Powder Painting And Weed Guards

[CrabbyBass]

Hey all! I had a question for those of you that powder paint jig heads with weed guards. What is your process to keep the weed guard holes open? The first time I did it, I wound up having to go through and drill out the weed guard holes as they were too small after painting. The next time, I put the pins back in the holes and then painted. The pins are now all covered in paint. Please let me know how you guys do it. Thanks in advance!

Chuck

[gone2long]

hey Chuck I've only been at it for a few months but can tell you that I bought the Teflon pins and they work great. I have two ways of doing it the first is I heat the jigs in the oven without the pins in then as I take each jig out I insert the pin dip in powder and either remove pin immediately then quench in water or leave in then remove after or you can put them in the jig heat in oven and  dip in powder have not had any issues this way and the nice thing about the Teflon is you can take them over to the sink and with a knife  scrape them clean the cured paint will chip right off.

[Lamar]

  I use a heat gun to heat the head of the jig without the pin in it and dip it into the powder paint. I have a stand that holds them upright ( so I don't get cone heads ) and bake them in a toaster oven at 400 for 40 minutes. Let them cool and take an 1/8 inch drill and clean the holes out. Then I tie the skirt on. Not a rubber band fan here. Then I glue the weed guard in using supper glue gel and paint the eyes on. This why the pin is always clean and the weed guard is out of the way to make working with the jig easier. I do have a friend that he pours the head with the weed guard in it and wraps each one with heavy duty aluminum foil before painting and baking. To me that's a lot of work and you have to work around the weed guard the whole time. I have a small cordless drill that I use and once you do a few it's pretty easy and fast.

[Denny Welch]

I do pretty much the same as Lamar.  I think I bought my battery operated drill at Harbor Freight for about $10.  I usually go in spurts where I wii pour a hundred or so jig heads at a time.  I'll then powder coat them (without pins), bake them off at about 350 for 30 minutes (TJ's Tackle makes a nifty holder that holds the hooks upright while baking, thereby avoiding "teardrop"), and then drill them.  I then tie the skirts on using rubber and wire.  Once tied, I'll slip a small rubber band over the skirt to keep it out of the way while I super glue in the weed guard.  I'll let the jigs sit for several hours to allow the glue to cure and walaa..perfectamundo.  It works for me.

[andrewlamberson]

I am a "newby" at this lead thing...and I've been researching the heck out of it on the internet and there are some pretty good videos and info on TackleUnderground and on especially on http://www.tjstackle.com/  (on how to paint).

I've been doing really well with inserting the Teflon Pins into the mold...making sure the pins go just up to the hook shank...carefully closing the mold (!) and pouring. The pins stay in pretty well through the powder painting process (fyi..the Fluid Bed that TJ's sells is well worth the money...I get a lot better results then just dipping them in the powder paint). Curing them at 350 for 20 minutes and then pulling out the teflon pins. The paint scratches off the teflon pins easily with your finger nails.

Curing the jigs makes the Powder Paint super hard, evens out the paint and gives it a really nice shine. And I agree with Denny...that holder that TJs sells to hold your jigs in the oven is the way to go! I have 3 of them now. Super easy to use...holds the jigs securely.

[gone2long]

are you guys getting that drip on your jigs if you just hang them on the rack? I don't get them at all when curing I just hang on the rack and cure for 20 minutes.

[Denny Welch]

I would get the drippy teardrop things frequently when hanging the jig by the hook while baking.  That problem has gone away completely since using TJ's hook holder.

[gone2long]

 wow I wonder what I'm doing different as I don't get even a hint of  the drippy thing and I hang mine. I also only get about 2  in every 50 with a clogged hook eye. easy fix I just heat the end of a paper clip and push right through.

[Lamar]

Gone2long, are you baking the jigs while they are hanging ? If so you shouldn't be able to heat a paper clip and melt it into the painted eye. The tear drop head or what I call the cone head is from hanging upside down while baking the paint. The paint will melt a little before it cures. But once it cures it's done and shouldn't remelt at all. I like to go super hot for 40 minutes. That baby won't chip after that.

[Denny Welch]

It could be that I got more powder paint on my jigs.  Are you using a fluid bed?  There for a while I was just dipping them in the jar.  I've since started using the fluid bed and the hook holder and the teardrop problem no longer exists.  Good idea re the paper clip...I've been using a needle.

[Denny Welch]

For clarification...the needle is used before baking.

[CrabbyBass]

Thank you guys!  I will probably go with the Teflon pins.  They are pretty cheap.  I forgot to mention when I used the drill bit on the holes, the paint chipped.  I didn't like that.

As far as cone heads, I have never had that happen to me, then again I use a fluid bed so maybe that is the reason.  I do like the clamp you guys are talking about though.  I may have to pick up one or two.  Thanks! 

[gone2long]

Ok lets see here,

Lamar yes I hang them and bake them in a toaster oven, and Denny yes I made a fluid bed no better way to get a quality jig

I heat the jigs without Teflon or base pin for 15 minutes @350-400 then pull one out at a time push the Teflon into the jig dip in fluidized powder paint, remove Teflon pin then quench in water, if a hook eye is clogged you can clear it now before you put the painted jigs without Teflon or base pin into oven for the recommended time per color. I've had only 2 in the last 100 cause me grief putting the weed guard in and me thinks that was more a molding issue during the lead pouring operation.

Oh and note: be very careful when removing from oven after curing if they touch they are Siamese for sure Also wonder if by me quenching them in water before curing is a plus for the drippy thing?

[Denny Welch]

Ah ha, now I get the saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."  Fine looking jig heads.  I use a Wagner heat gun to heat the jig and then dip it in water to cool it down.

[CrabbyBass]

Ah ha, now I get the saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."  Fine looking jig heads.  I use a Wagner heat gun to heat the jig and then dip it in water to cool it down.

I don't do the water dipping after powder painting.  I think I need to do that.  Thanks for the tip Denny!