Building My Own Jig Heads

[Jake the Cake]

I'm just getting into the idea of making my own jig heads and am very determined to do so.  I've been doing a lot of research and finding that adding tin to your lead is a good way to strengthen them.  BUT, what I cannot find information on is what the pros like TTI/Road Runner, Bass Pro, Sworming Hornet Lures, etc. tend to use.

 

I would like to make sure I have a quality product, not something that is going to come up with dents and scratches when you drag it across the bottom.

[DCales84]

Buy bulk soft lead from eBay and you will be fine. If you shop around you can find clean lead that's ready to go and not worry about adding anything to the mix. Been fishing home made wacky jigs and swing jigs this year with great results so far. Powdercoating helps some but honestly it doesn't seem to make a difference in my catch. If I remember right I bought 15lbs of lead for about 25$ shipped.

[Bluebasser86]

Curious why you're concerned, or maybe what you mean by strengthening lead? Unless you're making sinkers that the line passes through, worse you might do is flatten a head out but even then you have to cast it into something hard. 

[Brayberry]

Typically if your throwing the jig where it'll work best, you'll lose it way before you deform the lead 

[Jig Man]

It sounds like you're wanting to make something perfect to be admired instead of used.  There is no way you can fish a jig in highland reservoirs like we have here in MO without banging up the head.  You can keep the head looking nice longer if you put on a good  coat of powder paint and bake it on, then give the head a coat of epoxy.  However, I find painting enough since I consider the life expectancy of a jig to be only a few casts where I throw them.

 

If you really want harder lead, all you have to do is mix in some antimony from some (non zinc) wheel weights or printer's lead.  I was given 75# of printer's lead about 20 years ago.  I use it to cast really hard heads when I feel that I need them.  Also it is just a tad lighter than regular plumber's lead.  If you want to make jigs, jump in and get started instead of overthinking it.  Just be sure you have the necessary equipment to do the job safely.

 

I will say you also have to have a place to pour and room to store all of the molds you will be buying along with skirts, hooks, powder paint, lead pot, fluid bed, etc, etc.  I have sold off several of my molds and still have 20.  There is no telling how many I'd have if I sold my jigs.

 

Anyway, good look and welcome to the addiction.

[Canyon explorer]

You could get harder lead by  melting down wheel weights BUT your molds will flow and work much better  with soft lead. IMO. You can also make your powder painted soft lead heads harder by baking them.

[smalljaw67]

I get pure soft lead and I melt it down into 1 pound ingots and then I buy lead with 5% antimony, this lead is hard and I melt it down and make 1/2 pound ingots. The reason I have one type in 1 pound and the other in 1/2 pound ingots is so I don't get them mixed up, and it lets me make a custom alloy for different types of baits. I make spinnerbaits with a 70/30 mix of soft to hard, over the years I found 30% hard lead is enough to keep the wire coming out of the spinnerbait head without it coming loose yet it is still easy to pour. For larger football jigs I use a 60/40 mix of soft to hard, it makes for a nice hard jig head but as Jig Man has already pointed out, it isn't necessary if you throw them in heavy cover and even with the hardest lead you'll find that a day of banging a jig over nasty jagged chunk rock will result in a banged up head along with a few lost as well, keep it simple and you'll be fine. One last thing, if you plan on powder painting the jigs and adding tin to your lead, you need to make a little spoon size test piece to try first because tin has a lower melting point and adding too much tin could mean your jigs will melt before getting hot enough for powder to adhere properly. Good luck.

[WRB]

Take a look at Lyman #2 bullet lead, that is what I use to mold jigs.

In my onion powder coating is either a hobby or used for making jigs look great for resale. Coating the jig head to have multiple colors of flakes makes the jig look professional, bass don't care if the jig head is plain, one color or a work of art, they don't strike the jig based on the head color.

If your end goal is making a competitive jig to sell, powder coating is the best option. If you want a jig that catches bass a simple one color paint works great. Remember the harder the coating is on lead the more it will chip off. Enamel like Testers model paint works very good, you can paint 100 jig heads in about a hour and that is what I use.

Tom

[scaleface]

If you lived closer , I would give you some lead . I have maybe 50 lbs of it. I live 100 miles north of you .

[Jig Man]

If you lived closer , I would give you some lead . I have maybe 50 lbs of it. I live 100 miles north of you .

Jake you should take scaleface up on this offer and drive to his place and pick it up.  That is a very generous offer.

[cadman]

I don't know what benefit it would have to know what Blakemore, BPS or anyone else in the industry uses as a lead mix. This is all irrelevant. First of all if you intend to copy and sell Blakemore jig heads or anyone else's for that matter, you will get a cease and desist letter. Blakemore strictly enforces and protects their jigs. Everyone uses different ratios of soft lead and antimony or tin, as we all make things the way we want. Many guys only use soft lead and many have mixed ratios, myself included, this is a personal choice based on our fishing styles and our own testing. Like mentioned above, seems like you want to make the perfect jig. There is no such thing. If you can't find fish or don't know how to use a jig, the most beautiful, perfect jig isn't going to help.  Instead, if I were you, I would concentrate on learning how to pour safely and then learn how to pour jigs consistently. Those would be my first concerns. Everything else will come later to you as you ask questions. If you want to paint them, powder paint is very good and easy to use. I don't want to came across as an A$$, but safety is the first key issue, so you don't get badly burned.

[Jake the Cake]

Thanks guys, this has been super helpful.  I guess I AM looking to make a perfect jig head, but I was more concerned on the strength so it doesn't come out as soft as a typical weight that is easily dinged and therefore would flake the paint.  I do a lot of Crappie fishing and love using the Blakemore Road Runners but wish it came in a different head shape and had layered colors and attaching different blades just ends up costing more money.  Figured making my own would satisfy both my want for the type of jig head I am imagining and my curiosity for making custom lures/jig heads/etc, even if it doesn't end up saving me money.

 

Also, the previous post mentioned copying the Blakemore jig heads.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued with the idea of eventually selling these jig heads after I got good at making them, so my question is - I love spin jig heads (like Blakemore/Sworming Hornet) but if I created my own style head is that still infringing upon them?  My idea is more of a frog shaped head, but not quite as flat (like a bullet with four round corners) with an eyelet on top for line and an eyelet on bottom for the swivel and blade.  I would never intentionally sell products that would infringe upon copyrights but IF I get to the point of selling them I'd like to know what's the difference between making something in the same category of those and actually copying them.

[cadman]

Thanks guys, this has been super helpful.  I guess I AM looking to make a perfect jig head, but I was more concerned on the strength so it doesn't come out as soft as a typical weight that is easily dinged and therefore would flake the paint.  I do a lot of Crappie fishing and love using the Blakemore Road Runners but wish it came in a different head shape and had layered colors and attaching different blades just ends up costing more money.  Figured making my own would satisfy both my want for the type of jig head I am imagining and my curiosity for making custom lures/jig heads/etc, even if it doesn't end up saving me money.

 

Also, the previous post mentioned copying the Blakemore jig heads.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued with the idea of eventually selling these jig heads after I got good at making them, so my question is - I love spin jig heads (like Blakemore/Sworming Hornet) but if I created my own style head is that still infringing upon them?  My idea is more of a frog shaped head, but not quite as flat (like a bullet with four round corners) with an eyelet on top for line and an eyelet on bottom for the swivel and blade.  I would never intentionally sell products that would infringe upon copyrights but IF I get to the point of selling them I'd like to know what's the difference between making something in the same category of those and actually copying them.

 

Jake, I'll start this off by saying forget the lead ratios and concentrate on what kind of jig you want to make. Based on your comments above, if you want to make a similar jig to the roadrunner, you can buy a Do-It pony or horse head mold. You can buy this mold and pour to your hearts content. The other thing is that you can put whatever hooks you want into the mold, along with making it a multicolored jig and finally any type of blade you want. This would get you started in learning how to pour your own jigs along with learning how to paint and finally how to assemble. Just remember don't try to sell these to anyone .You can give them away and or trade them with your friends without any problems.

     As far as design goes, I believe your head profile must be 30% different than anyone else's, in order to avoid copyright infringement. But don't quote me on this. If you decide to pursue this, you will have to get a patent search done. One last thing, it is very expensive to get a patent search and a patent, so you just may want to take this slow and see how it all develops. Also it is always nice to make something different than anyone else has. Good luck with your design.

[Jake the Cake]

Thanks!  I definitely wouldn't sell these before I knew I was 100% legal and will probably just sit back and enjoy the craft of custom lure making until I decide to go the patent route (which I just researched and is CRAZY more expensive than I would have imagined).

I'll probably have a custom mold made just because I'm already in the process of working with CAD software to design the exact image that's in my head.  Excited to get this off the ground!!!!  Anyone want to suggest a good place in St. Louis for individual hooks, blades, skirts, etc?  There's a thousand places online but I'd rather avoid shipping if I can and also look through items in person before I decide to buy.

[smalljaw67]

Thanks!  I definitely wouldn't sell these before I knew I was 100% legal and will probably just sit back and enjoy the craft of custom lure making until I decide to go the patent route (which I just researched and is CRAZY more expensive than I would have imagined).

 

 

I'll probably have a custom mold made just because I'm already in the process of working with CAD software to design the exact image that's in my head.  Excited to get this off the ground!!!!  Anyone want to suggest a good place in St. Louis for individual hooks, blades, skirts, etc?  There's a thousand places online but I'd rather avoid shipping if I can and also look through items in person before I decide to buy.

 

Your best bet is to go to Tackle Underground in the wire baits section, you'll get a lot more information. As far as finding a store in your area, good luck but I can tell you that you will end up bookmarking 2 dozen sites that have the items you will need and you'll end up buying from just about everyone. The reason is simple, it seems all these places will have something unique to them that no place carries and you'll want it or need it, a good example would be hooks. I have to use 3 different places for hooks because one place doesn't carry Owner, the other place has a hook they had made so it is exclusive to one store only, and still another place carries a hook I can find at the other two, and that is pretty much how it goes for us that do this tackle craft. Do yourself a favor and go to Tackle Underground or TU with your questions.

[cadman]

Out of curiosity what cad software do you use?  Pictures on line are the best, however for skirts, color can vary from monitor to monitor.  As far as hooks go, unless you buy in bulk not many places you can just go and look at hooks. Find a hook you are interested in using for your mold, and then buy some sizes you want to incorporate into the jig head. Shorty's hook sales is in MO, but you will need a tax ID number. It is really hard to start up and try to find places that you physically can go to and look at product. I would suggest going to your local BPS, Cabelas, and look at their skirts and hooks and get an idea on where you want to start and go from there. There will be a lot of trial and error for you.

[cadman]

I just read smalljaws post, and yes you will get a lot more responses on tackleunderground, as that is a website specifically designed to help the hobbyist in all aspects of tacklemaking.

[Jake the Cake]

Just checked it out, looks like a pretty useful site.  thanks

[Jake the Cake]

Out of curiosity what cad software do you use?  Pictures on line are the best, however for skirts, color can vary from monitor to monitor.  As far as hooks go, unless you buy in bulk not many places you can just go and look at hooks. Find a hook you are interested in using for your mold, and then buy some sizes you want to incorporate into the jig head. Shorty's hook sales is in MO, but you will need a tax ID number. It is really hard to start up and try to find places that you physically can go to and look at product. I would suggest going to your local BPS, Cabelas, and look at their skirts and hooks and get an idea on where you want to start and go from there. There will be a lot of trial and error for you.

 

 

The CAD software I'm working with is ViaCAD 3D Pro V.9, and by working with it I mean it was successfully downloaded to my laptop about a week ago and I'm still trying to connect the dots between tutorials and actual functions within the program.  Slow process but I'm excited about it.  As far as hooks go I figured I would start with the standard #2 and #4 since I do a lot of Crappie fishing.  I love BPS but I guess I've never really paid attention to see if they have individual parts since I'm really just now getting into custom tackle.  I'll definitely be taking a look though.

[dopey]

If you use the Do-It molds to pour Horse and pony heads, don't sell them it's illegal.  This discussion has come up many times over at crappie.com.  

 

This is right from TJ Stallings of TTI Blakemore:  https://tjstallings.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/counterfeit-road-runner%C2%AE-lures/