Fluid Bed Issue

[Captain Torpedo]

Hi guys,

Just finished building a fluid bed and tried it out.

My question is, do you have to dip the heated jig head in the bubbling powder or just swish it around the powder cloud that it makes? Just curious because the powder cloud gets messy and doesn't attach to the jig.... not to mention it's messy as hell.

Thanks

[GTrombly]

I think you have the air up too high. mine does not have a cloud at all.

[cadman]

Captain T,

If you have powder dust floating around you have the air set too high. You should only get bubbling powder. You dip the hot jig quickly in the bubbling powder then pull it out and rack it. Hope this helps

[Captain Torpedo]

Thanks guys,

If you dip the jig head, how are you saving paint or making it a thinner coat than just fluffing it up in a jar and doing the same thing.

[cadman]

Thanks guys,

If you dip the jig head, how are you saving paint or making it a thinner coat than just fluffing it up in a jar and doing the same thing.

If you dip in a jar, after about 3 jigs you have to manually stir the paint to fluff it up again. If you don't and keep sticking a jig in a jar you will compact the powder therefore when the jig goes in it will have too much powder on it. making the paint run when you bake it. In the fluid bed, the air mixes the powder for you making it fluid, therefore you save time and the powder does not go on as thick because it is constantly moving.

[Captain Torpedo]

Thanks Cadman.

I'm using a heating gun to heat up the jig and powder coating it. The finish looks awsome, but I'm not re-baking the jig. Is it necessary? Does it make that much of a difference? I do notice that the powder is a bit brittle when I re-drill the weed guard hole. Will re-baking it make the coating that much harder and less brittle?

[cadman]

I use a heat gun as well, and you should always bake your jigs. The heat cross-links the polymers in the paint and makes the finish hard. This is especially true when you use more thn one color like in my avatar.

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