geckert

Using a melting pot and not open fire is the key. Lead is actually quite safe to work with even with just the most minimal procautions. By using a melting pot you will likely never to get lead hot enough to contaminate air. I am by no means saying do not use precautions. Please use them. Someone said something about water ....Think of one drop of water expanding to 300x its size in a blink of an eye the displacement of liquid lead will equate to about the size of a golfball being blown out of your pot...No good can come of that. Most people have enough common sense to not hurt themselves...Burns yes, no matter what precautions you take it will happen. BE SAFE...Some actual facts below.. Keep the temperature on the lead pot as low as possible. Lead melts at 621°F. Lead boils at 3180°F, but significant amounts begin to evaporate above 900°F. Any lead vapor quickly forms a very fine lead oxide powder and can be inhaled.

So if im from Alabama and driving a truck for a living My truck cant be called an Alabama rig because some A-hole thinks its proper to let a state name be copyrighted. What the **** has this country come to. Im going to copywright the word american and charge everyone wo calls themselves any sort of _____ american a fee, What a load of crap.

Might want to stop listening to that bird New Hampshire has banned the use of sinkers weighing less than an ounce and lead jigs less than an inch in length.

Tin is about all that would be feesable with the normal melters out there. Figure that leas weighs almost 24000 pounds per cubic meter and tin is 16000 for the same volume. That makes tin almost 1/3 the weight for about 50x the cost. Tin does melt at about 450 and lead a bit higher at around 625. Nice thing is that tin stays shiney doesnt blacken like lead. I personally have not used it but once or twice it was just as easy as lead but the cost is crazy. I get lead for about 30-50 cents per pound, Tin cost closer to 15 dollars for good clean tin. If you can get the stock cheap there is a market out there for it. I dont suggest sinking a ton of money into it until you know you have a niche market. Good luck

The product that you are speaking about here is still an epoxy resin. epoxy is a generic name. Looks to me like the main problem is stirring with the brush head and introducing air and stirring quickly(probably worried about getting it done quick so you have working time). Like it was suggested earlier just use the handle or a popsicle stick and fold more than stir youll be fine.

Anytime as for your #2 you have to do them after because of heating then baking go to the hobby shop and pick up some cheap epoxy I dont recomend the 5 min devcon I would use the 20-30 min stuff until you know what your doing and can get a few done in 5 min or your just throwing money away. You can also use 3M 5200 if you want to wait for it to set up fully in like 36-48 hours. It works ok but epoxy is better.

Nice job.

Dont know if this worked or not...... ok looks like it did. So you just put the hooks in your, kind of, cooking vise tighten it up and bake it. I just let mine cool in place in the oven for a while because the jigs will cool long before the vise. This keeps the heads from touching and it doesnt matter if you have paint on the hook shaft. If you are using coated hooks like a saltwater hook your temp and lenght of time may have to varry a little depending on brand. EC hooks bake off fastest. Mustad take a while longer. But all in all this works great for what your doing any questions just ask.

OK dont worry about the paint being to heavy itll be fine after I tell you this. I take a few pieces of angle aluminum about 14 inches long but Ill give you the quick easy way. take a few pieces of wood make them about 2 inches wide and an inch or so tall. clamp them and drill through them so you can put carrige bolts and wing nuts thru. Then use an old piece of silocon hot plate(the flexible kind, or just high temp gasket material) put some on each piece of wood(this is what holds your hooks in place) dont put it togehter until the sealent is dry. put your jigs in there hook side into the holder and you will never one them again. Simple cheap and verry effetive. Im going to try to put up a photo if I remember how of the old cheepie ones I have. And NO, wood does not burn at 350 for 15 mins. Just dont put it right next to the burner.

With the thickness issue its just a trial and error on heat and quickness of the dip. If your dipping small jigs you have to be quick from the source to the paint or they cool REALLY FAST. If your seeing smoke after you dip they're way to hot, knock the temp down a little. There is a lot of trial and error involved in getting the right mix of temp and paint. just keep it going you will get it down in no time.. Lets see the pics.

Don't bother with vacuum bags or coffee filters you will always get volcanoes. The reason is the inconsistency in the fabric the weak spot will always volcano. What size tube are you using? I make cups out of 3" tube but I also pour ALOT of baits. I buy paint in bulk 1lb at a time. The other thing is do not cheap out on your pump. I forget which ones they are but the blur ones that look like a tent are for crap horrible inconsistent flow rates. Go for a top fin brand or better. If your using 4oz of medium I recommend at least a 30 gal pump or larger. Your membrane should be made of Porous HDPE. Ill put 4 inches of powder in my cups and when they are fluidized they almost come up to 6.5 inches there is alot of air in there and it coats very nicely. Shoot me a pm when you get the ability ill walk you through making a real fluid bed for a few dollars more than a generic bag one. Good start tho.

Most lead free states are lead free mostly for split shot and small jigs 1/100 -1/32 they dont want waterfowl ingesting it. ALWAYS VENTILATE PERIOD there is vapor be it minute or harmful levels from the minute lead becomes molten with an increase of vapor every degree more than that. Lead begins to vaporize at 1800 and is VERY harmful at that level. I pour over 100 pounds of lead a week sinkers and big jigs. Not worth being exposed in minute amounts because your a tough guy. Use your best judgement, better to be safe than sorry I believe. I also recommend a fluid bed for painting you can make one pretty cheap 30-50 dollars on the high end. Just you tube it. you will never have to clean an eye hole if you use one.

Cant tell by the pics but are you using a whip finish? If not I really recommend it. The whipping will make more hitches so if you lose one knot the rest will hold. I use 4-10 whips per jig depending on size. Another thing you can do to clean up the look a bit is to take a razor blade and trim just above the head tie do this before you finish the tie in case you nick the thread. Hard as nails works great but epoxy works far far better. Good job for first go round tho, you will be almost pro looking after a few dozen.

Dam I think the post office sent you the wrong brush cause it wasnt that good when I had it....Great job!!!

Myself I really don't watch football cause im to busy fishing but I couldn't help notice the headline "Redskins fans unite" and was wondering if the get together is for a mass suicide because my brother will prob go too..

Honestly I would try to go to a local tackle shop and see if they would let you sell on consignment that way you make money and they make money plus they can claim LOCAL MAKER. If your set on flea markets beware most people do not go to them looking to spend good money on much they are looking for a deal. Start small get recognized refine your technique then start selling for real. For now I would really just try to support your habit. lol

Not even thinking about it..Just think about if you were buying it how much would you be willing to pay for it.

Here is the link for it in case some of you dont go to the flea market much. By old I mean I got new one. The rig is less than 3 months old. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1258386177

Oh so perty...soon Marty about 1 more week Ill be getting back with ya.

nice verrry nice

Ultimately its going to break down to a preference thing. I don't own anything but Curados now but have thrown just about every reel out there. Curados just feel right in my hand and once you get them right you can throw almost anything. I use them striper fishing, flounder fishing, Bluefishing ( 301's). You cant hurt them if you take care of them. Edit..Have also caught Bonito on the 301's.

Ty everyone. Toledo theres one or two places I got that one was my daughters bath toy bag or it was the lining of a quite old bathing suit I was throwing away I forgot which, one mesh was just a little larger than the other.

Painted these for a buddy to take to Pickwick. How they looking?

say huh. I don't know if its just me but I just don't get it.

To save a few bucks on bodies for now ive just been painting them letting them dry then giving them to my daughter when she takes a bath presto I get to repaint them again and keep practicing. ;D