FishAction

Paint in the hook eye is the result of too much heat before dipping, too long in the paint or both. You're dealing with two different metals at the same time. Lead, being the denser and larger volume will retain heat longer than the wire hook eye. The object is to heat the jighead enough to bond a sufficent layer of paint to the lead body of the jig, but not fill in the hook eye. I heat the heads in an oven in a small tray and use an oven thermo for consistant heat levels. I remove the heads using needle nose pliers, gripping the hook curve and dipping in the fluid bed then hang on an oven rack. They will not gloss over this way with lower heat but don't worry, they will when heated to cure temp in the oven. Close the oven door after extracting the jighead and keep an eye on the thermo as heat escapes each time the door is opened. Using polyester based powder paints, the following temps have worked well for me. Info, Pro-Tec is polyester paint. Black 250 to 280 degrees good coat, 300 & up picks up too much paint Watermelon Red Flake 310 degrees -- higher temp needed to give the deeper color, more eye problems at higher temps Blood red 300 slightly longer in the paint since red needs to be a little thicker to get a smooth coat or thinning with clear gloss paint will allow less in paint time Other colors have their own characteristics due to pigments. Different types of powder paint also. Experiment! These notes are a result of experimenting with powder paint application. Never could get a consistant result with a heat gun with most eyes plugged up, too much paint on the head, etc I rarely get a plugged eye this way plus it's quicker also. Remember, a good quality paint job is the goal and there are several ways to get there, But frustration from the way you're trying means it's time to try another way or modify what you're doing. Read up on paint on the internet to understand which type works best in environmental conditions, experiment and keeps notes. You can lose the frustration!! Charlie

Agree with Cadman on TGIC powder. Polyester triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC) powders are designed for exterior use and most stand up well to saltwater use. They cover well at lower temps and this make's it less likey to fill the hook eyes. Most require lower cure temps also. Several sellers on ebay offer polyester TGIC powders at good prices. Most also list the paint specifications for temperature and time for cure. I recommend buying exterior type paints and following recommendations for the paint. Also, Pro-Tec paints are polyester which is why they work and hold up so well for jighead painting. IMO, do not get into thinking the same temperature and cure time will work for all powders. Yes, they will to a given degree, but I get better results following the manufacturer's recommendations. Do a search on the web and spend some time educating youself on the various types of powder paints. It will help you make better decsions in purchasing and using them. Charlie

Canuck Your question about preheating centrifugal casting is no, you do not preheat the mold. They are formed from silicone or high temp rubber compounds. All molds retain some heat between castings whether hand or centrifuge and this heat does heat up the wires, hooks, etc. prior to lead being introduced into the mold. The lead or alloy mix, when allowed to cool enough will normally form a tight fit to the wires. This fit is not bonding and is heat critical due the lead needing to be cooled and hardened enough to grip the molded components properly. The above comments about gripping the sprue are definitely correct if the molded item is fairly hot, the lead is still soft. Removal by the wire while soft expands the area between the wire and lead. Charlie

I have good results with ultra fine size flake in clear powder paint. Paint then clear coat with glitter flake mix. Tried in darker colors but didn't work out well for me. Not much flash that way. Charlie

Label Factory by Nova Development. Got it from Office Depot, $39.99 at the time. Excellent, does most Avery labels and can be selected by number from the templates list. You can select a stock label, change it and save it as custom. Very flexible with barcodes. Or build your own from scratch using the template. Only drawback is developing logo's. Use version 3 and cannot layer graphics into a single item. Maybe the later version's can. I use Publisher Pro to develop logo's, convert to Jpeg picture and paste into a label on Label Factory. Some open source software available. Search sourceforge.net or download.com for label programs. Just made a logo for a customer using seven different clips, layered them on a freehand drawn lake. Printed out custom cut thick stock for their packaging using a color laser printer. Charlie

Don't have a camera to do video, maybe soon. Also out of state a lot for family sickness. Tried larger glitter but it tends to settle if the powder isn't slightly rolling from the air flow. Now using blue glitter/clear mix from Pro-Tec and the glitter size is very small. I use a compressor with a quality regulator with varible air control. Valves are difficult to precisely control air flow in the tiny amounts between working and blowout. The glitter mix needs to have enough air flow to keep the paint moving thus keeping the mix correct. I use homemade fluid beds with different thickness of paper for membrane. Jigheads are heated in an oven with a thermometer for consistent heat levels. Removed by pliers gripping curve of hook, dipped and moved around in base paint for consistent coverage, then same in glitter mix. I don't apply heat after base coat, one process only. Hang on oven rack and cure. Your statement about wad of glitter on top of the head indicates too cool a jighead and lack of movement to force the sides and bottom to pick up the flake with the clear plus the head will hold glitter in that area when lifted out. Had those problems. Hotter jighead moved up, down and back and forth grabs the glitter better. Once you get that down, stay in the paint longer for more glitter, less time for less glitter. The longer time will tend to close the hook eye so use a round toothpick to pull the still hot paint out as soon as finished with the clear mix. Let me know if I can help with more questions. Charlie

Had the same problem using the CSI glitter/clearcoat. You have to move the jig around in the paint. If you are slow or hold it too long just under the surface, it seems like the glitter settles on the eye/back of the jig. Faster movement with a little extra heated jig in a fluid bed solved the problem for me. Using two fluid beds, I dip the jighead into the black paint, quckly move it around, tap to remove any loose powder then dip in the glitter clearcoat. Hang in the oven and cure. I don't worry about glossing over but focus on getting a thick enough layer of paint. I let the cure process gloss it over. No heating between paints is necessary if you move quickly through the process. Gloss black base with the blue glitter clearcoat makes a pretty jig. Charlie

Per a phone call to Pro-Tec some time ago, the individual I spoke with confirmed it to be polyester paint. Epoxies are interior paint and will degrade in exterior use. Also, epoxy paint will crack easily after curing with hard impact or from rock contact in use. Polyester is for exterior use and doesn't crack easily after proper cure. Information on powder paint types is readily available on the net. It's good reading for those who want a better understanding about chosing and working with powder paints. Charlie

Pro-Tec is polyester powder paint and will sometimes have a dull wrinkled finish if overheated in the cure process. 450 is way too high for this type of paint. The referenced chart is a good start but it appears to be old and paints are being improved and changing as a result. For instance, Pro-Tec watermelon red flake will not accept the listed temp, resulting in dull flake with no flash. Had to cure at a much lower temp to fix the problem. Charlie

The patent is on the one with the centering pin. Those without the pin are still available. Charlie

On powderbuythepound.com I went to the discription of several paints and each has heat and cure times. The first listed 375 degrees for 15 minutes at part metal temperature. Second was 400 at 10 min. If you order paint from them, each paint has this information as part of their discription. Place a label on each container of paint with this information so it's at hand when used. Don't have worry about it this way. One exception I've encountered is with Pro-Tec watermelon red. Curing to the listed level results in red flake melt down. Had to experiment and found a much lower level where it had flash yet had acceptable hardness. I use an oven thermometer and don't rely on the settings. One other thought on this subject is the mass of the jigs you are painting. That large a jig heated to levels beyond recommended settings will retain the heat longer than smaller jigs and keep the hook finish heated much longer than the oven time. This probably adds to the discolored finish. Charlie

You are definitely too hot or a combination of the high heat and too long in the oven. Had the same problem with EC nickel saltwater hooks. Solved the problem by using low temp cure powder paint that requires 340 degrees for 10 minutes. Using the same heat level on all powder paint isn't a good thing to do though several people on this site state they always use a certain heat level for a given time. Rarely has anyone mentioned the manufacturer's heat/cure time specifications, Powder paint is either a low temp or high temp cure and this info should be provided on the package the paint in is. Most do or will provide it for you. Recommend you find out the heat/cure time for the paint you were using and give the specific levels a try if it's not a high temp cure paint. To resist the chipping you also mentioned, you need to use a polyester based paint. Epoxy and epoxy/hybrid powder paint chips the most even when cured properly. They are more brittle and have less environmental exposure resistance. Polyester paint is made to withstand environmental exposure and is hard to chip when cured to the manufacturer's recommendations. Polyeurthane powder paint is the best but is usually more expensive and I haven't found all the colors I use and It, for me, is more difficult to achieve a consistant coating without being too thick. For example, Pro-Tec is polyester powder paint and their heat/cure times are not the same for all their paint choices. Pro-Tec paint is extremely chip and plastisol resistant. Charlie

I see no need for a light wired into the Lee pot for heat control. It would, however, turn off if you had bad contact inside reostat (control) as the knob is rotated. Bad internal contact could be the problem for too cool, too hot, or lack of ability to completely control the heat throughout the range. Lights are the same as the heating element, enough electricity flowing the light element heats it up to give off light or heat from the heating element. You can see this effect if a dimmer is used as the light element will go from low to bright as the electrical flow is increased then dimming as the flow is decreased. Picture water from a hose, low pressure to high pressure as the valve is opened and then decreasing as the valve is closed. The dimmer should give more precise control of the electrical flow but a good thermometer is necessary for heat control settings. Plus, if controlling using a dimmer, the knob on the Lee pot should set to the maximum. If not, the electrical flow would be limited to the level the pot was set on. Charlie

Lee pots do not have a thermostat. They work just like a kitchen stove eyes do -- heat is determined by the amount of electricity going to the heating element the same as cooking in a pan on the stove eye. The more the knob is turned, the higher the heat. Think frying an egg in a pan. Too much heat, too fast, browns it quickly and the same happens to the plastic you are heating. And stir the plastic quite often to balance the heat as it heats from the side rather than the bottom of the pot. The heating element is coiled around pot. Charlie

Makes excellent molds.You have to cure the high temp silicone under pressure in a vulcanizer at 300 degrees or so depending on the compound. This melts it down and the pressure makes it flow around the item, forming all the details into the mold. Heat and pressure is applied for a specific time depending on the type of compound and thickness. This process cures the compound into a mold of the item you want to duplicate that withstands high heat through 1000 plus mold uses. After the cure and cool down, you cut the gates needed to fill the mold cavity with melted lead. Charlie