gat0r

lol great minds.... that google thing is slick. :-)

Dragonfly Lures

It's a Gammy hook. It's a special order hook. You can't get them unless you intend to order 100,000. Only one place I know of gets them and he sells them to everyone else for the public to buy. I sell those heads as well but mine are using the new VMC hook. It's a little stronger hook. There is a national shortage right now on those gammy hooks. So it could be some time before we see those heads again with those hooks.

His site works for me. Call him. He never has time to return emails. He's a busy dude. He's been doing a lot of the work himself on his shop. Good guy. Good prices. And he has some KILLER stuff in the works.

Thanks fatman. Going to work on my pot tomorrow evening!

Thanks Fatman. How do you clean the pot after use? Just pour the lead into something else and clear your hole one final time? Or is there more to it than that?

Thanks again Hawnjigs and Sagacious and others who have contributed ideas. Didn't mean to hijack your thread. Was just learning a lot on in one thread and figured might as well get all my newbie questions out there. To think I've been pouring leadheads for 2 years now and didn't know half this stuff.

Thanks sagacious. Yup. It helps a lot. I will definitely get that bottom pour out and clear it out. I'm guessing like a spinnerbait wire could be used to jar any big pieces out of the pour hole. I'll do that after a healthy flux. You were right. I melted my lead. Cut off a piece of parafin, dropped it into the pot. As soon as I saw smoke, I got my BBQ lighter and poof - FIRE! I felt like Tom Hanks on Castaway! I have made FIRE! Anyway I stirred quickly and vigorously because the fire wasn't going down and I was a bit paniced at first. But 5-10 seconds and it was dark and powdery on top and clean clear lead. And the fire didn't really ever get higher than the pot. It just burned on the sides and across the top of the lead. So I'm anxious to break out the precision pour pot. And see if fluxing was really the root of my problems. I've got 20 pounds of pure lead (From a x-ray vests) that I can play with in that pot. So that brings me to my next point, pouring with pure lead. Will it be too soft you think for a good football jig? Again this might be a nooby question and if I need to do research on old posts just let me know. Usually I would melt that pure lead with some wheel weights or that strip lead you get from BPS. Curious if I need some other "harder" alloy to make my jigs stronger. Thanks again for this great post. I feel like I've learned a lot.

I use a bbq lighter to light my propane torch so there you go, that's what I had for my first bout of fluxing. I was not ready for how large and how long the flame burned. But I stirred the pot with my long handled lee ladel and things went well. I skimmed off the impurities and my pours seemed a bit better but now I have a stupid question. On this fluxing, is this to make better "BOTTOM" pours. I use a Lee Pot and still tilt and pour rather than using the bottom pourer precision pot. I have one that blades loaned to me but the pour hole is clogged and the pours were incosistent and uneven (without fluxing). Should I clean the pour hole with something or will fluxing help fix my former bottom pour problems? I realize my question may be too vague and need more details to answer. So fire away. I'm thick skinned. Also ordered a fluid bed today from TJ's to hopefully help with too much powder on my jigs. Haha - I'm a mess!

I've tried a lot of things to unclump the powders. I have sifted them with a large bakers sifter. When I tilt the sifted powder up to pour it back into the container, it's already clumpy. I've tried putting them in a large bowl and crushing them with the sifter (like reverse sifting). I'm assuming old Rx used a mortar and pestal. IS that how your suggesting crushing this powder? I know the powder has moisture in it. I saw Gloomisman's post about using a dehumidifier. I don't have one unfortunately. I am going to try the silica packets in the powder containers though. See if that helps. My brands are Pro-Tec and CC. Some of both are clumped and some of both are not clumped which is what perplexes me. Seems to be more about color as others have stated in other posts i searched. Watermelon is the worst. I mix Watermelon with brown for a real nice Green Pumpkin. I sometimes do two colors on jigs and I've been double dunking. but some of my second dunks are clumping which leads to dripping in the oven. I think I'm going to try the brush option and sprinkle on. I've used a sifter and "tapped" powder effects on to jigs with good results but it sometimes makes your finish look uneven. Thanks for the assist Cadman. Did a lot of searching last night.

Don't get me wrong Hawnjigs. I went and bought wax last night! Haha! I intend to but I was hiding in the closet still out of embarrasment of not doing this until now. Bladesandbaits advised me to do this in my pouring a couple years ago and I'm ashamed to say I haven't until today. Today will be my first flux. I feel like a virgin again - HAHA! Thanks again guys for all the good information. Thanks for the sources of wax Cadman. Am I going to regret just using chunks of a small votive candle. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about candles or wax. I've got a problem with migranes and candle scents are probably my worst trigger for them. So I avoid them like the plague. Haha.

I have powders that are clumping and some that don't clump at all. All stored in the same place (a cabinet inside the house in our utility room). I'm curious what I've done that has caused some of the powder to clump and some not to. And what I can do with the "clumpy" powder to make it useable again. I've sifted a lot of it with a sifter but come back the next day and it's clumpy again. The result is you get paint that melts onto your jig way too thick in places. I to the point of wanting to throw it all out and buy powder again. Problem is I've got a couple pounds of a couple colors doing this. Frustrating so I appreciate any help here. For the record I always seal my paint in either their original bin or in screw tight plastic containers for dipping. I shake vigorously and flip the container just before dipping to get the loosest powder on top. But a few of my colors is just doesn't matter.

Wow.. Best thread/posts I've read in a while. Thank you all for the contributions. I shall go back in my closet of non-fluxing, non-smoking mold pourers now.

Charles is a good guy and has always been much faster than advertised on filling orders. I would just call him. He has no time for email right now. A few minutes on the phone and you'll be squared away I'm sure.

The best remedy is to get the paint out of the eyelet while you're painting. I do this with a small piece of copper wire. Heat the jig, dip in paint, punch any paint out of the eye.