 350 for 15 to 18 minutes and then glue the weedguard in after but for now cure at 270 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes and you'll be good, any less and it won't work, trust me.

[flippinfool]

As many have stated above. Take the weed guards out. Insert a teflon pin. Paint and bake. You will spend more time covering and worrying about the weed guards than it will take to just pull and insert after curing. If you are tying your skirts, you will have a much easier time without the guard in the way. Unless you need to produce a few thousand a day, slow down and enjoy it. It's not a race.

[EironBreaker]

If you don't want to pull the guards and start over, here's what I do.  Takes a bit of time but I've had the same heat guards for many years now.

 

Get a wooden dowel.  I don't remember what size I used exactly but I think 3/8 inch.  Cut it into lengths a little longer than a weed guard.  On a drill press, drill out the center with a 3/16" bit.  Use a pliers to hold it from spinning.  Take a large drill bit and make a cone into one end.  The big bit just needs to be a little larger than the dowel.  The cone is so you can more easily slip the weed guard into the hole.  Ready to go! 

 

You can also use these to cover the weed guard while heating the head for paint so the fibers don't deform from your flame or heat gun.  Put them in the oven and bake at 285 degrees for a minimum of 45 minutes.  Works great.  I like a wooden dowel better than anything I've found and you can reuse them for years.  If the weed guard is a little deformed or spread out before baking, no big deal.  The heat and wooden cover will straighten the fibers right out and make them nice and compact.  This method does not work with the fiber guards from fishingskirts.com.  That is a different type of plastic and deforms at a lower temp.  This is for the guards from Kaiser.

[SlowFISH]

Personally I wouldn't rip guards out of jigs that already have them.... going to be alot of work...

 

I buy alot of unpainted heads with the wireguards molded in from Lurepartsonline..... simplest method is to buy some thin aluminum tubing from a model/hobby store... I think the one I use is 1/8" diameter.  Cut a bunch of 1.5" sections... flare out one end a bit just a bit to allow you to easily slide it over the guard.  Then heat the head and apply powder - and then bake.  Don't remove the aluminum tubing until you cure the paint and remove it from the oven and let it cool for a couple minutes.  If you remove the tubing the guards will warp.

 

Two key things... don't push the tubing all the way to the bottom onto the head... leave it up a fraction of an inch (1/16" or a tad more) to allow the powder to cover the head all around the guard.  Second and many have stated you'll need to find a good temp to cure everything without melting the guard.  I can't recall what the temp I use is (I have it marked on my oven).... but it's around 300 from what I can remember of hand.

 

I tried tape, alum foil, etc... this is by far the easiest method I found... I keep reusing the tubes, don't sweat taking off powder unless its loose and you can chip it off, it will not effect the next jig if you give yourself that little bit of room between the head and tube when you slide it on.

 

   J.