cadman

Yes, I just bought a 3d printer, and I am currently making parts for my boat. I will be making my own crankbaits as soon as I have some time to design them. I use Solidworks for modeling, then make my STL files, then Cura as a slicer for my 3d printer. It is a great feeling to make your own parts, however very time consuming, but satisfying.

Hi Mike, I see you decided to pour some of your own jigs. Congrats. I see smalljaw67 pretty much answered your question. The only thing I would add is a different mold that might help you use all three sizes for your chatterbait. Try the Do-It SPJ-3-ATK Pro Swim Jig Mold. You don't have to use the Trokar hooks if you don't want to, other sizes will fit. Since it is similar in profile to the Snootie jig, it works well. Also it has a flat eye, so one split ring will work really well to connect the blade to the head.

I buy a lot of powder paint, and I find Gatorade bottles with original lid (washed out of course) to be the best container for powder paint. If kept tightly closed, It will last for years.

I live in Lake County as well, a lot of open water in the middle shore ice too thin to walk and definitely can't launch a boat. Come On Spring.

Wow, there are a lot of good lakes in S.E Wisconsin. I pretty much fish them all. Geneva, Delavan, Browns Nagawicka, Powers, Como, Beulah, Elizabeth. Just to name a few. I assume for bass fishing.

I totally agree with you. Maybe other models of Revos have had this issue. But I have never had any issues with the MGX even the used ones I bought. Finally, you are correct, on the drag issue, don't put grease on the drag and you will have a good strong drag.

I have all ABU reels and don't have an issue with any of them I have (7) MGX's and 3 MGXtremes. Nothing wrong with the reels. Lightweight and can cast very light lures. I will tell you that they were all over greased when I bought them, along with over greased bearings. First thing to do is get rid of all of that grease if it is new. Second thing to do is polish your brake plate to a mirror finish. It will help and smooth out your brakes. $200 is a good price if it's new. If used, we're talking about $140 -$170 mint condition. If you have any concerns about the reel or need help cleaning it, you can PM me and I will help you out.

I make jigs, and I don't sweat the details. Most bites are reaction bite, and the fish probably doesn't even see the eyes. I have fished jigs with and without eyes and it didn't matter. If you like red and it seems to go with your color scheme go for it. JMO.

Kelly, Before you go off on telling people what works and what doesn't, my first question to you is this. Have you ever used drop-out mold release? If not, then don't tell people to quit wasting their money. I have used candle soot in the past before I read/heard about Drop-Out, and there is no comparison. Soot works marginally compared to Drop-Out. Also soot is dirty, and it at times leaves an oily residue on jigs, which can cause failure with powder paint. I can spray on Drop-Out on my molds, and can easily pour 100 plus jigs before re-application. The use of Drop-Out does aid in better pours and fuller pours. If you haven't used it. try it. If you don't want to try it don't criticize the idea, because there are a lot of guys that use it that have been pouring for over 20 years and are very pleased. BTW a nice way to introduce yourself on a 3rd post.

You must live close to my area. BTW welcome. I mainly fish S.E Wisconsin waters. So if you fish those I can give you some more inf. Lake Geneva, Lake Delavan, Browns, Powers, Lake Beulah, Como and a few more. I've always wondered how Diamond Lake was. It is about 10 minutes from my house. If you would like to talk more, PM me your phone number and we can talk.

How many spoons are you wanting to paint? If you are going to use a fluid bed, you will need at least 6- 8 ounces. You have a PM.

Yes, this can be done with powder paint. Below is the process to paint both sides. Rough up the surface you want to paint with sandpaper or steel wool. If there is any existing paint, make sure you take it off with paint stripper. Once surface is sanded, you can dip the whole blade in a fluid bed, then add powder glitter by hand. Next hang spoon and bake in toaster oven. For a durable coat clearcoat with Devcon 2 Ton. This is a very short version on how to do it. It will take some practice to get it done correctly, but it is very do-able with very good results.

Grab the poured jig by the hook bend with a pair of forceps or pliers. Then take and dip the lower half of the jig back into your lead pot. The lead will melt off. Once the lead melts off the hook immediately, wipe the hook shank towards the eye with a dry rag. This will leave the hook ready to be poured again. Do not dunk the whole jig in the pot because you will fill the hook eye with lead, and once you do that it's cumbersome to clean out the hook eye.

Fished Loon Lake years ago when Sturbenzes had a bar/restaurant on it. Now I believe it was sold to the State or DNR. Ramp and launch used to be good it hasn't been good (or questionable) in at least 10 years. Good lake for bass though. I fished Tichigan Lake in S.E. WI last weekend. Team tourney, so each boat was allowed 6 fish. We got a 17" and 16" bass and my wife got a 40" pike. Couple boats came in 6 fish biggest weight was 19lbs. Big bass was 5.2 lbs Lake produced some nice fish, but we couldn't find them. We also got stuck on a mud flat for awhile. Water was high and I couldn't see the buoys. We did manage to get out. Found out 4 or 5 other got stuck including some guy in a pontoon.

I assume you want to change the top blade at the end of the arm. If so just get yourself a split ring separator and this will aid in separating the split ring, so you can take off the blade. That is providing the ball bearing on the top blade is still usable. If not replace the ball bearing as well. If you are trying to remove blades on the spinnerbait wireform arm that sit in a clevis, well I have bad news for you. That is going to be near impossible, as the wireform is looped at the end of the arm so the top bearing and blade can be attached. The reason being is you need the get the clevis, arm blade and any beads off the wire to change it out. However, you will need to straighten the the loop at the top to do this. Problem is by opening up the loop at the top, you will never get it perfectly straight to allow the clevis and beads to slip off the wire. Also you have a chance of weakening the wire at the top, because if you do get it to open, you will have to bend it down again to close it and you may just end up breaking the loop. You can do this. If you don't mind a shorter arm on your spinnerbait, cut the arm as close to the loop as possible, take off all the hardware you want to replace, and then reform your loop at the top to accommodate your bearing and top blade. This may change your spinnerbait action. If you are looking for components like blades and clevices and bearings, beads, check out LPO and Barlows. They have a ton of components that you can buy and swap out. Just make sure when you buy beads and clevices, that they fit on your wireform.

What kind of Abu reel? Do you want to add bearings or do you upgrade bearings?

Fill the chipped gaps first with Elmers wood filler, lightly sand smooth and then seal the whole handle with sealer.

Cork for me only. I just like the feel of cork. I don't want any spongy foam. Looks cheap to me.

You want the mold hot, so you can't grab it and hold it. On a Hot pot maybe 15 minutes. Depends if where you are it is cold inside or warm.

What looks like is happening is you are trapping air at the collar. This is what I would try first. #1 make sure your mold is hot and not warm. Put your mold on the Hot Pot to heat it. #2 put your hooks and wireforms under a light. I use a reflector shield with a 100 watt bulb. By heating the wire and the hook, you will not have any real cold spots for the lead to stick as you pour. #3 stick a piece of tape or two to gap the mold. By gapping the mold, you will separate the mold halves letting air escape. Start your gapping at the mold handles. This will give you the least amount of gap and less flash. The closer you put the tape to the hinge area the more gap you will have. The more gap you have the bigger chance of flash you will get. The correct balance to this is to get full pours with the minimum amount of lead flash on the finished head. #4 you may be also pouring the lead in too fast into the mold. Try getting a 1 oz ladle. I believe they are around $8. This way you can pour with the ladle from your pot That is it. This should work for you. If you would like to discuss further, you can call me via phone if you would like.

Like Munkin mentioned, there will be no adverse effect. The few second you hold a hook in the lead is nothing as far as heat range goes. The only thing you might see is the plating especailly tin plated hooks slightly change color. You're good to go even if you re-pour the hook a dozen times. Which model spinnerbait are you pouring? Maybe we can help you solve your problem.

Another vote for Yozuri Hybrid. 8 lb on my spinning reels and 12 lb on my baitcasters.

No Problem, always willing to help. One thing I will say on this set screw is this. The set screw is about 3/16" long, so no need to tighten it down. Just snug will do, otherwise you will strip out the hex in the set screw.

I have a CI4+ so I'm sure it is the same. It is a hex. It is a .9mm Here is the hex driver I use for my reel. It is made by Wiha. See pic below

I'll echo what Jig man said. No need for a fluid bed. Buy your (2 oz) jars of powder paint, get a heat source, and a small toaster oven (optional). jars of powder paint .....$5 - $7 I use a heat gun...........$10 (Harbor Freight) Toaster oven............... $10 (Garage Sale) You can probably get everything you need for about $50.00 Most importantly is to make sure the powder paint is fluffy when dipping a hot jig. So stirring or shaking powder often is a key to get thin coats on jigs. Toaster oven hardens the paint to keep it lasting longer.