Biffle Type Jig Heads

[BassBull]

Has any one that powder paints them and heats them to cure the paint find that it really helps the paint to stay on better. I just powder paint and then just over coat with D2T and does a so so job. Just want to no if I should add this step. I fish mostly rock with this head. Thanks a head of time. STEVE

[smallmouthaholic]

Swirl the UN-painted jigs back and forth in Acetone. Place them on a paper towel afterwards.You need good ventilation when using Acetone- Acetone evaporates very quickly. Remove the open container(pour excess back into can) then heat and powder paint after 5 minutes of drying time.. Follow precautions on the label and do not smoke or have any open flame neat by. I do 1000's of jigs using this method of jig preparation inside a ventilated spray booth and have never had a problem. The exhaust fan motor is sealed / brush less and produces no sparks. You can also use this method on a table by sitting outside if comfortable air temps. prevail

 

Clean jigs hold and retain paint better!

 

No jig finish is rock proof forever.

[Basseducer]

Bassbull,

Powder paint's durability is achieved by heat curing. If you just paint the jig and drop it on a concrete floor from about waist high it will chip. At that point it is brittle like glass. After heat curing it is far stronger. If dropped it, it will bend with the lead, so if the jig dents you will see the dent in the paint. I always heat cure all my powder painted items and unless you are adding eyes or some other stick-on you don't have to clear coat it.

[smalljaw]

Just cure them, it does make them harder and then put a coat of D2T over it. I used a jig for a full day on the Susquehanna river where it is extremely rocky and didn't have as much as a scrape. My jigs will eventually chip, if I use just one jig without changing it all day in the river I will either lose it to it getting wedged in rocks or it will chip but it takes a long time for it to chip, if I only use it for a couple of hours I may have it 3 trips before it chips, but it will chip, that is inevitable.  The secret to curing is temperature control, find out using a timer and an infrared thermal gun and see how long it takes for your oven to heat to 350 then put the most common used size in and see how long it take until the jigs hit temperature and that is when your curing cycle begins. For example, I put 50 1/2oz jigs in my oven, it takes 3 minutes and 46 seconds for it to get to 350 and it takes another 2 minutes and 18 seconds until every jig is at 350 degrees so that when my 20 minute cycle begins, so I round it up and my entire cure time from start to finish is 27 minutes and I let the jigs cool as the oven cools, I don't know if it has any affect but I do know that I can take a jig and throw it full force into the concrete floor and it will not chip. If you cure your jig you should be able to do that, if you can throw it and throw it hard against the floor or a wall and it chips, it means your cure time or temp is off. When you get it to that hardness you can then put a good coat of D2T over top and it will keep it from chipping for a little bit but eventually it will begin to chip, rocks are tough and if you constantly drag a jig over the rocks it will chip, especially the hard heads. BTW, just putting on powder paint and not curing isn't going to hold up at all, I accidently dropped on while putting it on the rack and it chipped, my floor is concrete but that shows you how brittle powder paint is if you don't cure it.

[Jeff Hahn]

I always bake anything that I powder paint.  Smalljaw gave you all the good reasons to do so.  I bake mind at 350 for 15 minutes.  I would advise you to place an old cookie sheet under the heads just in case you got too much powder paint on a few and it drips off during the time in the overn. 

Edited December 13, 2014 by Jeff Hahn