Best way to cut collar off a lead jig?

[Muskygary]

How do you guys cut the collar off a lead jig? Just run some snips around it until it comes loose and then cut it off sidesways? Do you ever damage the hook wire;  or are you doing it a different way?

[andrewlamberson]

That's how I cut off the lead bait keeper so I can tie on a wire one.

I just use the gate shears that I bought when I got my molds. I cut around the the top, give it a rotate, then cut across the top of the piece to pull the whole thing off. I just make sure I don't use enough pressure to nick the hook wire (not that I think it would really matter).

When I'm putting on the wire keepers I put down a layer of thread, then a light coat of Sally Hansen's Hard as nails, then wrap the wire keeper on, a couple half hitches and then a coat of Sally Hansen's.

Andy

[Muskygary]

Another idea that hit me . On hair jigs I sometimes will fish the back end of a twistertail. If I tie a hook keeper on just before the hook bend it should hold the plastic in place, then tie the hair jig as usual (up by the jig head)

[Jerry V]

I have heard of people using high temp. silicone to fill collar areas in order to pour collarless jigs.  It doesn't hold up forever, but that's the beauty in it.  You can always remove it relatively easily and go back to the original collared design if need be, or just fill it again when it needs it.  One guy told me he took an 8 cavity production mold and filled 4 cavities and left the other 4 be.  Then he could make which ever he needed 4 at a time.  I've never done it, but it doesn't sound like a terribly difficult thing to do and it's not necessarily permanent.

[Denny Welch]

That sounds too easy, Jerry.  You do it once and it's done.

[ctom]

I tried the hi temp silicone and had, at best, minimally decent results. It shrinks while it cures and if the mold isn't spotlessly clean it doesn't stay put for more than a couple casts. Maybe it was just the product I tried.

For other molds where I want to remove the collar I use a side-cutters and keep the cutting edge running parallel to the hook's shank. When cutting around the back of the head to separate the collar I let the side cutters only cut deep enough to barely contact the hook shank.

A person using gate shears for this has to be careful to not let the cutting edges bite into the hook's steel or the shear's blades with chip. The steel in gate shears blades is hardened and they won't just dull a little, they chip out or break off.

[Partycrasher]

You can fill parts of cavities with JB Weld and it holds up for a while too.  For collars, I just cut them off as mentioned by everyone else.  The sooner you do it after you pour, like immediately after you take them out of the mold, the easier it is. 

Marc