I was painting some jig heads with the Pro-Tec powder paints tonight and was thinking how much of a pain in the arse it is to get the paint out of the eyelit of the hook! I've been using a bobbin that I heat with my torch and push it through the eyelit to get the paint out each time. I'm hoping there is a better way to deal with this step?

On another note I've noticed that the powder coat will crack or chip very easy if I happen to adjust my depth to deep and the jig ticks the bottom a little. I've tried doing multiple coats with the same results. The Vinyl paints just seem like a PITA as well since you've got to apply a base coat, then the main color coat, and then a seal coat but perhaps the vinyl finishes are more durable than the powder coat? I know one solution to this would be to just switch to the old pin and bead style jigs but I just plain like a painted lead head jig.

Please let me know what you've done to get paint out of the eyelits or keep it out while powder painting and what steps you may have done for durability of the painted jig head.

Thank you,

Drew

I don't do my own but have got paint out of the eye with the point of a hook. Not fancy but works

Use needle nose pliers and hold the jig at the eye. The needle nose will cover the eye and they will be clean.

Are you baking them at 350 for 20mins? They don't chip very easy if you bake them. I tried fishing with some that were not baked and the paint chipped off way too easy.

I tried baking a batch by just hanging the hooks on the oven rack. At some point during the process the paint started to form droplets on the bottom of the jig heads and when I took them out they were no longer round because of the way the paint had ran. Maybe my oven is busted and the 350 setting is way higher? I'll have to double check the accuracy of my oven's thermometer with a known good oven thermometer to find where 350 actually is.

I think 350 is too much heat. Try using a heat gun for the initial paint application. Make sure you "fluff"the powder prior to dipping the hot metal. You want a thin dusting of powder. If it's too hot, the coating will boil, and leave air in the paint. I would try curing the coated heads at maybe 200-250'for a bit and see if that helps. Commercial dip pots have an air supply run through the powder to keep it from clumping and maintaining a thin coat. Good luck!

They were dripping because you had too much paint on them.

400* for 10 min. is what is called from by Pro Tech. This temp is needed to trigger the thermoset polymers in the paint to get a proper chemical change for max durability. Too low of a temp will not yield the same results...

LIGHT swish through the powder, DON'T double dunk to add more paint...

Use a toothpick to clean out the eyelets WHILE THE PAINT IS STILL WARM. Once it has hardened, even just a few minutes from dunk time, they are way way way harder to clean out.

Yeah, what twitch said.

Just tried this and it worked wonders. Now there is no longer a need to clean the hook eyes! Thank you for that.

Twitch. I will try the 400 degrees for 10 minutes on the next batch I do.

What Twitch said. I use a thin wire to poke out the eye. You'll get used to the timing after some practice. For the orange though I stick to vinyl's flame red. I think that color makes a difference.

Once you use vinyl paint, you'll never go back to powder coat.
You'll lose the jig before vinyl ever chips.

i have a similar problem. at 350 all the maraboo feathers burn.

you can buy a tool to clean the eyes out at sport co for $1.99... and i bake mine at 300 degrees for 10 to 12 min and never have had a problem with them chipping...

Here ya go........ On the left is Power paint and on the right is vinyl paint.......

One of these 13 jigs caught fish this morning.......hint, wasn't one of the chipped one.........



Try vinyl.....you'll put the power paint in the garbage.

Have a good day..................

Did you bake the powder painted ones and they still chipped like that?

The thing i like about the powder paint though is the ease in making your own custom colors. I had an orange and a pink that were just way too loud, I felt. I added a bit of white to each color and made a spectacular looking peach and a nice soft pink. Does anyone ever mix the vinyl paints to make your own colors?

Drew

I prefer vinyl over powder paint as well.

But when using powder paint, I like to heat the jigs to 250 degrees for 5 minutes in an older toaster oven designated for the job, to get a consistent jig head temperature, before adding the powder paint. Heating the jig to 250 degrees for 5 minutes, you'll get a light non melted powder paint coat. Be careful to not knock the non melted powder painted jig head around at this point though before baking, the powder paint comes off fairly easy at this point. Too hot of a jig head before adding the powder paint, you get way more melted powder paint on the jig head than is needed. Mount the jigs upright in a foil base before baking. The excess paint when baking will run down the hook shank, keeping the jig heads round shape.

SteelieDrew:

I don't do my own.....have 1 of the best Jig "do'ers" that takes care of me....... see the following web site.....

http://www.bradsjigs.com/

We actual bought supplies...molds, hooks, some tie materials way back in the early 90's.....Brad had tied fly's so the transfer of knowledge to jigs was a natural. It has been fun...and as someone who has fished every day, but 1, since June 4th.....I'm here to tell you that vinyl jigs outfishes power paint jigs.

Good luck with your hobby.....

Drew,
Yes you can mix viynl, but I've never found a need to. They have around 30 different colors. Just like the powder coat, local stores only carry a few colors. Buy it on line and you'll lots of options.
I buy mine from Barlows.
http://www.barlowstackle.com/-Vinyl-Fishing-Lure-Paint-Regular-Colors--P960C132.aspx
This will show you all the different powder and viynl colors.
http://www.csipaint.com/products/

I run them with lead heads no paint and seem to do just as well as painted.

When powder paint is properly applied and cured, it's just as durable as vinyl, if not more so. If your powder coated jigs are chipping easily, you're doing it wrong. It also doesn't subject you to toxic fumes and the drying time is not affected by humidity. I only use vinyl for painting eyes.

It's important to follow the curing instructions from the manufacturer. Different colors have different curing times and temperatures.

One you get the knack for how long to hold the jig over the heat source before dipping it in the power, you won't get drips.

& shake up the container a bit before dipping the jig. Makes the coat thinner.