Tungsten panfish jigs

[2XL]

I tried to powder paint 6 jigs the other day and had three of them fail with one heated head separate from the hook and falling into an open jar of powder paint. What are the odds. LOL  I ended up dumping the paint out on a piece of paper to retrieve the head. I think this pretty much ends my powder painting those little tungsten heads experiment.

Mark, I'm in south central WI and there was 12-14' of ice on the lake I have been fishing. I am unsure if I will make it out again this winter. I'm sure the ice is still good for foot and ATV travel but it's covered in 5+ inches of snow making it impossible to see where the old holes are. I don't need to step in one and break a leg at this stage of the game. I don't know where you are located but no way would I be driving a car or truck on any of the lakes around here.

[Kasilofchrisn]

I tried to powder paint 6 jigs the other day and had three of them fail with one heated head separate from the hook and falling into an open jar of powder paint. What are the odds. LOL  I ended up dumping the paint out on a piece of paper to retrieve the head. I think this pretty much ends my powder painting those little tungsten heads experiment.

You need an adjustable heat gun.
Then adjust your heat to just under the melting point of the solder.
You'll never melt another one doing it that way.
It works well for me doing teardrops etc.

[2XL]

Thanks for the tip. I have a heat gun but never got used to heating jigs with it. I guess I've been using a torch for so long now it must be one of those old dog new trick deals. LOL

My heat gun has variable temp ranges but not a "select a specific temp" and go type gun if that's what you mean by variable. Do you happen to know the minimum temp that it takes to get the powder paint to adhere to a jig ? Reason I ask is one of the failed jigs I had came apart while i was baking them at 350 degrees. That seemed like a pretty low temp to me.  I'm used to painting 1/8 to 3/4 oz jigs which are more forgiving heat wise so painting these little jigs is new to me.

I would really like to stick with powder paint but at my current fail rate it's not worth it to me $ wise.

[perch]

great looking jigs nice paint job to   look like fish catching machines to me