Couple questions on finishing jigs

[bhubbard387]

I have finished my first few jigs but along the way hit a few road bumps which I'm sure everyone has encountered..  I have melted the lead while heating for powder painting, I have smushed jigs together on the drying rack, and I tend to fill many of the hook eyes with paint.

Here are some questions I have come up with so far:

1.  Whats the best way to clear a jig eye?  And eye buster? A hot wire?  I tried using the heated wire and seem to get some rough edges though.  Will curing smooth those edges over or just fill the eye back up?  Also, is there something I am doing wrong, more than half of my hook eyes become plugged while painting.

2.  Curing times?  How long, what temperature? I have read different threads but seen answers from 190 degrees for 20 minutes to 400 degrees for 20 minutes so I'm not sure what to choose.  Also, I don't typically mold the weed guards in but If I did can you still cure the jigs without too much flare?

3.  Lastly, I got some of the 3-D eyes from Do-It and had multiple eyes pop off after a few casts, is there a quick solution that will keep the eyes on there tight?

As always, thank you all in advance!

[Kasilofchrisn]

When dipping jigs in my fluid bed I hold the hook eye with forceps. This helps keep paint out of the hook eye.
Another good method is to hold the hook with one pair of forceps and heat. Then switch to a cold pair of forceps grab the hook eye then dip. That way you keep the jig eye clean and the forceps stay cleaner.
One of my pet peeves is paint in the jig eye so I avoid it at all costs. It only takes an extra moment to keep the eye clean versus the pain of cleaning it after.
I don't make jigs with weedguards but most guys glues them in afterwards with D2T or gel superglue after curing. It seems to be the simplest way to get a good product.
I cure everything at 350* for ~22-25 minutes. I cure all my jigs. I wouldn't use them without curing them.
As for the 3D eyes topcoat them with epoxy and they will last as long as the jig. Again I use D2T for that also.
Remember the point of making your own stuff is to make a quality product that works well.
That means properly cured powder paint, a clean jig eye,a quality hook,etc.
Otherwise why bother? That's just my opinion of course.
Hope this helps.

[Lamar]

  Ditto to the post above. I will add after curing I take a 1/8 drill bit and cordless drill and clean out the hole where the weed guard goes. Then I glue it in with super glue gel. Don't use plain supper glue they will pull out. I also buy a clamp to hold the jigs in the toaster over when curing that holds the jig with the head up instead of down. This prevents a cone head or paint sliding down into the eyes. Making jigs takes a little practice. If your making the poison tail jig the has the indent for the eye then I just give it a coat for finger nail polish to hold them in. It's pretty rare I loose an eye. But when I do the fish think the jig is winking at them. 

[Muskygary]

I clean my hook eyes out after powder painting, but before baking them. The eyes I put on with a small drop of super glue gel. After letting them set for a day I dip them in clear coat. Be sure to remove the drip that forms before it dries. That's about it.

[smalljaw]

If you are dipping your jigs into a jar stop, that is a sure way to get the hook eye filled with paint. You can use a fluid bed which you can build yourself or go to TJ's tackle, he sells a nice 3" fluid bed for $50 bucks, I have mine 8 years or so and it works like the day I got it. If you don't want to get a fluid bed just yet, get a small shallow bowl and put the powder in that to paint, it will allow you to QUICKLY swish the jig through and get a thin coat which you should be able to cure and not have it clog the hook eye. You could also grip the jig by the eye with a forceps as the others mentioned and the best way I found to unclog a hook eye is to take a hook that has a diameter that will go through the eye but just barely and that is with the barb taken off with a pair of side cutter and filed down so it has no sharp edge. For larger jigs I have a spinnerbait hook that I use and this is done before curing, if it looks like I may have too much paint on I simply put my spinnerbait hook, that I took the barb off and filed smooth but kept the point, and I put it through the hook eye and rotate it around to crack the excess paint off and it is done. I've been curing all my stuff, no matter what color, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, now, the total time my jigs are in the oven is 21 minutes because it takes 4 minutes for my oven to get to 350, I used an oven thermometer and timed it to see how long it took when I got my new toaster oven. Anyway, I put my jigs in as soon as I turn the oven on, after 4 minutes the oven has hit 350 degrees, 2 more minutes and the jigs are at that temp and that is when I start my 15 minute time, I have an infrared gun and I found that it took the jigs an extra 1 minute and 43 seconds to hit the 350 degrees so I just rounded it to 2 minutes and I use it for all sizes of jigs and it works well. I hope my long winded explanation helped more than it confused.

[Denny Welch]

Ditto on everything smalljaw said.  He's the master, so if I say anything that contradicts him then disregard what I say.  Now, with that said...

1.  The best way of cleaning out the eyes is to not let the eyes get plugged up to begin with.  I use a heat gun to heat the jig head.  I wear a thin pliable glove to hold the hook over the gun.  Once heated, I transfer the hook to my right hand which is holding a pair of needle nose pliers.  Grab the hook by the eye and dip it quickly in a fluid bed of powder paint.  I then transfer the still hot jig head to a Pyrex cup filled with water and loop the bend over the cup.  By then I am picking up my next jig head for heating with my left hand.  This system works great for production work.
       
       If you use the needle nose pliers to hold your jig head for heating the plier tips will get hot and will get all gunked up with paint.

2.  Be careful how you arrange your jig heads for curing.  If you have too much paint on the head it could melt and run into your otherwise clear eye while it's in the toaster oven.  TJ's Tackle sells a nifty clamp that will hold 5-10 heads and allows you to position the head with the eyes up and out of the way of drips.

3.  Coat the eyes with Sally Hanson's "Hard As Nails".

Walaa!

[Muskygary]

Another thing I do (just to show difference) is I don't use a fluid bed. I found it takes to much time to change colors etc; I use a piece of bent wire in U shape to fluff the paint in the jar. I fluff before every jig that I dip and I get good results. I also use a small brush for "tap painting" over the jar. If I want the bottom or top to be a second color, I pour that powder paint on a paper plate so it's more open to use. when I'm done I put a crease in the plate and pour back into the jar.

[Kasilofchrisn]

TJ's jig racks are great and I do use them on my smaller non saltwater stuff. My saltwater stuff is mostly too big for the clamps.
As was said cleaning the eye before curing is another good option.
Fluid beds are easy and cheap to make and I have several of them. That way I can easily do white basecoats and then dip in the primary color and then in my UV blast all on one heat.
The fluid bed cups are also easy to make and I have one for each color. Put a cap on them and in my heated shop they seem to work just fine even after sitting for weeks/months in my shop.

[smalljaw]

One thing I forgot to address, the eyes, and here is my take. There are all kinds of 3D eyes, for me WTP are the best, they have an adhesive that will hold really well by itself but banged around rocks will need help. If you are using the WTP eyes, Sally Hansens Hard As Nails clear nail polish over top will seal and help keep the eyes on a little longer. If you are using a cheaper eye, you'll probably have to use a little super glue in the eye socket and then put the eye on and coat with Sally Hansens. If you really want the eys to stay on, and the color of your jig to really pop, you can brush a coat of Devcon 2-Ton Epoxy over the entire head and eyes, it will hold the eyes on until you lose the jig and it also helps protect the finish a little more and you can use it to glue your weed guards in and they will never come out. Every bit of advice you got is perfect, and as you can see, we all have our own way, and you too will find a way that works for you. What will happen is you will likely try a few different things and as you go, you'll find that over time, you'll develop a system that works for you, whether it is mine, or Denny's , Lamar's, Muskygary's, Kasilofchrisn, or a combination of all of our ways, you will end up with something that works for you. The best part is no matter what you get stuck on or need help with, there will always be someone here to answer your questions or help you with your problem, that is what is nice about this community here, a great bunch of guys that not only know there stuff but are more than happy to share that knowledge.

[efishnc]

We've all got methods on cleaning the eye of the hook that work for each of us; I've used several of the above, but I started using a micro-torch last year and that seems to be the slickest way I've found, especially with white powder paint as that tends to fill the eye more than any other.  Hitting the eye with my micro torch, or the edge of the flame from my regular torch (I've done both depending on convenience and volume), cleans the eye perfectly while leaving a nice thin coat on it, giving it a factory (not by human hands) finish.

[ctom]

This gizmo I have shown before and is slicker than slick for cleaning eyes. The jig shown is a 5/16 and I just popped the paint from the eye using this tool. I got a bunch of these while working a show in St.Cloud, MN a couple years back and now have one in every bait pail  I carry.

[Muskygary]

Love that tool:  www.lurepartsonline.com  Item: 6290   cost $9.99    It's a bargin!

[Fatman]

Interesting tool!!! I've got an old pair of needle nose and any that get clogged I just squeeze and pull back and it usually comes right off. 

[Denny Welch]

This gizmo I have shown before and is slicker than slick for cleaning eyes. The jig shown is a 5/16 and I just popped the paint from the eye using this tool. I got a bunch of these while working a show in St.Cloud, MN a couple years back and now have one in every bait pail  I carry.

Does that tool work on cured (baked) jig heads, Tom?

[ctom]

It will Denny, but the cured paint will chip beyond where you want it off as much as where you want to remove it.