Powder Paint

[dayooper]

One other heating tip is to use a toaster oven. Hang all your unpainted jigs in the toaster oven and preheat them at about 375 for 10 to 15 minutes. Then reach in with a pair of hemostats and pull them out and dip them in the powder paint. By using the toaster oven to preheat them, you will get a good, consistant temperature and it will take all the guess work out of counting. After you dip them, simply hang them back into the oven. One tip on using toaster ovens is to use a oven thermometer to verify that the oven temp is what is says it is. My toaster oven has to be on 450 to get 350.

[Tracker12]

So for the guys using the oven method what is your preferred temp to before you start to take them out to dip.

[dayooper]

We set ours to 375 and let them preheat for about 10 minutes. When you take them out and dip them, the paint should gloss over to a smooth finish. If the paint still looks powdery, let them preheat a little longer.

[no1son]

+1 About the toaster oven and the oven thermometer to manage it.

For the naturally cleanest eyes shoot for the lowest temp that will grab the powder and close the oven door between individual jigs to keep the internal temperature as constant as possible.

That gives the thinnest coat and often does not even paint the hook eyes. If the powder falls off when you tap the jig when you take it out of the powder you need to kick up the temp a bit. And then simply reheat that particular jig and redo it. I do not worry about getting a full melt on the powder just to get a full stick. The curing process will do the melting and provide the hard final finish without drips or noses on the jig head and most eyes won't even need to be cleaned out. Make sure you clean any filled eyes before the cure step though; it will be a lot easier then. The much softer uncured coating can be easily opened with just a piece of wire, and then the cure will round out the coating so there are no sharp edges in the hook eyes to worry about cutting the line. I use a needle nose pliers and move the preheated set of jigs to the front of the oven; so reaching in and getting them out is simple and then I only use one grip, taking the jig right into the powder. I have to close the door between jigs but that then I have two hands to work with too.

That minimum temperature will vary some from color to color, which is where you log book comes in; so you don't have to go through trial and error every time. I only paint black, which is all I use; so that part is a bit simpler for me. I just get into a swing and the rhythm takes me through the quantities I need pretty quickly. Just like any other job you pick up the right rhythm and the first step goes pretty quickly. You can then cure quite a number all at the same time. At least I can with black. I use a very thin threaded rod to hang the jigs on both for heating, for hanging after dipping and then for the cure, too. The rack I use is just a bent wire coat hanger.

[sticksteer]

I find that the red hooks dont clog up with paint, might just be me. I use a heat gun on mine.

[Tracker12]

What works really well is a staple. I take a staple and bend in in a L. One long lenght and the short lenght. Run the long lenght all the way thru till it hits the L. The reach around and pul it thru. Perfect hole and the paint stays on the staple. Just pick the paint off and get the next one going.