cadman

Jig Man, if you are doing a lot of jigs, put some red RTV silicone on both mold halves just under the head. Smooth out the silicone flush with the mold halves, and stick one of your hooks in the cavity on one half. Let RTV cure. When cured, slowly take hook out of mold and peel away carefully from RTV. Next take a razor blade and skin off any excess RTV on the mold halves. You're now ready to pour. If you ever want to use the lead keeper again, peel off all the RTV.

I use the Palmer pot to pour small orders 10-15 jigs. My pot also has some rust once it warms up and I scrape the sides. I will tell you this, (this is my opinion) but the Palmer pots run very hot, compared to my Lee even at #9. I wonder if the extreme heat has something to do with it.

I have the one linked below and it does everything that I need. I also have the wire forming conversion kit. Can't say it's the best because everyone has their own personal opinion. But I really like mine. https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Wire-Forming-Tool https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Wire-Forming-Tool-Conversion-Kit

Definitely a lot of flash.

Good thought, but who would pay the exorbitant price. Can't make it cheap enough in the states with cost of labor rates. Also with 300 color selections, I don't know why you would we need more. Some colors would sell and others won't leaving manufacturers to throw them away. I personally am happy with the current available colors. Also every year there is a new hot color until it fades away. Just can't keep up with everyone's demand and for the few that would order not worth making. JMO.

Smalljaw hit the nail on the head, I have about 250 ball bearings left that I bought 12 years ago and since then the price has gone up tremendously. I have been using roller swivels as well on my personal spinnerbaits and underspins. Never had an issue with them. They aren't ball bearing swivels, however they do work well and don't break the bank. If you 're going to buy bulk, I would go with Worth. Good Luck and welcome to TU.

Welcome to TU. That is a first for me as well. You will heve to have them plated. With that said, it is going to be very expensive and probably cost prohibitive in small quantities, unless you buy 10K. Also remember that the gold plating will wear off from the blades hitting it along with the clevis and the beads spinning around on the shaft.

Welcome to TU. If you are going to paint them, I would very lightly scuff them up and then wipe the blades off with alcohol. Depends on what color you are painting, If you are using an opaque, then you probably don't need a primer. But on light colors I would use a white base. I would also use lacquer paints if it were me. Then you don't have to use epoxy unless you want a more durable finish. JMO

There are also stainless steel blades, which I have seen, however they are not that common. These will not rust as well.

I have lived in then Chicago land area all my life. It is is cold here today with -1 Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -27. Like mentioned above you get used to it. When this cold spell breaks, and it reaches 32 degrees above zero, you will see people barbecuing and walking around in shorts. When it is so cold after a week or two , a warming trend makes everyone want to open the windows like it was Spring. But not today, today I stayed home cleaned reels and poured jigs. I used to ice fish, but haven't done that in about 15 years. I too am tored of the cold weather. I want to move to Tennessee, but wife wants to move to Wisconsin. What's all that about???????

He didn't mention it so I have no idea he knew about O'hare. Maybe he forgot.

You can have it custom made from Mustang Wire or give O'Hare Spring a call. I've never seen that double wire form sold anywhere . Here is the link https://www.oharespring.com/wire-forms

Travis, I am looking for a second 3d printer. The only downfall of these is that they are very slow. But you can't beat the cost per part (minus engineering time and run time) when you can get a part sometimes made in 15 minutes to maybe a couple of hours. If I had to send this to a machinist or a fab shop for a prototype, there would definitely be a surcharge for a one of part plus mat'l cost and hourly rate. My Ender a couple of years ago was $180.00. I personally didn't think it was that expensive considering the things I could do with it. They have a new Ender that has a glass bed and self leveling system. That would be a definite plus for me. However I would like to pick up a bigger one, because the bed would have a bigger footprint. I enjoy using my 3d printer because like you said it keeps the mind going. I clean and repair reels and I have made a couple of custom tools for myself in plastic. The reason for plastic is because plastic doesn't scratch parts. Many guys who have expensive reels are very OCD. So I can't afford to scratch any of the reels finishes. I have attached some pics of some of the tools I made and use for reel repair. First pic is a double sided hex nut remover (10 and 11 mm). 2nd pic is a hex nut remover that fits down a spinning reel shaft and in between two bosses sticking up on top of the rotor.

Yes McMaster Carr is in my backyard, and yes it is nice to download (in my case Solidworks) files for almost everything they sell. I 3d print a lot and I am very happy with all of my finished parts. My printer is an Ender 3 Pro.

I only have a couple of hooks in 3d model. I use Solidworks and I also have a 3d printer. I do have a copy of a blank Do-It mold in 3d, that I use to carve out mold designs. It is my master. I have also made some jigs out of PLA plastic 3d printed with a steel hook. I'll see how well it catches fish. Then I'll post some pics. I just love designing parts and then 3d printing them. It is so cool to have a finished part in your hands an hour after you design it.