cadman

Dylan, #1 I pour in the garage, in the middle of winter and there are no windows there. The fumes are not hazardous from melting lead. In order for the fumes to be hazardous, the lead has to be boiling and vaporizing. This will never happen with a hot pot or Lee IV pot as they will never get that hot for it to happen. #2. The zip ties are fine as the fish don't care. If you are going to sell your jigs it is rather unsightly but for your own use it's fine. #3 If you don't put on too much paint you shouldn't have a problem with your eyes closing. I normally just take a drill bit and push the paint through when the jig and paint are hot. As far as curing goes, I cure my jigs at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Guys, Finally someone is selling these at a reasonable price now without us tackle makers getting ripped off. The spring clips are made in two wire diameters .020 and .024. These look similar to the spring clips used for all of the Do-It shakey molds. The Hitch Hiker Screw locks have the center post in them, which can be cut off to be used as a Hitch Hiker. These come in small and large. So who has these....................Shorty's Hooks and Captain Hooks. Shorty's sells these in 100 and 1000 count quantities. Captain Hooks sells them in 25, 50 and 100 count quantities. The price for any and all of these is far cheaper than anything on the web. 1000 quantities of the Spring Clips are priced at almost half of what you would pay on line. They are all stainless Steel, and the standard wire diameter which go in the Do-It mold is(.024 -.025), which is what the spring clips are. With that said I have some ordered and I will be getting them shortly. Once I get them I will try to see if they fit the Do-It molds and give you guys feedback. So give me about 3 or 4 days, and I should have them and give you all the info you need. If you want more info, feel free to PM me.

Very nice work indeed. I also use the clear weedguard when I use bright colors especially the sexy shad. I think a clear weedguard makes the jig.

There are many ways to do this. I definitley would not use a candle. Reason being is the black soot from the candle coats the jig and keeps you from getting a good clean surface for the paint to stick. I use a heat gun to heat the jig, a toaster oven to cure the jigs, a fluid bed for one color and base applications and the rest all multicolor. If you want more info, PM me your e-mail and I will send you some tutorials.

Very nicely done. I have always liked your work it is so clean. Good job.

Pete, This will definitely improve your pouring as well as the number of good pours. When you try this out let us know how it goes.

BigBassin, I have some Gami's 28-30 degree hooks I had custom made about 2 years ago for a production run. Let me know what size Poison Tail you are loooking at. It is a Gami wide gap, round bend 4/0 hook. It will fit the 3/8 oz P.T with only eyelet modification. On the 1/2 oz and up size it will fit each cavity no problem with no cavity modification. If you're interested PM me. I can send you a sample to check out.

I use the same stuff as jigman does. You can also use the tyvek envelopes (free) from the Post office, and old allergy free pillow cases. One thing on powder paints is that not all powder colors will work in one fluid bed media. What works for white may not work for black. So mark it down on the cup what colors work with what and make several cups. You can also buy your media from CSI.

You will get a lot of answers here, depends on whether you want to wire tie or tie with thread. I tie with thread and use Coats and Clarks upholstery thread in black, brown, white and beige. You will never ever break it. For colored thread I use big fly U+W thread. I seal with Sally Hansen's clear nail polish.

If you're looking for fluid bed plans PM me and I can e-mail them to you and you can build it yourself, or if you're not handy I can send you a link on where to get a really good one for a fair price. As far as painting goes, I recommend you do not leave the pins in for baking it will adhere to the pins and you will not get a clean even surface around the hole. If you want more info on this I can e-mail you that as well.

OK guys here is the scoop on this. I have been pouring for about 8 years and have just recently within the last 2 years heard about this stuff. I am very sceptical when it comes to trying new things, especially when I don't know anyone else using it or commenting on it. So this one day I was having problems pouring this one mold and it was really teeing me off. So I thought I would finally try this stuff that was recommended by another guy on another forum. The stuff is called "Drop Out" by Frankford Arsenal. To make a long story short, I tried it and I wish I had used this many years ago. It would have saved a many bad hot summer days pouring. Honestly this stuff works guys. What it is, is a spray that you spray in the cavity or cavities of any mold on both halves. Clean your cavities with mineral spirits or lacquer thinner. Let it dry and then shake the can of mold release and then spray it in the mold cavities. All you want to do is make sure you get a good even coating. The mold release after it is sprayed on is a flat gray color. Wait 5 minutes to dry and pour away. It is really like putting an egg on teflon. As you pour, you will see the lead flow freely into the mold. One application will last for about 400-500 pours or until you see the silver of the aluminum mold start to shine through. Then it's time to apply again. I have had a can of this for 1-1/2 years and I pour every week. A little goes a long way so don't spray on the whole can. You can buy this at Barlow's, Do-It or many other places. I buy mine at Zeiner's because their molds are always cheaper than the other places. You have to call to get the deal usually. See attached pic of the spray. If you have anymore questions about this you can PM me and I will help you out. Finally for all of those that asked about my special custom colored jigs I used this year, I will post them here on this forum so watch for them. Some truly new colors that literally kicked some bass butt.

Bluebasser and Siebert Outdoors, I am so sorry I didn't reply to the mold release. I didn't see the replies to this post I have been out fishing a lot of tournaments with my (3) new colored jigs which are killing the bass here. I will post later tonight with the info I promise.

Other than the things mentioned above, you can try force injecting the lead, and try cracking the mold with a business card. Many times this will help. If you want really goood pours, use mold release it is like putting eggs on teflon, the lead just flows out. It is 100 times better than smoking a mold without all the mess. Smoking a mold leaves oil residue and I've yet to have any success with it, however some have as mentioned above. Also always keep a full pot of lead, as the weight forces better flow.

What mold (model number and manufacturer) do you have? Then I can tell you what hooks will fit in there. I use both a 60 degree and a 28 degree. Depends on what my mold calls for and what jig I like to throw at that time.

Jim I have never seen that type of rattle system. It looks like it was custom made for them. However a cool idea nonetheless.

Here is a reference as to wire ga versus diameter; I only posted for the common sizes I would use. Anything thinner or thicker will either break or will be hard to wrap. Although copper wire is more forgiving. Keep in mind that there are different hardness in copper wire as well. But like said above, motor windings and craft store copper wire is usually soft and can be wrapped on your jig/skirt easily. The below numbers are your AWG (Averge Wire Gage) standards and can vary slightly. 22 Ga. = .0286 23 Ga. = .0258 24 Ga. = .023 25 Ga. = .0204 26 Ga. = .0181

Cliff, Do not use stainless steel welding wire. You will not be able to bend tight wraps with it and you will definitely not be able to twist it. Stainless steel wire is very hard to work with and the welding wire is worse. The (.035) is the diameter or thickness of the wire and that is way too thinck to use even if you could use it. You should be somewhere in the .022-.024 wire ga. thickness and definitely copper, because copper wire is soft and easy to work with. Just my opinion.

I use thread as well fl,y tying thread and Coats and Clark upholstery thread. I tie for the same reasons everyone else does. As I can't speak for copper wire, but if you tie with thred, and tie it correctly, your skirt will bulge at the head giving it a fuller look and make it flare more. JMO

I heat my jigs with a heat gun first and then dip them in powder paint. Once I'm done with all of them, the rack(s) go in the oven. I bake @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I know about regular lead, what is spiral lead? Can anyone shed some light on this?

fishingskirts.com also the biggest selection at good prices

Yes, very nice looking jigs, excellent photography work as well. Are you a photographer? If so would you like to hand out some tips on photographing jigs? I would like to update my pics in my catalog. If you would prefer to do this off line I would be interested either way.

Wow, very nice. I like the 4th from the top the best.

Lynyrdsky1 I'm not looking for free tackle, but if you want I have a list of things to get started in pouring jigs and roughly a starting cost. If you would like the list PM me your e-mail and I will get it out to you. I also have some tutorials I can give you as well.

Bill, When I started pouring jigs I never hand tied and only used rubber collars. Back then the Snootie jig was one of the first molds I bought. I never had a skirt slide down the collar. I assume you are questioning the ball end collar on the jig. Now I currently hand tie all of my jigs and I still don't have a problem with the skirt on that jig. I will agree with you that the ball end collars are not as good as the barb, ring and barb or holder collars, however I have never had any issuse wih them. I too like the hidden weight heads as well.