RM3

You know you really aren't defending him very well by saying only large customers mattered to him during his horrendously handled move.

And, btw, after a Google translation, it appears to be advertising for counterfeit college diplomas in China. LMAO

Again with the spam in the hard bait forum. And as usual the idiot posts in what I assume is Chinese. Really? Chinese on an American forum. I thought Chinese were smart...........

BSI 30 minute, slightly thinned with denatured alcohol. A thin even coat and no turning is necessary. Thin is key. as far as durability, my acrylic painted epoxy top coated baits pass the same test I give powder coat batches, drop them from eye level on concrete. Never get more than a small dent.

The resin manufacturer will specify the light nm needed.

Thats awesome. Hopefully you'll be sourcing blanks from the same suppliers as Dingers were always a step above most in quality. Look forward to doing business with you.

The commercial ones I use are mostly texture types and most come from Anarchy Models UK and a few from Dru Blair. As far as "shape" types, stripes, gills, fins etc. I have quite a few from Insane Custom Stencils but the majority I use anymore especially for craws I've drawn out myself and transferred heavy card stock as a master which I use to create low tack frisket film stencils as necessary. Sometimes on larger swimbaits for bass and gill patterns, I can do better at replicating the patterns free hand rather than with a stencil.

Go to TJ'S tackles website, get their phone number and call them, they sell precut discs of fluidizing membrane. You have to call because it's not on the website. It's actually designed for the job and is leaps and bounds superior to any home brew "solution". Try it and you'll thank me.

Sprayed Tamco 9500 if any sort of volume is involved. Catalyzed automotive urethane, rock hard, non-yellowing, crystal clear and fast.

IMO Devcon is near the bottom as far as finishes go. If you wish to stick with epoxy, BSI 30 minute is less brittle, yellows less and is more forgiving. If you are only doing 1-5 baits at a time it would be my recommendation. That being said, I switched to spraying Tamco 9500 catalyzed automotive urethane 2 years ago and will never go back to epoxy. It's advantages are: it is thin, crystal clear, 100% non-yellowing, rock hard, rated for submersion so it is 100% waterproof and it cures fast. Fast enough that you can do 3 coats and be ready for hooks and hardware in less than an hour. A few disadvantages: A respirator and GOOD ventilation are a must, it's not suited to doing small numbers of baits (I do 20-30 at a time) and you'll do best by having a dedicated brush. I use a Sparmax bottle feed with a .7 nozzle. I'm sure others will chime in plus you can do a search for more options. Everyone has their favorites and the more options you look at the better.

For small quantities, hassles probably do out weigh the benefits. When I was doing 2 or 3 baits at a time I had my best results using BSI 30 minute epoxy. It yellows less than most similar products and is far less brittle than Devcon. It seemed slightly more forgiving as far as mix ratios go and as long as you applied a nice thin coat, it doesn't requiring turning. As far as cleaning a siphon brush, Paasche has a color cup that can be used in place of the bottles, this simplifies the cleaning process quite a bit. Other companies may have similar cup but reasonably sure Paasche's would work on anybodies brush.

Doubt dipping would work with Tamco 9500. I wouldn't want to anyway as it would remove some of the advatages of spraying while adding nothing.

I only use a siphon brush for clear coating, cleaning involve spraying acetone through the brush 3 times, then disassemble and drop the needle, nozzle, air cap etc into a jar of acetone to soak. The body of the brush gets cleaned out thoroughly with pipe cleaner soaked in acetone. As far as clear coat, I spray Tamco 9500HC automotive urethane. it is a far superior finish to any epoxy I ever used in the past. Rock hard, ultra clear, doesn't yellow, is actually rated for submersion unlike many epoxies commonly used, and it can be sprayed on swimbait joints with no effect on action. It is also ultra fast, hooks and hardware can be put on 15-30 minutes after the final coat. I can line up 30 baits, spray 3 coats and be putting on hardware and packaging in 1-1 1/2 hours (cure time can vary with shop temp). The downsides; it is highly toxic and requires both excellent ventilation and a respirator and clean up is a slight pain. Also, it doesn't spray well with a gravity brush, I use a Passche VL with a 1.08 nozzle. a .68 nozzle can be used if you reduce it.

Absolutely do not start out with a cheap brush. Here is why, a cheap brush will have poor performance and will be prone to clogging. I have seen this cause many people to quit out of frustration before they even had a chance to learn anything. a decent brush will be less frustrating for a beginner to deal with, allowing him or her to concentrate on learning the craft. A decent brush will have decent resale value so if you decide this isn't for you, you'll be able to recoup much of the cost. Same goes for paint, cheap Walmart craft paint is made with coarsley ground pigments that lead to a lot of clogging issues, even if thinned. Paint actually formulated for use in an air brush will be much less aggravating.

I use Tamco 9500 exclusively. 2 part automotive urethane clears will give you a much thinner, more durable finish than any epoxy. Plus it looks 1000x better than any epoxy, IMO, it saturates the colors and it does not yellow. It also does not have the storage issues so many seem to have with moisture cure urethanes such as KBS. It is also very fast, I can have a batch baits ready for hardware in 45 minutes. I spray it with a Passche Talon siphon feed with a .68 nozzle at about 30psi. the standard siphon feed bottle holds enough to do 20ish crank or jerkbaits or 10ish 6-7" glides. The downsides are, toxicity, it requires excellent ventilation and a respirator and if you do not clean your brush WELL after spraying you might as well toss it.

www.jetsonlures.com

Depends on your volume. A few baits a week, BSI 30 minute is good quality epoxy, less sensitive to mixing ratios being a little off, is less britlle and yellows less than Devcon. Plus, as long as you don't slop it on to thick, it requires no turning. The best quality finish and the best for high volume is a 2 part, sprayed automotive urethane. I was using PPG 2021 but switched over to Tamco 9500, every bit as good as the PPG at half the cost. It's advantages are quality, the look and feel blow everything out of the water IMO, Nearly indefinite shelf life, and speed. 3 coats and ready for hardware in 30 minutes. It has disadvantages though, it is very toxic so a respirator and good ventilation are required. Unless you reduce it quite a bit it doesn't get along well with most airbrushes commonly used. I started with a Passche VL siphon gun with a .68 nozzle and it did well, I switched over to a GSI Creos gravity feed trigger gun with a .5 nozzle and it sprays beautifully out of it.

I think you answered your own question.............. If you look at a per piece price on most hardware, generally speaking, cost difference is minimal between "cheap" and quality.

2 possibilities, to hot when dipping or contamination from oil on your skin getting on the jig. Possibly too heavy a coat as well. this is my process: I always wear gloves when handling jig heads, both to keep my skin oil off the jig and too keep lead of my skin. I prep jig heads by swishing them in a cup of acetone to remove any contaminants present. I put the heads in an electric skillet with a lid, set at 350 for 10 minutes to heat them and them dip them quickly in a fluid bed. The skillet allows a consistent temp and the fluid bed allows a nice thin, even coat of paint

It would be nice if some company could make tackle, I know some use the same process.

Never used Predator Baits warts so I have zero opinion of them other than they are pricey. The wart blanks from Shelts and Cedar Run Outdoors are good, true running blanks but they are more like the modern, post Rapala Storm lure. They do not exhibit the hunting action of the pre Rapala baits.

Due to it's high melting temp, most tungsten is produced by one of two methods. the first, and most common method for panfish jigheads is the mixing of tungsten powder with epoxy and then molding said mixture. The second, most used for bass and up sized tackle is through sintering. this process mixes tungsten powder with a metal that melts at a more manageable temp, this mixture is then packed into a mold and heated under pressure binding the tungsten to the other metal. This is the reason there is no 100% tungsten fishing tackle. The process and materials is costly and the reason there is not a single tungsten weight or jig, at least in bass sizes, produced in the US. Which brings up another point, there are several companies selling product with a marketing campaign stating that they are a US based company. Their company may be but they import the product from China like everyone else. Don't fall for it.

Eclipse HPCS is the most common and a good workhorse airbrush.