Outlaw Lures

Made this beauty...simple design. But it's awesome when you take it out for a test run and it gets smacked around. LoL....looks like I'll be making 60 more now that I know gets bit!

I have 300 V Style heads from Cast Industries in 1/2, and 3/8, along with some 3/4 and 1 oz in the same V style mold. They gave me .32 in all sizes. Some were ordered direct. Some i ordered through lure parts online. Maybe it just depends on the mold you are requesting. My point is you can always call and ask. However the super stainless wire is the ticket if you want the best vibration IMHO.

I pour everything except my spinner bait heads. I get those from CAST ind in the raw. However I've been getting them to use their super stainless arms in the .32 or the smallest they offer for the size I'm ordering. I also shorten the arms. The stainless wire is tougher to bend but the fish catching has been out of this world with that combo. They don't get deformed to much but they do break after abou 25-30 fish. They definitely outperform other wire sizes combos for me.

I just wanted to share this bit of succes. I had a pile of mistake growing on my work bench that I thought were useless. I decided to try acetone (basic home depot brand) to remove the paint. I gave em an over night bath in a tupperware bin and the paint peeled off with a little rub from a shop rag. Stubborn paint required a 2 day bath. It worked really well and now I have a whole new batch of castings to screw up again!

SmalliJaw, You were right it worked perfectly. It was much better than dipping in the can. I can tell you this however. hamertone paint is not meant for dipping. It actually goes on too thick and you do not get the hammertone effect. You will get a thick coat of the toughest paint with a cool calico look but you will not get the textured effect. Solid colors are much better in the fluid bed. Thanks to all for the help!

One safey note...I noticed when I first started heating a single cavity and the rest of the mold was still cold a minute amount of moisture formed from the cold metal heating so quickly. When I say minute it was no more than the fog that appears on a mirror when you breath on it! On the first pour the lead popped and shot out the cavity it was not cool at all! i just about dropped my hot pot and I had a good size spill. Luckily I had my gloves and safety glasses on. Moral-heat the entire mold and if you see any moisture form keep heating till it is absolutely gone!

Raw Jigs, It was a night and day difference! I pour Brush Jigs which are kind of tricky and I generally have 3-5 bad pours per cavity before they started to work right...or I would have to pour too quickly and I would experience spills etc (I use a hot pot). I'd tried smoking my molds or putting a small piece of foil or masking tape on the inside face of the mold so it wouldn't close too tightly (I thought maybe the mold was trapping air and not letting the lead flow). These helped but I still wasn't getting the desired results. Heating the hook and cavity with a torch was a game changer for me. After the mold was heated up enough from a few pours all I had to do was close the mold and shot the torch into the cavity for 3-4 seconds. Result: I was able to slow down my pour and I had zero bad pours when doing this...

Thanks smallijaw...I'm going to give it a shot again tonight. Yes I'm using a paint that seems to be denser than most of the pro-tec paints I've purchased in the past. If it works then rock and roll!

Jig Man...I've used coffee filters and brown paper shopping bags. When i stir I get a little boil but it quickly stops. When I first turn on the air and start to slowly open the valve I see the power begin to rise. Then all of a sudden it is like the air finds one hole then it all stops. Some times when the air valve is slightly open the powder looks as if I just fluffed it but I can not get the full suspended fluid effect. I will say that most of the eruptions occur on the sides of the powder and not in the middle.

Oops.. I got my hooks red hot at times but only for a short time and it was inside the cavity. They were heavy wire flipping hooks so hopefully no major harm done. Thanks for the insight!

Cardinal Paints. www.cardinalpaint.com They supply for industrial applications so you have to buy in bulk 5 pound quantities but they have the best price/ quality I can find. If you talk to the rep he may let you break up your order. I worked out a deal with my rep and for roughly $100.00 I have more paint & colors than I can work through in a couple of years. Their paints actually seem to perform better than the pro tec. They seem to be finer and have a lower melting point. They also call out shorter cure times. I air brush my powder and these paints work the best in my badger. The paint is actually so fine that standard dipping actually makes the coat too thick. Colors are limited to standard colors (no candy or flake) but their hammer tones are outstanding and the absolute toughest paints I can find. I'm thinking about using those exclusively on my flipping and football jigs. They also have a white silver vein hammer tone that resembles a fish scales when applied correctly. They also have many colors not in their catalog so you have to ask.

I just built my first fluid bed however I can't get the paint to "fluidize". I keep getting little geysers in my paint. I have no air leaks, I'm using a 20 gallon top fin aquarium pump, my cup and base are 2" in dia and epoxied to a lexan base so there are NO leaks there. However I am using an industrial grade powder paint that seems to be much more fine than the pro-tec type paints. This paint difference may be the only culprit I can think of as it may not "fluidize". Any thoughts or suggestions before I scrap this bed and go back to pp airbrushing my heads?

I pour my flipping and football jigs in the winter months (before the season hits). I was having problems getting a good cast so before I close up the mold for the pour I started passing my torch over the cavity, hook, and weed guard insert pin to heat them up to make sure I get a quality cast. I just started using this process however I am worried about weakening my hooks. At what point do they these heavier hooks their temper? I know there is no way to gauge heat or breaking point other than good old experience and gut feel. Any thoughts?

Long time reader first time poster:) I just started using clear coat powder paint on my spinners & jigs instead of epoxy. It is super easy and really makes the color pop! Question: Has anyone ever tried to apply clear coat powder paint over a 3D eye then cure it? I want to try it but I will say I've been learning the expensive way lately and want to know if anyone else has tried it before I ruin another spinner bait. looking forward to your replies.