I'm using Pro Tec powder paint.  I dipped my jigs and cleaned out the eyes of the hooks.  I hung them in the oven as per the directions. When I took them out, about half had paint covering the eye.  Do you guys know a good way to remove this (now hardened) paint out of the eye?  Also, what can I do to avoid this in the future?  Thanks for the help.  Love the forum!

 

Heat a needle or cloths pin and poke it through the hardened paint. 

In order to avoid this use needle nosed pliers or hemostats. Hold the jig by the hook eye while dipping and it won’t get any paint in the eye.

I also hold the jig by the eye with pliers.  If I cannot do that, I use a broken off tip of a toothpick in the eye.

Thanks all.  I'll give it a try.

Are you dipping the jigs right in the jar of powder? If so you may want to purchase a fluid bed. What happened is there was a lot of paint around the hook eye and when you cured the jig the extra powder sagged down and clogged the eye back up. A fluid bed makes it easy to get a thin even coat of paint on the jig so that doesn't happen. You can try to be a little faster with dipping the jig in the powder and/or try using a little less heat, that too will help.

19 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Heat a needle or cloths pin and poke it through the hardened paint. 

I also do this but I think you meant paper clip unless it's a really big jig

4 minutes ago, CarpCasey said:

I also do this but I think you meant paper clip unless it's a really big jig

No, a sewing needle or cloths pin works on the #2 aberdeen hooks I use for Ned heads just fine. I actually use dentist tools also but without buying special tools, the other 2 will work on about any bass sized jig. 

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

No, a sewing needle or cloths pin works on the #2 aberdeen hooks I use for Ned heads just fine. I actually use dentist tools also but without buying special tools, the other 2 will work on about any bass sized jig. 

What kind of clothes pin? I only know of wooden ones unless you mean like a small knitting needle. I'm asking because I may learn something new and that is because I only have ever saw wooden clothes pins. And by clothes pin I mean what we use to hang clothes from the clothes line to dry.

https://makeit-loveit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/sewing-tip-stubborn-straight-pins-2.jpg

 

They make jig eye paint remover tools just for this:

 

https://www.cabelas.com/product/BASS-PRO-JIG-EYE-CLEANER/2973040.uts?productVariantId=5943215&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=00848233&rid=20&ds_rl=1246492&ds_rl=1246531&ds_rl=1247882&ds_rl=1252079&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwKHanoeU5AIVIx6tBh3KLwNtEAQYBCABEgKOd_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I was trying to figure out if the title of your post was written in iambic pentameter but it doesn't look like it qualifies.

1 hour ago, smalljaw67 said:

What kind of clothes pin? I only know of wooden ones unless you mean like a small knitting needle. I'm asking because I may learn something new and that is because I only have ever saw wooden clothes pins. And by clothes pin I mean what we use to hang clothes from the clothes line to dry.

When I say clothes pin, I mean the same thing as a safety pin, sorry for the confusion. 

A pop snagger  will work.  It is also a plier with line cutter along with hook sharpener and line threader.  Mine never leaves the boat.

I used a paperclip.  Heated it up and it melted the hardened paint out of the eye.  No problem!

 

Thanks for all the replies.

On 8/21/2019 at 8:32 AM, billmac said:

I was trying to figure out if the title of your post was written in iambic pentameter but it doesn't look like it qualifies.

Typo.  Just a typo....  Or typographical error if you prefer.

1 hour ago, Titan said:

Typo.  Just a typo

Still, it was somewhat poetic.

On 8/20/2019 at 1:16 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Heat a needle or cloths pin and poke it through the hardened paint. 

X2 but use a safety pin or a large needle.

On 8/20/2019 at 3:59 PM, smalljaw67 said:

Are you dipping the jigs right in the jar of powder? If so you may want to purchase a fluid bed. What happened is there was a lot of paint around the hook eye and when you cured the jig the extra powder sagged down and clogged the eye back up. A fluid bed makes it easy to get a thin even coat of paint on the jig so that doesn't happen. You can try to be a little faster with dipping the jig in the powder and/or try using a little less heat, that too will help.

*A good place to buy a fluid bed set up at a reasonable cost ?

1 hour ago, ChrisD46 said:

*A good place to buy a fluid bed set up at a reasonable cost ?

You can build one for about $30.

I recommend building your own.  Experiment with various paper filters.  I believe regular copier paper is what I ended up with, either that or fast food brown paper bag.  And a flow control valve is a must also in the build.

Knot strength is severely weakened if the hook eye is painted do to increased friction when the knot is clinching tight. For this reason I hand paint all my jig heads.

Tom