What are you using to heat your jig heads prior to powder dipping?

[Wood_Duck]

I tried using a propane torch for about 2.5 seconds and dipping but it seems to be picking up too much powder. when baking in the oven it does become good and hard but it tends to run down to a point. Also what do you guys do to keep from getting the eye of the hook covered? Is the propane heating it too much you think where I should just use a regular open flame like a candle?

[radtexan]

Candle will leave soot and change your paint color...I prefer an alcohol burner,but do well with a heat gun.

[yellowjacket]

heat gun

[lcookie]

sterno

[skeetbum]

$20 wagner heat gun from lowes. works well but it is a glorified blow dryer, A bit noisy but not too bad on the lower setting.

[yellowjacket]

wat is sterno?

[skiptomylu]

Alcohol Burner. Yes your getting them too hot or leaving them in the paint too long. I use a wood tooth pick I sharpen to clean the paint out of the eye as soon as I take it out. I first pass it through the flame again to make sure the powder is all melted and that is has enough paint, then the tooth pick I stick through the eye and then wipe the sides of the eye on the side of the tooth pic and usually that keeps it open enough. If not open after the oven cure I take care of it at tying time. I do that with a thin bodkin that I heat up and it will melt the paint right back open. I clean it after that with my thumb nail usually.

I hate listening to a heat gun half the day so refuse to use one.

Skip

[Bronson]

Here is a summary of some of the notes I've taken off this site and a couple of ideas that have worked for me. Hope you can find something to give you some help.

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 curve of the hook
One pair of hemostats that are curved on the end (long thin locking pliers) to grab and cover the eye of the hook.

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 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.

Most of the information gathered here was learned from the great people on this website.

[Bronson]

Guys, sorry about that last one. Too long winded. Just copied and pasted some old notes I had made.

[Redman]

Bronson Great notes and thank you for keeping them. Copied and pasted them in word Doc and put them in my fishing folder on the computer. A good tutorial for some one new to powder painting. Think you covered all the bases with that post. About the only thing that I do different is that Mine spend less time in the oven for curing. At the rate I lose jigs here to the river gods I don't think that I will ever have a jig that is 20 years old.

Redman