Not what I thought

[ghost]

Just got my fluid bed in the mail. it is not what I thought it would be.

I figured there would be something to hold the lures in the cup.

Are you supposed to hold the lure yourself? What prevents the paint from blowing all over the place?

What I figured was that you put the lure on a hook in the cup close the lid and turn it on. But obviously it is nothing like that.

[dayooper]

Ghost,

To use the fluid bed, simply hold a jig you want painted by the hook using a pair of pliers or we use hemostats. Hold the jig in a heat source (heat gun, torch, candle, or preheat in a toaster over) and then quickly swish the jig into the fluid bed. I like to hold the jig back in the heat source to smoth out the paint if needed. Not sure where you ordered the fluid bed from, but the filter piece on the bottom of the cup should difuse the air enough that it will not blow it out of the cup. Depending on the fluid bed you have, you can adjust the air flow/pressure as well. If you have any other questions on using the fluid bed, let me know. I will be glad to help.

Benjamin

[reeves]

Ghost,

I dare say, it would be very amusing watching you get started without the help of this board.

The fluid bed is not mechanical or automatic, it is entirely manual and as a beginner, very experimental.

You will first need to set up the fluid bed with the air pump attached. Only open the air a quarter turn for starters.

Fill the cup with powder paint about 1/3 full to start. Turn on the air pump. You should see the powder begin to move in the cup and bubbles will come to the surface. If this is not happening, SLOWLY open the air valve until you get bubbles. This may take a few seconds, so be patient. Once you have bubbles surfacing on the powder, just tweak the air valve down until the level of the powder is still high in the cup and you have some movement of powder across the surface of the powder in the cup. This will give you the least amount of paint loss into the air.

Let's say you are painting a spinner bait.

Using a propane torch or heat gun, hold the spinnerbait between the thumb and index finger at the 'R' bend, and with the other hand hold the hook between the thumb and index finger. Now hold it in the heat of the torch or heat gun. You will have to experiment here as to how long to hold it in the heat source. If you melted the lead, it was too long. Only apply heat to the lead part of the bait, keep it off the hook and the wireform. Once you put the bait in the heat begin counting in your head at a medium pace to 15, immediately dip the bait, hook first, into the cup, give it a little shake and get it out just that fast. As you bring it out of the cup, tap the hook on the edge of the cup to remove any excess powder. Now watch the paint. If it bubbles = too much heat, count to a lower number. If it doesn't get shinny, like wet candy, and looks like dry powder = not enough heat. This is where you really have to play around with it and find out where you want to be and develop a rhythm, and it will happen only after a few (give or take) failures.

There will be others posting more tips about this for you. Have fun and let us know how you do.

[dampeoples]

Looks like Ben and George have you covered. But the purpose of the fluid bed is to keep the powder agitated. If you'e ever painted stuff simply dipping it in the powder in the jar it came in, you'll notice you use less paint, have few to no runs, and don't have to stop and fluff the powder.

One word of advice, do your research before you buy, rather than jumping in headfirst, it'll save you some headache, as well as wasted money.

[redsnooktrout]

I have a question about fluid beds. I have been powder coating for a couple of years and I wanted to figure out is how do you know what your mill thickness of coating is that you apply? 1.5mill to 2.5mill is manufacturing/industry standards in most cases. I would have to say that I have seen powder applied to thick want to crack,chip and fail all test that would be thrown at it except a mek (Methyl ethyl ketone) rub off. And what kind of powder do you guys use in your fluid beds? coarse or fine? If anybody has some spec's of the powder that would be cool, I wouldnt mind seeing the D50 of some other powders.

[cadman]

Redsnooktrout,

This is all the info I can give you on powder paint. Do with it what you will. There are several different chemical make-ups of powder paint, Hybrids, epoxies, TGIC polyester (polyester) and urethanes. All these different make-ups are only applicable to the real world of painting large items and quantities and for the military. For example; epoxy based powder is great for hardness, flexibility, ease of application, chemical resistance, and corrosion resistance. However it’s horrible for exterior use, it fades. Does that mean I can’t use it for jigs? Absolutely not. It’s great for jigs. Every one of those chemical powder make-ups has its own niche in the real world, and in the real world you must follow the specs and application for what it was intended for, especially for the military. All of the powders we buy have TDS (Technical Data Sheets), these sheets give you everything from baking to pencil hardness, along with mil thickness. Majority of the paint is in the 2-4 mil thickness range. There are some lower in mil thickness, but none higher than 4 mil. If you are referring to course or fine powder than I’m guessing you are talking about smooth, textured and wrinkled finishes. As far as measuring thickness of powder, it has to be done after it is baked, with a meter. All said and done, I think all this information is way too much info for the average jig builder like you and I. I have mixed all different chemical make-ups of powder (for paint on my jigs), and never had any chemical or paint reaction problems. Thickness meters are expensive, impractical and not necessary to the average guy like you and I. Like I’ve said before, jigs are a dispensable commodity. I lose a lot more than I’m worried about paint fading or chipping. I believe us as tackle makers should buy the best components we can afford, concentrate on our quality, and make sure it is made to our best ability. All the technical stuff will only confuse many of our beginners on buying only what is posted here. We need to be creative and have fun with this. I’ll end it here, if you want more info PM me. BTW this is only my opinion.

[cadman]

redsnooktrout,

One other thing, I have seen up to 6 mils of powder put on and baked with no paint chipping. Now remember with that much powder, you can't put it on a flat panel and bend it in half. I can't say if that much powder would do anything for jigs, I really doubt it. I think it would be fine. Also what is D50?

[redsnooktrout]

cadman

Yeah I get a little caught up into the tec stuff =) but I didnt put into play that I only use Poly powders and thats where I got the 1.5mill to 2.5 mill and never got into Hybrids, epoxies that much. I know that the finer the powder the smouther the finish would be but I wanted to know if a coarse powder like a tex would work in a bed. A d50 is part of a test that would show what the Particle size is at 50% and so on. I really wanted to find the Technical Data Sheet for protec powders but didnt find it online, It better be some good stuff for 5 bucks for a 2oz jar.

Cadman I am also about finished with getting some powders ready to ship out to you but I cant find any more of that black you wanted. I can replace it with a killer clear if that is ok?

[cadman]

redsnooktrout,

TDS sheets are available for every powder that is made, no matter color, texture or whatever. They have to have them so the companies that apply the powder know what guidelines to follow, and how to apply it correctly. If you know what color you want, call CSI (Component Systems Inc. (Protech), and I'm sure they will send you one. At work, we buy powder by 50 lb lot from Protech, and we get TDS sheets. Right now I have a beige powder from IVC, and it is Mini-Tex, and it does work in my fluid bed. I buy some powder from Protech, and yes it is very expensive. Is it better than anything else I buy? My answer is no, but they have some colors that others don't. I don't want to custom order, and I don't want 100 lbs. So they fill my need at times. You can buy other brands cheaper, however you have to do your homework. I rarely pay more than $7 a lb on anything I buy. I will PM you on my personal stuff....Ted

[reeves]

Guys,

The CSI powder paint is unique in as much that it is a vinyl base paint. They advertise that it is non-flammable, which to me is a plus. I am not sure what the other companies put out, just have never used them - yet! I believe however that they may have a solvent base to them, I would need an MSDS sheet on one to verify the flashpoint of it before I go dipping hot lead into it. Just my thoughts.

[cadman]

For all those interested, I would never put anyone in danger. Urethane and all the other powders that I'Ve mentioned, is not like poly-urethane. It has no flash point. I don't know of any powder that self ignites, due to high temps, and I would never post anything tht would do that. FYI.........Ted

[dampeoples]

I would think that there should be no problems with heated metal in powder, as that's how it works, but I had no idea there were different types of powder, either.