Securing eyes on jigs

[Painter1]

I would welcome a better method of securing 1/8" eyes on jigs.  The eyes are "self adhesive" but they won't hold up when used.  Currently I use a bit of gel super glue but that can get messy and tedious, not to mention sticky fingers. 

[Walking Dead]

Devcon epoxy will hold them. Stick and cover.

Edited July 18, 2017 by Walking Dead

[smalljaw]

Anything with eyes I coat with Devcon 2-Ton Epoxy.  It will dry clear and seal the eyes on and they will not come off. The other thing is the eyes themselves, I don't know which kind you use but I can tell you that WTP eyes, while more expensive, have great adhesive on them and I've actually made spinnerbaits and put those eyes on without an epoxy topcoat to see how long they would stay on and they didn't come off, in fact  they stayed on through weeds and some sparse brush but only came off when I got the head wedged in some rip rap, and that only happened as I tried to force a cast into some serious wind gusts and I ended up with a major backlash, so my bait sunk into the rocks while I picked out the tangle.  I use eyes from BOSS, as well as the cheap imported eyes,  and even the 6th Sense Crush models and none come close to the adhesive used on WTP, they are the benchmark of 3D eyes.  Now if you don't want to use a topcoat you can simply take some Loctite super glue brush on, just touch the brush to the spot where you want the eyes to stick and put them on,  after the eyes are on with the tiny amount of the glue you'll want to just go over them with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails clear nail polish, this will seal the eyes pretty good without you having to use an epoxy topcoat.

[Jig Man]

47 minutes ago, smalljaw said:

  Now if you don't want to use a topcoat you can simply take some Loctite super glue brush on, just touch the brush to the spot where you want the eyes to stick and put them on,  after the eyes are on with the tiny amount of the glue you'll want to just go over them with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails clear nail polish, this will seal the eyes pretty good without you having to use an epoxy topcoat.

 

That works for me except I use Krazy glue with the brush from Dollar General then the nail polish.

[cadman]

As smalljaw mentioned, I have been using WTP eyes since I started making jigs. They have the best adhesive for both their 2D and 3D eyes. However if you want to keep the eyes on forever, then put some Devcon 2 Ton 30 minute on them.  Although a slow process, once you coat the eyes they will stay on forever.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

When I uses eyes on jigs and spinnerbaits I paint over them with a bit of clear epoxy resin.  Unfortunately I've only seen the clear (should be called sort clear) in fast setting so I only do about 10 baits at a time, and then only if I have everything all laid out ready to coat. 

[BLT]

Min wax Polycrylic clear coat.  Brush a coat or 2 on.  No mixing, very fast and cheap. Fish them in saltwater and the stuff holds up.  Gloss or matte.  Use it for thread lock for tying hair jigs also.

[Painter1]

Thanks, guys.  I have used the WTP and they were excellent, but I don't recall where I bought them.  Who sells those?  Do you guys thin the Deacon Epoxy?  It is as pretty thick and I don't have a procedure for proper measure /mix in a small batch.  teaspoon size batch gets sticky pretty fast. 

Ideas very welcome.

 

[psilvers]

You can get the WTP eyes at Cabela's or Bass Pro. You can also buy directly from WTP. 

You can thin out D2T with isopropyl alcohol. However, I prefer to use Envirotex - it takes longer to set, but it is clear compared to the D2T (which can yellow).

 

Pete

[smalljaw]

The eyes you get from Barlow's, LPO, Janns and most other places are WTP unless they say "imported" or something else. You can usually tell by the price, around $3 to $4 per 40 and it is similar no matter where you get them but buying from one of the suppliers I mentioned allows you to buy more and get quantity discounts.

[psilvers]

2 hours ago, smalljaw said:

The eyes you get from Barlow's, LPO, Janns and most other places are WTP unless they say "imported" or something else. You can usually tell by the price, around $3 to $4 per 40 and it is similar no matter where you get them but buying from one of the suppliers I mentioned allows you to buy more and get quantity discounts.

Thanks! I was wondering whether the eyes sold by Barlows, LPO, Janns, etc. were WTP.

Pete

[Will Wetline]

I've been using the 3-D eyes from Barlow's and LPO for several seasons and have simply pressed them on firmly and went fishing. I've had only two come off.  

Reading through this thread, I like the idea of topcoating with Hard As Nails. Doesn't take too much time, glosses over my fingerprint and should add additional security. A magnetic tool strip came in handy as you'll see in the photos below:

[mark poulson]

Great idea to use the magnetic tool strip!

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

Hmmm..... that gives me an idea for powder coating.  I may make a rack with rare earth (high heat ones**) magnets to hold baits in the position I want when baking. 

** Rare earth magnets can lose their magnetism when heated.  At a certain heat level they can lose their magnetism permanently.  There are higher heat limit rare earth magnets available from McMaster and from K&J Magnetics.  The ones from K&J Magnetics mic out much closer to their advertised size.  Atleast the ones I have gotten so far.  The ones from McMaster and MSC are a .001-.003 small.  I didn't see any high heat in the sizes I wanted from MSC, and the ones from K&J are much cheaper than from McMaster.