Jigs and Plastics

[Fishhound]

I went to Sportsman's the other day and got a few more supplies for painting jigs and dyeing plastics. I was wondering what other folks have been using to do their's.

Here's a photo of the jigs I tried to make glitter and sparkle. On the small jig I used that powder paint - where you heat the jig then dip it in the powder, then quickly dip it in another powder for the glitter. On the larger jig, I used the liquid jig paint(without a base coat) then before it dried I applied some sparkle stuff I got from a craft store. Then, painted an eye in glow chartruese then, I coated it with clear gloss. It was a hurry up job to test out the glitter and sparkle idea.
The plastics are pearl Sliders dipped in the various color plastic dyes that Sportsman's carries.



These plastic grubs are a variety of clear sparkle, hologram sparkle and color sparkle from various manufactures.



Questions:

What do you guys typically use for the glitter effect and how long do you let the jig heads dry before doing another coat of anything or adding the glitter stuff ?

How long do you let your plastics dry before adding additional color so that the colors don't bleed and run into each other as can be seen in the second photo ?

The three grubs on the right of the photo with the tie-dye effect was not intentional, but, caused by the grubs touching each other after I put them in my tackle box when I thought they were already dry - apparently they were not.
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Hey fishhound, those are some good looking creations you have going there, Mr. I had no idea you could get plastic dye's(sp?) at Sportsmans. I thought you had to order them directly off of Lake Hawk's website. Guess I'd better make a trip up to Sportsman's soon then.

As for the colors on jigheads, I'm still a rookie at that, so I don't have much to say there at the present, except that when I've seen TD do it a few times he usually adds the sparkle by mixing in a tiny little cup some glitter and some of the vinyl clear jig finish together and then applying it onto the jig before adding the final topping (the epoxy coat to harden it up). I'm sure he'll have a ton to say in the morning to help you out further.

Dang, it's getting late! Gotta go catch some shut-eye now! Good fishin to ya.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You're gettin' real creative, Dawg. Ready for some readin'. I am attaching three pieces I have cranked out in the past...on painting and glittering, with some "recipes" for some of the different colors I use most.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We need to have another jig making session in Salt Lake. Petty is going to have one in the Ogden area soon. If we can get BassAckwards to volunteer his warehouse again, we can do some creative show and tell.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Otherwise, you know where I live. I'd be happy to demo the fine art of turning out nice sparkly things. Many aspects are only learned by either a lot of trial and error (frustrating and expensive) or by watching someone who has "been there, done that". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like many things in life (and fishing), making decent lures can be challenging until you learn how, but then it seems simple.[/#0000ff]
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[Fishhound]

Yeah, they do carry the stuff - both the Lake Hawk dyes and jig paints - although the selection is not too great. It's over kind of in the south west corner(by the bargain coolers) I think on the same isle as the walleye component parts and landing nets.

I know TD did some posts on this stuff a long time ago, but when I looked, the search came up with so much stuff, I thought it would be easier to just go ahead and ask again - that way new folks could see it with out filtering through all the other things. Besides, I thought it would be easier for him to look at my attempts and critique them than for me than it would be to try to explain in writing.
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[Carp_Punisher]

[#505000]I usually gently pat dry my plastics with a paper towel after I dye them, but even dry if you store them together touching the colors seem to transfer and do so rather quickly at that. After seeing how Pat runs his circus I started wrapping my dyed plastics individually in kleenex and storing them together wrapped to keep the colors from bleeding. I have noticed that after a week or two the color from a dry piece of plastic has bled onto the kleneex wrapper some. [/#505000]
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[#505000]Pat is the glitter master which is an art I am still VERY challeneged with. I don't mind telling ya'll I have downloaded and stored the glitter write up in my Tubedude write up folder on my computer.[/#505000]

[#505000]I have become a huge fan of the powder paints and I believe you can add different coat if you can reheat the painted jig with a clean heat source which won't cover your first coat with soot (like a candle does). I am going to play with some powder paint glitter colors here next week. I'll let you know how it goes.[/#505000]
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Hey fishhound, I only have the vinyl paints so far and am getting ready to fire up my melting pot soon to start pouring some more jigs, but I have a question about those powder paints. I really like some of the colors (which don't seem to be available in vinyl) and am thinking of purchasing some in the future. My question is how do you "heat up" the jigs before applying the powderpaint? Do you throw them in the oven, dip them in boiling hot water, etc.?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You have to heat the lead to the point that it will melt the powder without turning the lead into liquid too. Some guys use a wire rack in the oven. Others buy a cheapie toaster oven at a yardsale (or DI) and that works fine too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Powder paints make great durable coatings, but they require extra steps and they usually leave a hard coat in the hook eye that needs to be removed before you can tie on your jig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As with all things, it is a matter of personal preference. They are coming out with more and more colors and glitter coatings.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think I will stick with my stuff and my recipes. The fishies seem to like them just fine.[/#0000ff]
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Thanks for the advice and tips, Pat. Now that I'm all situated at the in-laws and have a nice heated and air conditioned shed to work in, I think I'm about to get a LOT more serious on my jig making this fall/winter.
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[Fishhound]

I got the powder paint on the recommendation of a friend that uses them regularly. To heat the jig there are a variety of methods that can be used. I was shown how to do it with a wicked canned heat source that is diethylene glycol which has a clean flame. Hold the jig with needle nose pliers over the flame for a few seconds and then dip it immediately in the powder and remove it quickly.

After a time or two, you should have no problem getting it right. I found it quite easy not getting it in the eye of the jig so I don't have to clean it out afterwards. The first time I put a small finishing nail in the eye and that eliminated the problem, but the next time I figured a way to dip it at an angle and that worked just as well. After you have completed the jigs, you can hang them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees to cure them. You don't really need to do that though, they are plenty hard after the first step and durable enough for multiple uses as they are.

The powder is like talc, so don't even breath in that direction or you get the stuff everywhere.

I haven't done it enough times yet to be competent at the glitter second dip to call any of my finished jigs anything except prototypes at this point, but in time, I hope to improve that.

I'll try to bring some Saturday so you can see.
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