Jigs With Plastic

[yellowmattie]

I also fish at Weiss and have started making the plastic body jigs that are used at Weiss. It is a lot of work and not really worth it unless you like a hobby like this. Me and one of my fishing buddies had a mold made at a machine shop. It took about 3 tries and experimentation to get the mold right. It has 6 cavities for 1/16 and 6 for 1/32oz. Is machined out of aluminum and we have some serious expense in the mold. It works good but the plastic is a tightwire act to get just right. A little too little heat and is not liquid enough to flow in the small cavities of the mold. A little too much heat and either changed color or scorched plastic. Jigs also have to be tied a certain way or the body wants to slip. I will be glad to talk with you more about this but trust me when I tell you this is a major undertaking trying to make a quality jig this way. I make some for my personal use but is crazy to do for the cost of the jigs. These are going for about 8.00 a card (dozen) and until you have tried this trust me when I tell you this is a bargin. Earl Brink at Showdown Jigs make all of what is sold at JR's. He makes a quality jig and can be ordered off internet at showdownjigs.com. Hope this answers some of the questions you have about making these.

[crappieoccasionally]

can anyone tell me of the website to find the GPS locations of some of the brush piles on Lake DeGray in Arkansas? Thanks

[Fatman]

Way more expense than I want to go to.

fatman

[GrouseFly]

[QUOTE=Crappie Dave;701344]Grousefly, I would be making 1/32 and 1/16. I have an idea of how to make the mold. I will let you know how that adventure goes.[/QUOTE

Dave, good luck. The mold itself is pretty straight forward. A place for the head to set,then a slot for the hook to rest in. The cavity for the body and then another slot for the back of the hook to rest in. It is a little complicated but once you get the hang of it it's not to bad. The molds I have make around 30 at a time so it doesnt take very long to knock a 100 jigs in the head..lol. It's all the prep work that takes the time. Since I pour all my own heads and then I paint them,clear coat, add the tails, then pour the bodies, I could see why one might think they are alot of trouble. I went all the way to Ala. and spent the better part of the week to learn how to make them, but it was worth it in my eyes. And like yellowmattie said, you have to tie the feathers on a certain way or the bodies will slide. And the plastic has to be watched close so it won't scorch but there is always BLACK if it does...lol. I know the from experince..lol..you can hide anything with enough black...lol. It all just takes alot of T&E and ALOT of patience....Good Fishin'...GF

[yellowmattie]

Grousefly--How are you injecting your plastic into the mold? I use a thick, heavy guage plastic syringe that I buy at Tractor Supply for cattle injections. After some use with the hot plastic the syringe will crack or melt. I have tried a metal type syringe but cooled the plastic off to the point could not inject. The guy at Showdown jigs uses a Lee plastic pot that looks the same as their lead pots but designed for plastic. Thought about this but I only pour for myself and plastic has to be cleaned out of pot and pot cleaned between color changes. I heat in seperate teflon coated pans and just let plastic cool in pan and store pan and all. Could you please go over some of the details of what you heat plastic in and how you are getting it into the mold? Thanks