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When I am airbrushing I keep a ice cream pail next to me with hot water with a little soap in it and when I change colors I just keep cleaning the brush till clear. End of day I just run some airbrush cleaner through it and done for the day. Just to check I at sometime I just take out the needle and wipe it clean if some paint on it. Stay ahead of the game and keep problems to a minimum. Wayne

We're talking about mostly 4, 6 or 8 ounce batches here but, i don't use hardner or softener. If i want a harder mix i just add hard to soft or medium & if i want it softer i just add soft to medium or hard. Doing it like this the only thing that changes is firmness because my colors, amount of glitter, highlights etc. stay exactly the same & so do the amount of plastic used in each shot. I use heat stabilizer on old remelts that i store in coffee cans. Working in small batches like i do makes it easy to tweak them any way i want & still be pretty consistent. Sometimes i'll have enough of a certain firmness of plastic that i don't have to order it & just order the medium that i use way more of anyway.

Selling baits... Few ways to go with depending on your goals. Identify your goals and do what best suits those goals. High end quality baits aimed at getting $$$$$, knocking out baits quick and selling numbers for cheap, are you trying to just break even, make money, etc.. Finally I will say do a search about Federal Excise Tax and fishing lures....at least be aware of Form 720 Part II No. 41.

I'd be careful with that. Iwata says immersing an airbrush can damage internal o-rings over time. I'm barely capable of operating the damn thing, not sure I'm up to the task of repairing one. LOL

@exx1976 That was it man!! Broke the airbrush down, soaked it for 5 minutes (every part) in restorer, rinsed and dried it and put it back together. The trigger was still sticking. Then I broke out the oil and put a drop into the chamber. Bam! No more sticking. Thank goodness! That was becoming really damn annoying. Thanks for the suggestion man! @ravenlures Thanks for the tip man! Now that you mention it I saw Nate from Marling Baits doing the same thing and made a mental note to try it but it got lost in the sauce somewhere and I never did. Thanks for reminding me. I'll for sure give that a try! @Brick Steel Yeah man that did the trick. Completely got rid of the trigger sticking issue:)

You could also try double hooks on the belly like a Mustad 7982 or 7825. Owner and Gamakatsu make a double hook too. It seems like they would cause very little if any rash. I have seen them in sizes up to 5/0. I don't think heavy musky rings like Wolverines or Rasco XH or XXH would slide out. But if it looks like they might, you could use a piece of heat shrink tube on the shank. I have not tried them yet on hard baits.

I have had the same issue with my Iwata Eclipse and Exx1976 is correct. When I have had this problem, I pull the trigger button out, clean it and put a drop of lubricant on the lower part of the shaft and re-insert it. The trick is getting it lined up properly when reinserting. The lower part (below the hinge) has to go straight down into the shaft (?).

Can you upload picture of the mold? We can probably provide some additional help.... but Marks points are best place to start. Depending on mold type (material) there are a couple options to open up venting if necessary. J.

@exx1976 You are correct and my apologies for not being more clear. The trigger is sticking in the air release position, not the paint release position. I also bought one of those spray pot kits but I was a bit hesitant to use the brush because I didn't want a bristle to come off and get lodged in that small space and possible make things worse. I guess I somehow thought an abrasive steel wire would be a better option (insert fail emoji here;) I will give the airbrush lubricant a try and thanks for the suggestion because I didn't even think about that. I'll be painting a couple of baits in a day or two so I'll be sure to come back and let you know what I did to either fix it or destroy it;) Thanks again man!

It almost reminds me of a J-plug, but not quite..