Holy Smoke....Never, never, never cure your jig heads without clearing the holes first.:banghead:banghead
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Holy Smoke....Never, never, never cure your jig heads without clearing the holes first.:banghead:banghead
I heat mine by holding the jig HOOK AT THE BEND, between thumb and finger, then when the alcohol burner did its thing.....heating, then grabbing the eye with my needle nose pliars, covering the eye hole, then dipping in the powder.......never had to clean an eye.
Better watch out holding that hook with your hands! I hold it with hemostats with teeth and heat it. I know some guys hold the jig be the eye with their stats/pliers, but I do not as I don't care for cleaning the stays/pliers every few jigs and I find it more of a pain than just ot use wooden tooth picks like I do to clean the eye right after dipping in paint. I even cut the tooth picks thinner on the point end so it will go through the eye better. I keep a small jar full of tooth picks all different colors on the end from cleaning paint.
However I say to each his or her own!
I temper my jigs in a oven set a 300 degrees. I then dip the jigs into a powdered paint fluid bed. The jig are suspended by the bend on a hemostat. The eye paint is carefully removed with a flux brush with the brissels trimmed short. If the paint is too hard for removal with the brush I use a Exacto knife and small drill bit to remove the eye paint.
The jig are then baked at 315 degrees for 15 minutes.
Get you a piece of wire that will go through the eye, hold with pliers, heat and run it through painted eye.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crappieawlogist
If you can't wipe your eye completely clean with your fingers after you're first run through the bed then it was too hot in the first place.
I'm new to all this and haven't done it yet Skip, but was thinking just a few days ago that to use a toothpick like you mentioned might be a good way to do it. Guess I'll go buy a box of toothpicks and try it with the next batch.Quote:
Originally Posted by skiptomylu
Some hook eyes can get pretty small so I use a sharp knife and make the tooth picks thinner on the ends. I keep them in a small little bowl and use them over and over. You just clean the excess off with your thumb nail as you go along. It's really easy, just stick it through and then I will actually wipe the side of the eye on the tooth pick as well just to make sure I have enough off. Spending that little extra time saves a lot more after when I am tying, but if one still gets full of cured paint all I do is have a skinny bodkin that I heat up with a Bic lighter and stick it through and it melts the paint right out.Quote:
Originally Posted by dandeman