Mooki

A similar tool is available, though not specifically for jig-skirts. Sleeve expander tool / Sleeving prong, lots of different names and I'm not sure which is correct. Used for rubber sleeves in electronics.

Is this the same as an enamel coated pot? Seems there are different types of ceramic coating. In that case I do all of my melting/smelting/casting in such pots, albeit using a mixture of tin and lead (50:50) so at a lower temprature than you'll likely be using. So far it works fine, I did buy the pots used so lots of small carcks in the surface, but not affecting anything as far as I can tell.

I did a heck of a lot of reading about this last year, CastBoolits seems to have almost an overabundance of information (and opinions of course) on this subject. As far as I could tell, for cleaning the scrap metal saw dust was the preferred "flux", and some with bees/candle wax to avoid oxidation. During casting just bees wax or candle wax is used for reducing the continuously forming oxide back into the melt. Personally I do the same as previous replies indicate, I'm more concerned about casting abilities than purity. As long as I can cast I'm happy and not too worried about what's in the melt

I found out, quite by accident, that you can create a kind of marbling effect if you happen to buy cheap crappy white PP on eBay. A top coat of candy shown below. Should have cut with some clear I believe...

The reasons are two fold. A smaller cabinet is needed for sound suppression since only the compressor is noisy. Of course you can put the tank just outside the cabinet if that suits better. Having the tank closer to the work bench reduces "lag" (not a problem with airbrushing, but when consuming higher volumes of air the supply line acts restrictive).

I have i similar looking compressor, sold as a quiet model. The thing is, adding the muffler on the intake made all the difference - without it's just as noisy as any old garage compressor. Don't know if that is possible to do with this model, most compressors don't have a tubular air intake so the only option is to enclose the whole thing in a sound trap just as you plan to do. It should be possible to separate the compressor and air tank so you just have to shield the compressor part, I did this on a regular garage compressor with good results - this also allows you to have the tank close to where you work and the compressor quite a bit away. Don't forget to add some fans in the sound trap to avoid over heating though. If you go this route it's also important to use metal tubing. The air temperature just after the compressor is quite hot and will melt regular hoses. I also added a moisture trap, air filter and a pressure regulator just by the work bench so I can easily adjust the pressure without having to move. But, if it's possible to add a muffler this will most likely be cheaper and definitely less work

True, in my case it's the high tin content that causes a bit of a problem. Setting the PID to 105°C gives med "droopy" jigs, the metal softens enough to deform slightly. Highest I've run so far is 98°C but I'll try to step up one degree at a time to see where the "magical" breaking point is - I want to run as hot as possible without deformation. Still, the paint seems to come out plenty tough enough, especially compared to without curing. The nice thing is I hang the jigs in a cold oven, set the timer to 60 min, then I can go and have a beer or other fun activity It shuts down when the time is up, so usually when I remember the jigs they have already cooled down. Of course, it's a well known truth that adding shiny stuff makes any product better, so what better than LED displays...?

Well, I finally got off my arse and tidied the oven up a bit. Didn't quite like the bird's nest of wires cluttering my work bench. Ripped out the old thermostat, redid some of the internal wiring, added a homemade "heat shield" (fire blanket from IKEA and thick aluminum foil in layers) between oven compartment and the electronics. Time to bake me some jigs

I use quite a bit of tin in my jigs, the reason being better availability locally. However the downside is that when I try to cure my PP what remains after curing (at recommeded temperature) is just the hook (or wire for spinner baits) - a bit of a downer. Problem solved when I added a PID, pretty accurate as far as I can tell. Whils theoretically way too cold (210 °F) the paint still becomes quite a lot harder than without curing, might be due to curing approx 30 minutes. With the PID I get much better control, I found that just 10°F difference determined if I got a good looking jig or a runny one. When I saw the thermostat problems mentioned earlier I thought I might as well share my solution, a PID should work quite well for anybody who has a broken thermostat, or wants to get way better precision. Easy to connect (using an SSR) and easy to set up - just enter the desired target temperature, then lean back and enjoy a cold one.

You can always check out the castboolits forum, lots of information about casting and different alloys. Spent days at that site just to get a handle on the "liquid silver"...

Quick update. Tried the embossing powder and can't recommend it. Thinking about it I realise I should probably have been able to foresee the problem. As far as I can tell embossing powder isn't made to "flow" as nice as regular PP (would make a hell of a mess on paper I suppose), so the finish is thick and a bit lumpy. Also the powder was rather coarse, but that may differ as it seems several types of this powder are available.

I usually use a mix of pewter, tin and lead (roughly 50% pewter). Got a donation of approx 10lb each of pure roofers lead and some kind of industrial tin - along with scrounged up pewter it makes a decent enough liquid silver. Works fine for most molds, had to modify a few (wobble jig amongst those modded) to get the jig keepers to fill out - on the other hand, those molds are more or less known to be a bit finicky.

Thanks for the replies. I've ordered some regular Powder paint from ebay, problem is that P&P is around $20 for the few oz I ordered. This adds a bit to the price, so when I saw emossing powder available close by this would make sense economically when just needing small volumes. Haven't found PP available locally at a decent price, but I'm keeping an eye out. @Fatman, did you use a white base or just the mica with clear directly on the lead?

Just came across something called embossing powder, apparently used when "pimping" paper and such. As far as I could tell it's more or less the same as powder paint, weather proof and melts in place using heat. So, why do I care? - Simply cause where I reside powder paint isn't readily available, whereas embossing powder very well could be. Anyone tried the embossing powder on a jig head? Think I'll try it and see if the results are any good, still waiting for a few final parts for the fluid bed though...

New guess from me Bassdozer Willow Blades http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/bassboard/fishing_tactics/message.html?message_id=316115