powder paint and clean eyes?

[robbor]

What are you guys tips for powder painting and having really clean eyes?
Also once you have paint in the eye what is the recomended method for removing before curing. I did my first batch today. Less than stellar, lol. I used a fluidbed and the coverage was good unlike just dipping them in paint without the fluidbed. Also do you dip you jigs in water or your pliers/forcepts to cool them and keep the paint off them?

[pondhopper]

To my knowledge there is no completely efficient way to do it. But I would suggest hemostats clamped over the eye. After a few jigs you will need to clean the hemostats I just stick them to a wire wheel on my grinder.

[skeetbum]

I hold the hook by the bend and count to 3 on one side, flip it and count to 2 or 3 on the other side. Then I grab the eye of the hook with a pair of small, bent nose needle nose pliers and go for the paint. Pliers stay cool, no need to clean, and the eye gets no paint. I use a Wagner heat gun, on low power, I bought at Lowes for about $20.

[Slabo]

This may help you with your jig painting, this is the way that I have done it for years and it has worked well for me.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/jig-t...ting-jigs.html

[smoothlures]

All ya have to do is once you dip, hold the eye over your heat source and if there's enough excess it'll fill up, then push your bodkin through and clean it out. Set it on your rack and do the next one. You don't need to dip in water, just don't let them touch for ~10-15 seconds til they set. My forceps haven't ever gotten too hot to hold.

[JSC]

Before U bake them ... the eyes are easy to clean if need be ... takes about 4 motions with a good sharp pointed knife .. insert (in eye) .. twist .. turn over and do the same .... after they are baked can really be a major job.

JSC

[skeetbum]

I use a heated bodkin once they're cured, or store bought.

[snake River]

This may help you with your jig painting, this is the way that I have done it for years and it has worked well for me.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/jig-t...ting-jigs.html

I just picked up a couple purview of those surgical clamps scissor type whatever you call them and I never thought about using them in the way you did but they will definitely work real good issue can claim them right on and they cannot come off until you release thanks. Alwyn, by the way I see quite a few of them in different swap meets, where they have a lot of vendors.

[Bronson]

Guys, I hope you will excuse the length of this one. I try to keep notes how I do something and change them as I learn something new. Hope someone can find something they can use. Most of what I have learned has come from the good people on the website and it definitely has been a big help.

Powder Painting Jigs
Equipment
Heat gun or propane torch (I use a heat gun from Lowe’s that will go up to 1,000 degrees)
One pair of needle-nosed pliers or hemostats to hold the big of the hook
One pair of hemostats that are curved on the end (long thin locking pliers)
1 container powder paint
1 bigger plastic container (what I use to put some powder paint in to shake so it will be light and fluffy
-this helps you get a thinner more consistent coat on your jighead)
1 wire rack –long straight bars are preferable
1 toaster oven –to be used only for jigs (can use heat gun if you are only going to do a few)
(use in a well ventilated area because of fumes)
Procedure
Pour some powder paint in a plastic container, close the lid and then shake till it becomes light and fluffy. (do not let the powder paint become packed as you will waste a lot and it could become lumpy)
Take the needle-nosed pliers, grab the bottom of the hook and hold the jig head a couple of inches over the heat for about 4 seconds on each side (total =8).
Take the curved hemostats and grab the jig eye making sure the eye is completely covered. This prevents powder paint from getting into eye.
Quickly, swish the jighead briefly thru the powder paint. Tap jig on side of bowl to remove excess powder paint. Remember, less is more when using powder paint. A thin layer is all you need and it will adhere quickly to a hot jighead. (usually it will start to turn the color you want in the first 4-5 seconds)
If eye should get some powder paint, now is the best time to clean it. You can heat a paper clip, bodkin or small wire and run it thru the eye until clear. (because the powder paint hasn’t been heated (cured) the hot wire will melt any excess off the jighead eye.
Option 1 –remove to a rack or bowl or somewhere where it can hang and cool. The jighead does not need to touch anything yet as it is easily scarred. When you have enough you can put them on a rack inside a toaster oven at 325 degrees or so for about 30 minutes.
Option 2 –as soon as you tap off excess powder paint, you can return it to the heat gun to cure right then. This takes about the same amount of time as it did to heat the jighead.
To put on Eyes
I buy small cans of paint from Lowes (usually red & black)
Use the flat side on the bottom of drill bits, dip in paint and press against side of jigs
Outside of eye can be yellow, red, white, silver, etc. and needs to cure for 24 hours before adding pupil.
The inside (pupil) should be painted black and is about ½ the size of the outside dot. Let cure 24 hours.
Seal coat
*There is no need for a seal coat if you don’t add painted eyes to a powder coated jigs.
*Many crappie fisherman will tell you they catch as many crappie off jigs without eyes as they do with eyes.
Those of us who use them know this but just like the way they look. It gives us a little added confidence.
If you use seal coat, each jig will need to be hung after coating for about 30 seconds. I normally do 4-5 jigs at a time and then swipe the seal coat off that collects on the nose with a paint brush. I then put them on a rack and let them hang for at least 24 hours.
Epoxy
This is my preferred method as jigs are supposed to look like new 20+ years later.
I usually mix in a baby food container (small rectangular plastic bins about 1 ½” wide and 2” or so long)
I dip these one at a time in a 2 part epoxy (50/50) that has been mixed together. I hold the jig by the bend of the hook and lower it till epoxy covers all of the lead on the jig and epoxy comes together under the eye of the hook. I remove it and hang it on the side of a rack allowing the excess to drip to the nose.
After 4-5 jigs I take a small piece of thin cardboard that has been previously cut into strips about 1” wide and 3” long and touch the bottom of each jig to absorb any extra epoxy hanging on the nose. I then place in a rack spacing them ½” apart. I let these cure for 24 hours.
When jigs have cured I put them in tackle boxes with Zerust (a rust inhibitor) and store in a warm, dry place. Otherwise, you risk wire hooks rusting with the possibility of losing the whole box of jigs.
It is not recommended to put jigs in water after heating. Do It Co. told me this makes them brittle and susceptible to breaking. Once jigs are taken out of toaster oven, they will be cool to the touch in a matter of minutes.
I do not recommend using kitchen oven during crappie spawn because this could result in loss of fishing time due to injury. (courtesy of the wife)
Much of the information gathered here was learned on Crappie.com.

[skeetbum]

Thanks for that Bronson. I wondered how the seal coat was put on after the eyes without messing things up. Most of the rest is how I do it now, but I'm always learning something. I'm guessing that you don't use quickset epoxy as the cure time would be very fast, so I'll go with the thought that it's regular set time epoxy. Thanks again.