dayooper

You only need about 3 - 5 lbs of pressure to operate the air brush. What you can do is use an inline regulatore on your air compresser to get the pressure down low enough. The badger brush works best as it is set up for the powder. If you live or work in a high humidity area, a moisture trap inline would be good. You can check out our videos on our website at www.tjstackle.com for some how-to's on using the air brush. Thanks, Benjamin

What the fluid bed does is keeps the paint really loose and fluffed up which makes it easier to dip the jig since you are not trying to force it through the paint in the jar. This allows you to put a really thin coat of paint on the jigs which will prevent the clumping and paint running while curing. It also keeps the jig eyes open. The best way to preheat the jigs if you are doing large quantities is to use a toaster oven. We hang the jigs on the rack and preheat them at about 375 degrees for around 10 minutes. Then using a pair of hemostats, we grab them out one at a time and quickly swish them in the fluid bed. The toaster oven allows you to heat the jigs to a consistant temperature compared to using a heat gun or torch. Using the fluid bed, we have gotten over 500 3/8oz jigs out of 2oz of paint. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Be glad to help. Thanks, Benjamin TJ's Tackle www.tjstackle.com

There are a few ways you can try. First, take a straw with the diameter of eye you would like and pack one end of it with powder paint. While the jig is still hot, quickly hit the jig where you want the eye to be with tthe packed end of the straw. Another way is to use a pencil eraser. Press the pencil eraser into the powder paint and then onto the jig. A thid way is to take a small funnel. Like the top of a super glue bottle. Hold it over the jig where you want the eye and tap a little powder paint into the funnel. Hope this helps.

I had my meeting with the IRS guy in January. Great guy!! He was there for almost 3 hours. Of course we talked about fishing for 2 1/2 hours and about the taxes for 1/2 hour. Don't get nervous about it as they are required to come and check things out for ALL new Form 637 applicants. I showed him my book keeping (Excel Spreadsheet), my receipts (very large ziplock bag full), and my manufacturing facility (my recliner, kitchen table and my office in the basement). The big thing that they check is to make sure you are paying the tax on the right items. Make sure to ask about items you are making to see if they are excise taxable. Many of the items we make and sell are not excise taxable. If this is the case make sure you let them know so they make a note of that in their file just in case a new tax guy gets assigned to you. Having $10,000 in sales and only paying $15 to $20 in excise tax could cause a red flag to the new guy and cause an audit. My tax guy was very helpful in explaining all of this. Over all is was a great experience. He told me that I had everything in order and I was all set. Good luck and as many people have said, they are there to hel pyou and answer your questions. They are not there to hand out fines and penalties. Unless you have really screwed up!! BTW, he was a big fisherman himself and ended up buying a bunch of lures from me before he left. Thanks, Benjamin

I confirmed with the buddy of mine and it is a 1:1 mixture and you can store it in an air tight container for later use. He said you may need to add a little more liquid if it starts to dry out. Hope this helps and good luck!! Thanks, Benjamin

I am not sure. Let me ask my buddy and I will get back to you. Thanks, Benjamin

A friend of mine uses this stuff. What you do is mix it I think to a 1:1 ratio powder to the liquid. Then paint it on with a brush. Once it dries, cure like you would regular powder paint. You can use it in an eye dropper and do some cool striping with it, add gills, etc... Hope this helps. Benjamin TJ's Tackle

Jig Man, If you have some extra pins, cut one of them to a length that will fill the void , but not protrude into the jig. Make sense? Benjamin

Hollywood, One of the best and fastest ways to heat up the larger jigs is to place them in a toaster oven and preheat them at about 350 to 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Then pull them out with a pair of hemostats and quickly swish them in the fluid bed. This allows the jigs to heat evenly and takes the guess work out of holding the the jig in a propane torch or heat gun and counting. We do this at the fishing shows we do and we can paint hundreds of jigs an hour. My partner likes to hang them on the rack to preheat, I just throw them all in a pan. Then once you paint them, simply hang them back in the toaster oven to cure. Hope this helps! Thanks, Benjamin

UG, The commercial fluid beds use a hard plastic membrane specifically designed for powder paint applications. It is designed to diffuse the air to get an even flow and it is very expensive. I believe the black paint is flying because the air is traveling through the paper without much resistance. How is the chartreuse green working for you? The lighter colors especially the Pro-Tec candy colors work wonders in the fluid beds. Thanks, Benjamin www.tjstackle.com

UG, Volcanos are usually caused by a weakness in the membrane. For the paperbags, it could be a thin part in the bag or a little tear. For the plastic membranes, it could be a pin hole in the seal around the bottom. Like Basseducer also stated, different colors/brands of powder paint will act differently in the fluid beds. Black, white, brown, and some of the darker colors are heavier than the lighter colors. In your case with the black and the white, the air is not being difused and evenly distributed through the bottom of the cup so the air is looking for the easiest way through the paper bag (thinnest part) and causing your volcanoes. Hope this helps. Thanks, Benjamin www.tjstackle.com

JSC, I know that you stated you were wanting to get away from using electric to heat your jigs, but I would still recommend a toaster oven to preheat them. The advantages of a toaster over is that you can preheat lots of jigs at one time. Another advantage is the the jigs will all be preheated to the same temperature so it takes the guess work out of counting over a flame or heat gun. What we do is place the jigs in the toaster oven. I place them in a pan and my buddy insists on hanging them from the rack. What ever approach you use is fine. We then preheat them at 375 to 400 for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then simply pull them out with a pair of hemostats and dip in the fluid bed of jar of powder paint. We have done hundreds and hour this way. What it boils down to is what you are more comfortable with. I know cadman makes some supernice jigs and uses a heat gun. I have even used a candle. Good luck with what ever process you choose and have fun!! Thanks, Benjamin

My apologies for not answering sooner. No prep work needed. Simply heat the lure and tap on the paint with a brush to get your desired affect. When done, bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes and the paint will be virtually chip proof. We have not done much with masking. You would want to use the heat proof tape as you will have to heat the lure up. Thanks, Benjamin

Thanks for your help guys!! I will give them a try. Thanks, Benjamin

LedHed, thse are for the wobble jig and the gravedigger jig. Would the 32476BLN hold up to the saltwater? Thanks, Benjamin

I have had a request to pour some saltwater jigs. Does anybody know of a saltwater hook that is equivalent to the Eagle Claw 570? I know there are many 90 degree saltwater hooks, but will they work in a mold designed for the EC 570 hook? Thanks, Benjamin

Check out our website at Welcome to TJ's Tackle under the fluid bed section and there is a link to some videos we put together that show this process. We use the candy colors to create a watermelon spoon with black dots. Hope this helps. Thanks, Benjamin

You can get them at any Menards, Lowes, or home improvement store. If you can't find them, let me know and you can get them from me if you want. Thanks, Benjamin

I can help you out with a few of those questions. 4. Yes a white base coat will make the glow colors work better. Another way is the use the regular color of paint as the base coat instead of white and you will get a deeper glow of that color. For example, put a base coat of regular yellow chartreuse on and then the glow yellow chartreuse. To keep your base coat from running, I would suggest a fluid bed as it will put a real thin coat of paint on the jig. 5. When using a toaster oven, get an oven thermometer to verify that your toaster oven is heating up to the right temperature. The one I use is off by more than 50 degrees according to the dial on the front. 6. A heat gun is definitely better than a propane torch (safer too). What we use to preheat the jigs is the toaster oven. Just hang your jigs in the toaster oven and let them preheat for 15 - 20 minutes at 375 degrees. If you are only doing one coat on the jig and opening and closing the door of the toaster oven a lot, raise the temperature to 400 degrees. When doing multiple colors, we take the jig out of the toaster oven, dip it in the fluid bed, and then use a craft brush to sprinkle on the additional colors. By the time we finish the last color, we hold the jig over a heat gun to smooth everything out. Then hang the jig back in the toaster oven when yu are done to cure, You will want to be careful curing the jigs if you use multiple colors. Hope this helps. We have videos on our website that show this process. Check them out at Welcome to TJ's Tackle. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks, Benjamin

All the above are great suggestions by some really experienced people. Another thing you can try to give the glow a little more intensity of the glow color is to use the regular color as a base coat and then the glow color. For example if you want a glow yellow chartreuse jig, put a light base coat of regular yellow chartreuse and then the glow yellow chartreuse. This may make the yellow you have more yellow and not so much green. If you are going to be painting a lot of jigs, I would recommend using a toaster oven to preheat all your jigs. The advantages of using a toaster oven is that you get a constant temperature and it takes the guess work out of holding the jig over a heat gun or candle. Make sure to use an oven thermometer to verify the temperature in the toaster oven. We preheat the jigs at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes before we start painting them. If you are only doing one quick coat in a fluid bed, you will want to up the temperature in the toaster oven to 400 since you are opening and closing the door all the time. When you are done painting them, just hang them back in the toaster oven to cure them. You can paint hundreds of jigs an hour this way. Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any more questions. I'll be glad to help. Thanks, Benjamin TJ's Tackle Welcome to TJ's Tackle

Try taking a straw with the same diameter of eye you want and pack the end of it with powder paint. While the jig is still hot, touch the end of the straw to the jig. Uses smaller straws for pupils and such. Benjamin

Our booth number has changed. We are now in booth #2205. See you there!! Benjamin TJ's Tackle www.tjstackle.com

Make sure you guys introduce yourselves. Maybe we should all wear name tags with out screen names instead of our real names . Benjamin