I Have Seen The Light !!!

I have another thread on here about making painting too complex. Your responses have been thought provoking and useful. In the last two days I have become a new customer of TJ Tackle.....so you know where this is going. I have read everything here I could on the subject, looked at every video, and after much thought decided to order a fluid bed system from TJ Tackle. There are so many glowing reports on Crappie.com about this company and their products. I can attest that I am quite happy with the decision I made and my interactions with Benjamin at TJ Tackle. I think what finally got through to me was the consistently good looking jigs I saw that had been powder painted, and that is not to disparage others painted by other methods. Jigs from Litewire, fluid bed and cups from TJ Tackle, info from my fellow Crappie.com'ers caused me to finally see the light!!! Thanks !!!
PS: I passed by a really big boat dealership near me and they had NO boats for sale !! Nothing, nada, ziltch. Every pontoon, every fishing boat and every one of those other watercraft we cuss were sold. Couple that with no football this fall (probably), and I will be painting a lot of jigs and fishing at the butt crack of dawn, or dark thirty.
Y'all stay safe and enjoy your families, friends and fishing !!!

They are good and probably the best place for a fluid bed for sure. The home made versions I tried a couple of them and just didn't like their effectiveness compared to the bought one from TJ's.

I would probably get my Clear Powder Pint from Rosey's Powder Coatings by the pound! Oh and know the only Chartreuse you can get comes f rom Pro-Tec so TJ's is that place.

Skip

I like TJs, he has colors others don't always have.



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You will not be disappointed, great choice.

I’ve been giving thought to trying powder painting jigs just for ease and speed. Currently using fingernail polish and it’s fine but doesn’t do well when in a hurry.

I got everything in the last two days and this afternoon hooked it up and painted 18 jigs. For the most part they turned out okay. Few errors here and there, but nothing I can no improve upon. In order to prevent big puffs of powder, which look like a steam vent hole in Yellowstone, I need to play with the powder and air. Actually I should have done that before I took any jigs out, but that will come with practice. What is a good deep red color in Protec? I got some Flame Red, but it looks orange, however I have not used it. Looks like I made the right decision, as I work down at my barn/shed and it's raining this weekend. Nail polish would not be dry in days, but the powder doesn't have that problem, as long as it is stored correctly.

Red is a hard one. About the only deep red I found in powder is from a automotive place here in town. My friends here all use vinyl reds and greens but I cant stand working with that smell. Vinyl colors do show well though.

Oh and if you want it dark do not white base it. Red is a big changer with white.

For Red I mostly use Flame Red and seems to work well and has been used for many years now. Take the Roadrunners, that Flame Red/Kelly Green/FL Yellow marabou tail has been around at least when I started use them in the late 1970's. I have a few other Reds that also work just fine, but I bought from at least 4 different companies. I even have several Candy Colors in Red that are nice!

I know a guy that paints using Vinyl and it's for sure tougher than Powder paint and he does it with a brush. You need patience for the drying time though and it take 3 coats, white base coat, main color and a Clear Top coat for the shine. Yes Powder is faster, but that's about all, oh and they don't really have a great Silver/Chrome in Vinyl.

Yes Dave get away from the fingernail polish!

Oh and make sure to never put fingernail clear over either of the two Chartreuse shades (FL Green & FL Yellow).

Skip

Yes it is true what skip said, good feedback there and don't waste money on the chrome with powder coat on tiny jigs as chrome want lots of heat. There is a trick to it and can be done but more work than its worth. I too use the flame red 90% of the time. But I tend to feed fish what I have.

I set up my one fluid bed base and filled seven cups with paint. After a few Mt. St. Helens events, I settled down and in about 2 hours painted 61 jigs and cleaned the eyes out. I started using the technique i saw on a video ( Skip, I think it was yours) of holding the jig so that the hemostat keeps the eye clean. I was messy and had trouble placing the jigs on the rack without touching one another. I had a ball doing this and love the colors I got, except for that flame red, which looks like blaze orange to me. I can see the need for another base and another few cups. Dave, I don't think you'll miss the polish too much if you switch. Actually, any technique that works well in your hands is hard to replace. Over the years I have seen many medical providers use an assortment of approaches to a certain task. But the end result was the same; only the way of getting the desired result varied. In other words, polish in the hands of some is better than powder/vinyl paint in those same hands, or others.

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Originally Posted by USMA65

I have another thread on here about making painting too complex. Your responses have been thought provoking and useful. In the last two days I have become a new customer of TJ Tackle.....so you know where this is going. I have read everything here I could on the subject, looked at every video, and after much thought decided to order a fluid bed system from TJ Tackle. There are so many glowing reports on Crappie.com about this company and their products. I can attest that I am quite happy with the decision I made and my interactions with Benjamin at TJ Tackle. I think what finally got through to me was the consistently good looking jigs I saw that had been powder painted, and that is not to disparage others painted by other methods. Jigs from Litewire, fluid bed and cups from TJ Tackle, info from my fellow Crappie.com'ers caused me to finally see the light!!! Thanks !!!
PS: I passed by a really big boat dealership near me and they had NO boats for sale !! Nothing, nada, ziltch. Every pontoon, every fishing boat and every one of those other watercraft we cuss were sold. Couple that with no football this fall (probably), and I will be painting a lot of jigs and fishing at the butt crack of dawn, or dark thirty.
Y'all stay safe and enjoy your families, friends and fishing !!!

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i look forward to seeing your work, if they are like your Black Knight jig I think your on the right track (IMHO).

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Originally Posted by USMA65

I set up my one fluid bed base and filled seven cups with paint. After a few Mt. St. Helens events, I settled down and in about 2 hours painted 61 jigs and cleaned the eyes out. I started using the technique i saw on a video ( Skip, I think it was yours) of holding the jig so that the hemostat keeps the eye clean. I was messy and had trouble placing the jigs on the rack without touching one another. I had a ball doing this and love the colors I got, except for that flame red, which looks like blaze orange to me. I can see the need for another base and another few cups. Dave, I don't think you'll miss the polish too much if you switch. Actually, any technique that works well in your hands is hard to replace. Over the years I have seen many medical providers use an assortment of approaches to a certain task. But the end result was the same; only the way of getting the desired result varied. In other words, polish in the hands of some is better than powder/vinyl paint in those same hands, or others.

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No not my clip as I don't hold the eye with my stats, I let it paint and use a sharpened wood toothpick to clear paint out of the eye before I hang it after dipping it. I just never liked all the mess on my stats so refuse to do that, lol!

Skip

Yes, I use two fluid beds. More cost up front but it helps. One stays white most of the time. I paint the eye and clean it before baking, trust me baking jigs with paint in the eye will cause you much heart ache.

Well I bought a cheap toaster oven and an alcohol burner. Have a 1 oz powder paint to try. Guess I need to now check into more paint and fluid beds although I’m gonna try without first. Small baby steps but I’m gonna do or at least try some powder painting. When have available funds will get more colors.

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Well I bought a cheap toaster oven and an alcohol burner. Have a 1 oz powder paint to try. Guess I need to now check into more paint and fluid beds although I’m gonna try without first. Small baby steps but I’m gonna do or at least try some powder painting. When have available funds will get more colors.

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Similar to how I started out.

You'll love powder coating your jigheads.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Well I bought a cheap toaster oven and an alcohol burner. Have a 1 oz powder paint to try. Guess I need to now check into more paint and fluid beds although I’m gonna try without first. Small baby steps but I’m gonna do or at least try some powder painting. When have available funds will get more colors.

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You'll miss the acetone high from the nail polish.

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Originally Posted by GrumpyLoomis

Red is a hard one. About the only deep red I found in powder is from a automotive place here in town. My friends here all use vinyl reds and greens but I cant stand working with that smell. Vinyl colors do show well though.

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I have come up with a deep bright red color that I have been very happy with. I use candy red over fluorescent yellow powder paint.

Dave, when using powder paint without a fluid bed, make sure to shake the container well. Also make sure the cap is tight before shaking...no need to ask how I know this...
I made my fluid bed with a fish tank aerator, some tubing, air control valves, and some pvc fittings. Lots of videos on YouTube on the subject and not hard to make or expensive...

So far I have kept a stirrer nearby and keep it stirred when painting. Seems to work but I think the cheap harbor freight paint isn't the best for this application. Gonna try a couple different colors soon. Just wanted to see if I was going to like powder painting before I invested in making fluid beds.

I stir my paint once in a while even with my fluid beds. Heavy pigment powder is harder to fluidize than light colors.

Well I can tell you that I made the move and have not regretted doing so. It is a much easier and more durable technique.