Thread: Painting Jig Heads

I do not believe this to be the easiest or least time consuming way, but does anyone dip with artist acrylics and then clear coat with water-based polyurethane?

Makes for an attractive lead head. Even a satin clear coat supplies a beautiful glossy shimmer. Acrylics are also good for forming eyes before the final clear coat. Bake in a toaster oven for the proper time and the jig head looks really good and toughens well.

Acceptable durability? Seems tough to me. I conducted a hammer test on a few versus some powder-coated heads. Several swats on each group resulted in similar results (i.e. chipped heads). When floated beneath a float as opposed to pounding rocky banks, why not?

I'd like to think that I paint jigs similarly to Lonnie Stanley. A commercial jig maker that I like to keep tabs on.

This does require a little bit of time. But, if you happen to have it, hey, try it out.

Hey Pup

Welcome from So Cal.

Very interesting paint method. Have a few ?s - Does the artist acrylics evaporate, do you have to have a specific thinner?

How high is your cure temp? Is there a lot of odor, vapors?

Hope to see some of your jigs posted up..

I use fingernail polish ( tough as nails ) sally hansens. powder paint, testers enamel and also tamiya acrylic. they all have their place. paint eyes with testers enamel. touch up paint? gonna have to try that one too!

Originally Posted by LedHed

Hey Pup

Welcome from So Cal.

Very interesting paint method. Have a few ?s - Does the artist acrylics evaporate, do you have to have a specific thinner?

How high is your cure temp? Is there a lot of odor, vapors?

Hope to see some of your jigs posted up..

LedHed,

I meant to thank you for your invitation. This is a really nice site indeed. Lots of neat stuff to learn and look at here.

Does the artist acrylics evaporate, do you have to have a specific thinner?

Not when I keep them capped tightly. I haven't tried to thin any yet. It seems to me that the higher-priced acrylics are thicker. Good question. Fortunately, they are very cheap ($0.50 - $1.20) and can be mixed together to create different colors. My first mixing experiment resulted in a milktreuse color.

How high is your cure temp? Is there a lot of odor, vapors?

Approximately 200 degrees F. No apparent odor or vapor. However, I bake them within a toaster oven located outside of my home in an unattached garage.

What kind of powder paint do you use? Also does the UV kind work well? Thank you!

I use Pro tec powder paint because I have found it to be the best. I use heat gun to heat up the heads then just dip and shake. There is no need to bake if you fish wood or brush piles. You do need to bake if you fish rocks are dock shoot. The bake finish makes them super durable if that's what you need. I found it is by far the best way to paint jig heads. Your mileage may vary.

Powder paint, fluid bed and heat gun here. I use 1/16 oz heat shrink to protect jig eye. 100’ roll $7 shipped on ebay.

Lotsa real good ideas...For years before powder paint I was a die-in-the wool vinyl lure and jig finish guy and made some drying racks for the vinyl.Still use them when cooling powder painted cured jigs.Protecting eyelets and crane swivels (harder to deal with paint) on road runners from heat I use 1/4 stainless tubing about 6' long.Use about 8 of them and rotate to let cool between uses.I also buy round toothpicks and use them once per end for each eyelet whenever I need to clean out some unwanted paint.I also bought a heat gun from true value that sets on it's own base.
Got tired of changing cups for colors of powder paint -bought a bunch of cups for the fluid beds.Use a 2" and a 3" fluid bed but much prefer the 3"for better air control.
There is a lot of ways to skin a cat.
Just a few more ideas/suggestions.