Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Question on powder coating jig heads

Hi folks:

I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered already, but I have started tying my own buck tail jigs this Spring including powder coating the heads. I am using an electric heat gun, fluid beds, and Pro-Tec brand powder coat. My maiden voyage into this turned out pretty well with nice, even, shiny coverage using green, yellow, and white powder. The problem came when I tried to coat some in hot pink. The coverage was orange peeled (tiny dimples) severely. I am not sure if this is a temperature problem (not getting those particular heads hot enough?) or what. Baking them in the toaster oven at 325 degrees for 30 mins to cure them helped a little bit, but they didn't look as nice as the other colors. Any advice to this newbie would be greatly appreciated.

R

Although you will be seeing lots of suggestions for using a heat gun, my own experience using one wasent very good.
Possibly the heat gun was a bit large for the intended use, but i used what i had.
I dont need to be doing lots of them at one sitting, just enough to supply my own habit.
I use the same paint as you right from the jar after shaking it up a bit.
But i have found that a small candle in a glass jar works much better for me.
Mind you that you can still melt the lead if you hold it over the flame too long.
I bought them on ebay for very little money.
They are about 1 1/2” wide and high and the glass jar comes with them.
Two come for just a couple bucks.
I heat the jig, then dip it in the powder, tap off any excess on the jar then back to the flame for a brief period.
Some put them in an oven, but i dont, just back over the fame for a second or so.
From there they get hung on a rack i made from a pc of wire closet shelving.
By the way pink is my favorite jig head color for Crappies along with the Bobby Garland swimmers.

Added on, 1mm heat shrink tubing works well for keeping the paint from clogging up the eyes.
Just slide it over the eye and cut w/scissors.
Heat Shrink Buddy on Ebay.

A picture might help. Try making sure your jighead is free of contaminates by dipping in acetone first maybe?

Thank you folks, I was thinking that the heads may have had a contaminant on some of them, preventing a good sticking base. I will try giving them all a good wipe with some acetone before coating up my next batch.

Rich