Powder Paint (still) too thick...

I cleared off my PP bench and once again tried to PP some jig heads. As the last time I got the jigs painted and the PP is too thick. I am using a heat gun, heating the jigs about 5 seconds (I thought it was a bit to cool so I increased it a bit and the lead melted off the hook). I dip it in the fluid bed, swirl it around just a bit, and then hang it on the rack for my toaster oven. Half way through the 15 minute cycle I notice that most of the jigs have a drip in the bottom of the pan and others have a pointy nose. How do I get the PP to thinly coat the jigs?

Here is what I mean by "pointy nose".

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Do you cut your paint with a clear? I cut mine at a 50/50 mix. Also my head isn't in the paint but for a second or two. When I pull the head out it is smooth and shiny. I then dip the head in water to cool it. Now when painting with fiberguards I can't get the head as hot which results in the paint not adhering to head as well therefore I dip the head in the paint for a 3-4 second count to get as much powder built up onto the head as possible and then bake the paint on.

I do not mix my PP with clear but will try to find some to try that. I also only put the heated jig in the PP for a second or two swishing it around just a bit and then tapping my hemostat on the rim of the fluid bed to shake off any excess PP.

Clint, don't swish it around like they show in some of those videos. Heat and dip like nip said. Dosnt take but a second. Plus try pulling your jig back from the heat gun a little. Your going to get there just don't get discouraged.

A little clarification on cutting with clear 50/50. I empty a 2 oz color into a plastic container with a lid and then fill the empty color container with 2 oz of Pro-Tec clear. I pour it into the plastic container with the paint, put the lid on and then shake until mixed. Some use Rosey's 200 but I've never have. My jigs come out looking pretty schnazy.

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I dip mine in and out of powder as fast as I can,I don't swirl, never have any drips at the end of jig.

Yep I call that conehead. Your getting the jig too hot. Don't know what size that head is, but the smaller the head the less time you heat it. I take a 1/4 oz head and put it in the heat about a inch above the gun.I roll the head left and then right two times fairly quickly. Dip the head and tap the paint off the head. If the paint glosses over as soon as it hits the paint it's way too hot. Hope it helps.

I'll try some more in the morning using some of the hints and report back.

It basically means too much paint, either from over heating or dipping/swirling too long. Occasionally it happens with "heavy" paints like white or black, and then cutting with clear will help "lighten" it up.

Put a thermometer in your toaster oven. I like my paint thick and almost always double coat them


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Well I did a batch of 1/16th oz jigs - one set at 3 seconds in the heat with the heat gun on low - one set at 4 seconds and one set at 5 seconds. The 3 & 4 second jigs are not completely covered with PP and the 5 second jigs are but show some signs of dripping. Not nearly as bad as the one I posted above, but still with some slight pointy noses. All the jigs are usable, but certainly not as good as most I've seen. I will be taking a local up on his offer to watch him PP jigs later this week.

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Originally Posted by Micropterus salmoides

Put a thermometer in your toaster oven. I like my paint thick and almost always double coat them


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I have a thermometer in the oven. I run it at 350° for 15 minutes.

But I am curious how you double coat them. Heat - dip - heat again - dip again???

I have my gun on high and never have my oven this hot to bake my jigs.

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Originally Posted by DrNip

I have my gun on high and never have my oven this hot to bake my jigs.

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How hot do you run the oven?

I don't know about Nip but I set mine at 325 for 30 minutes. I run my gun on high, jig about 3-4 inches from end. 1/16 count of 5 and 1/8 to a count of 7. I do it in my garage so it sometimes depends on ambient temp I'm starting out at. Maybe a little longer or a little shorter. Most of the time cones or points are caused by cooking temps being to hot causing paint to go past melting point and starting to run.
You say you are cooking at 350 but have you used a oven thermometer to check actual temperature. Most toaster ovens are no where close to their thermostats setting.

The next batch I do I will increase the heat gun time just a bit and lower the temperature in the oven.

I bake mine at 220 for 20 minutes. I do it this low because I'm usually baking a fiberguard head or head with eyes and I don't want to melt them. Seems to do the trick.

Clint,

The main reason you are getting paint nipples..... The heat to which you are curing your jigs and the time to which you are doing it!!!!

Contrary to popular belief, the optimum tempurature and time to cure powder paint varies by color. CS solutions has a chart out there that extually explains the bake times per color. I own and operate a jig business and this is my busy season for walleye jigs. I paint and bake between 3000 to 5000 jigs per week right now. Vary rarely do I get a paint nipple on the jigs.

First, I DON'T use a gun to heat my jigs. Takes to much time away from production. I use my oven. I set my oven at 400 degrees. This IS too hot but the reason I do this is because I am opening and closing the door every 5 to 10 seconds. The actual operating tempurature is 360 degrees.

The common colors that paint nipple are: Chartreuse, pearl, purple, black, and bright green. Reason is that they are all made with the same primary pigment. Another reason for caked or excessive paint is where you get the paint. My previous supplier was very innacurate when it came to paint. The above colors would sometimes come with the viscosity of flour when it should be more like powdered sugar. You do NOT see paint nipples with colors such as pink, blaze orange, green chartreuse (to name a few). That paint is more granular in viscosity and less prone to caking.

I have never utilized any sort of cutting or clear with my paint. Some guys (even jig companies) utilize verticle holders to eliminate paint nipples. I take it because they just don't have a process in place that eliminates the issues at hand.

Are you using a fluid bed? If not, you may want to mix your cups more between dipping of the paint.

Because I am not necessarily baking all of one color at a time, I have found that the best overall tempurature to cure jigs (of all colors) is 300 degrees for 15 minutes. IF you get a paint nipple at this tempurature and time frame it will be because you are in fact getting too much paint on the jig.

Try changing your baking tempurature and cure time. I'll bet it will solve most of your issues.

I spent the morning with IFish and watched how he PPs. My difficulties were partially equipment and mostly technique. A couple of cups with better filter material for my fluid beds is in order to get a better fluidization of my PP. My time over the heat gun was OK, but my time in the fluid bed is now much shorter.

And in the same vein - how deep are most fluid bed cups? When I built mine I made them about 1-1/2" deep. I tried to figure out how deep the ones from TJ Tackle & Simply Crappie are and from the pictures they appear to be about 4" tall. If they are that tall, do they take the whole jar of PP?

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Originally Posted by Clint

I spent the morning with IFish and watched how he PPs. My difficulties were partially equipment and mostly technique. A couple of cups with better filter material for my fluid beds is in order to get a better fluidization of my PP. My time over the heat gun was OK, but my time in the fluid bed is now much shorter.

And in the same vein - how deep are most fluid bed cups? When I built mine I made them about 1-1/2" deep. I tried to figure out how deep the ones from TJ Tackle & Simply Crappie are and from the pictures they appear to be about 4" tall. If they are that tall, do they take the whole jar of PP?

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Clint mine are 2 3/4 in tall. I have simply crappie and TJ's and some I made. I use about a half bottle or less. Found that to work the best. To much and it will start blowing out the top as it rises. Get you a measuring spoon set and put a couple of tablespoons in, get it flowing then add to it until your comfortable with it.

Thanks Cray - I just ordered 2 cups from TJs rather trying to fix the ones I have.

I bake at around 258-275 for 10 minutes. I also preheat the oven for 10 minutes first because mine will spike up to and over 300! It also helps to have the rack full of heads as just a few tend to get to hot!


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