# Powder Coating



## seasick Steve (Apr 16, 2011)

I have been playing around with a airbrush this winter. I read on line about powder coating. it looks interesting.

Anyone here powder coat?

Any advantages to powder coating over paint?

(not sure where the skunked came from)


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## Jim Paden (Feb 28, 2014)

I have a little bit of experience on powder coating. You are in the "Tackle Making" section so I'm guessing you want to power coat jigs or something like that.

Really easy, just get some powder paint. For starting out you can drop by Harbor Freight and grab a big jar for a few bucks. Their color selection is very limited, white, yellow, red and black.
To do some jigs you will need some powder paint, a heat source (heat gun is best) and then steal the toaster oven from the kitchen. It will never be returned to food service again.

You will need to experiment a bit with this method, but you can coat jig heads and not clog the eye if you get the timing correct. Here we go!
One concept to understand, greater mass retains heat longer. A jig head will retain the heat while the hook eye and shank will shed the heat very quickly.

With the heat gun on a medium to high heat (the heat gun stays on through out the process) grab the hook by the bend and hold very close to the end of the heat gun. For a 3/8 oz jig my gun takes 5 seconds, yours will be different.
Remove from heat, at this point the head and the hook are about the same temp. Hold it in the air for a couple so seconds. Do nothing, what we are doing we are allowing the hook to cool (small mass) while the jig head retains most of the heat. 
Dip the jig head into the power paint jar and give it a quick swirl.
Remove from the jar and tap the hook shank on the jar edge a couple time to knock off any loose.
Your timing is right when you remove the jig and it is fully coated but looks dry and powdery. The eye of the hook will also be coated but not thick enough clog the eye.
Return the jig to the heat gun until the dry looking powder paint turns glossy. 
Hang it on a wire to cool.
Hang in the toaster oven and do the 20 to 30 minute cure, after that ready to fish.

You can heat, dip and gloss a jig in 10 to 15 seconds. Bigger lures take longer and smaller ones you may need to use pliers to hold the small hooks close to the heat. If the hook bend gets hot you are working too slow, or too low on the heat. Getting the pause after the heat cycle is the important point.
Maybe you should use pliers the first time to be safe.

Good luck


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## seasick Steve (Apr 16, 2011)

thanks for the tips. i understand what you are saying about the heat. is there any special clear coat to use?


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## Jim Paden (Feb 28, 2014)

No clear coat needed, the stuff is very tuff.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Great info Jim Paden. Only a couple things i do differently.....

I use hemostats to hold the jigs by the hook eye to dip them. This keeps almost all of the paint off the hook eye and very little to chip off before curing.

If you are dipping into a jar of powder, make sure the powder is mixed up and 'fluffy' after every couple jigs. Tapping the excess paint on the jar can compact the powder and make it hard to dip.

You can use a lot of heat sources. There is a guy who posts some amazing paint jobs and he uses a simple bic lighter. Others use alcohol burners. I use an old hurricane lamp with glass chimney.

Be careful not to heat the jig too hot. If it is too hot, a bunch of powder will stick really quickly and cause it to drip back off during curing. It'll give your jigs nipple heads.

You can get pretty creative with tap coating powder paint with practice......


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## Jim Paden (Feb 28, 2014)

Atticafish: You got that multi color thing all figured out. I have never tried anything like that. Real nice. Love to know more about your multi color process.

You are also saying there is a fine line with too much heat and not enough. Too much heat is a bigger problem. Clogged eyes and nipple heads usually end up in the garbage can.

I notice your jigs in the photos, the eyes on the gold hooks are still gold.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Jim - Using the hemostats to hold them by the hook eye leaves very little paint on the hook eye and hook leg. Takes about 10-15 seconds extra to scrape off anything that does stick with a knife after they are completely cooled and before curing.

The multi-colors come from tap painting. Usually base coat the jig in a light color or mica/pearl powder mix then add other colors by tapping them on with a paint brush. Use a bunch of mica powder now...... they look so much better in true sunlight that it is amazing. The mica also reflects a bunch of light. I use them a lot for casting jigs to walleye after dark.

The painted eyes and stripes are powder paint as well. I have stencils i made out of .030 aluminum sheet stock and then tap the powder on using them.

I also run a little different cure schedule than the manufacture suggests. I start them out at a lower heat (250° or so) and very slowly raise the heat up to just under 350°. This lets any thicker paint start to cure and set up before it reaches a hot point where it will start to drip and cause nips.


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## seasick Steve (Apr 16, 2011)

nice looking stuff. have you ever done spinner blades or spoons? 
also i have seen a air brush for powder. ever tried it?


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Never used an airbrush or powder airbrush, but have seen some work from people who have and it looks pretty good. Have been told you need to build some type of reclaiming box to use so you can get back what powder is over sprayed. 

I do powder paint spoons and blades, paint them pretty much the same. Grab them with the hemostat and heat the same way. Pro-Tech sells candy and transparent powders that look really good on blades/spoons because it lets the flash of the blade still show. Getting colors to fade with opaque powder by tapping on with a brush takes some practice. It comes down to how hard you tap the brush and how much powder comes off the brush. You want it to fall off the brush like dust, not in clumps.


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## seasick Steve (Apr 16, 2011)

I appreciate you sharing the info. I have never been very artistic. Maybe after a couple hundred jigs my stuff will look as nice as yours.


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## Bent Rod (Apr 14, 2006)

Attica Fish,
Is the mica powder you use, a separate coating, or a powder that you add/mix in to a base color?
Beautiful work there.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

You can use true mica powder or this stuff..... Pearl Powder ...........and they are pretty much the same thing. The pearl white is very close to the more expensive super sparkle mica powder and is mainly what i use.

I mix it straight into clear powder paint and then can tap it on or dip heads to get a great pearl color. Also mix it a lot with different colors to create sparkle/metallic colors. Mixed with candy color powder paint works the best but it can also be mixed with opaque colors. The purple jig was dipped first into mica/clear mix for a base coat and then used a mix of mica/candy purple to tap on the dorsal side color. Even the flo. red powder used as a gill accent has some mixed in.

Mica reflects a ton of light. I use it on jigs i cast at night for walleye and if you shine a headlamp on it in the water to check how it is running on the way in, sometimes it makes my think they are glowing eyes of a walleye.


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## Buzzking (Feb 15, 2013)

Atticafish those jigs are beautiful. Almost too nice to fish with. I have been powder painting-only one color-but i've been doing spinnerbaits & buzzbaits. I have made my own fluid bed with notches to set the hook & wire into. Because of the notches in the cup it is a little messy, but tolerable. I have been using an 'Ove Glove' to work with my baits holding them by the hook or wire, and I preheat my baits in the oven to 350 degrees. Because I do about 2 dozen at a time I prefer to use the oven to preheat & cure. Make sure to put some aluminum foil on the bottom rack in case of dropping any baits. Good luck and let us see what you got!


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## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

seasick Steve

check out T.J.tackle video,powder painting,and he has powder painting air brush,
the Harbor freight is seling,powder paint gun,it is good if you make more blades at one time,it operate on static charge,you put on metal 20 blades,hook the gun to electricyti,and put clamp on that metal where are blades,you spray them,the magnetic charge hold the powder on blades,you take the blade and put them in toster aven and bake them,they are done.
the gun is $70.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Hey seasick, do you pour your own leadheads in a mold? if you do(I do), after you pour a few dozen jigs, I just pick them up by the hookbend with a pair of hemostats and hold the leadhead jig over the led pot for a few minutes, this will heat it up just fine and then dip the jig in the powder paint,swirl it around once or twice and then hold it back over the lead pot again for 30 seconds or so...very nice smooth finish.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)




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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

9left - Your way will work, but a single color dip takes maybe 15 seconds (tops) per jig if you use a better heat source. Can't imagine having to hold heads over the Lee pot for a couple minutes just to heat them for painting. Get your self a heat gun or simple alcohol lamp. I use an oil hurricane lamp. An 8-count will heat most jigs up to 1/4 oz. Bigger heads take a few more seconds. Back over the heat another 3 or 4 seconds will gloss the paint over. 

There is a guy on another forum that does ALL his powder painting with a Bic lighter. He can do some amazing multi-color work with it too!


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

What happens if you don't do the final cure? Say heat gun, dip, then heat gun again to smooth. Does that final oven cure add hardness?


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Final cure adds a lot of strength to the finish of powder paint. I fish a lot of bedrock in my local river and all my local reservoirs are lined with rip-rap...... paint would be gone off half the jig after dragging a couple casts across bottom if you don't cure. Heck, if i drop them on my concrete basement floor before curing, they will often chip. Have heard some people who only vertical fish over cover (crappie mostly) do not bother with curing because their jigs don't touch rocks or the bottom often. IMO and where/how i personally fish - the curing step is a must.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

AtticaFish said:


> 9left - Your way will work, but a single color dip takes maybe 15 seconds (tops) per jig if you use a better heat source. Can't imagine having to hold heads over the Lee pot for a couple minutes just to heat them for painting. Get your self a heat gun or simple alcohol lamp. I use an oil hurricane lamp. An 8-count will heat most jigs up to 1/4 oz. Bigger heads take a few more seconds. Back over the heat another 3 or 4 seconds will gloss the paint over.
> 
> There is a guy on another forum that does ALL his powder painting with a Bic lighter. He can do some amazing multi-color work with it too!


aticca, I agree it does only take a few seconds for a jighead, but ive found if I hold it over the heat source a little longer, it does seem to "cure" better, the directions on the PROTEC powder paint actually suggest to put the coated jgheads in an oven for 20 minutes! I thought that was a bit much so I settled for holding it over the hot led pot for a minute or 2.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

9Left - I cure in a toaster oven for about 15 minutes at a temp just below the ProTech suggested temp since my oven cycles a little over the set temp. Never tried to cure over a heat source like that. If it helps, no need to change!


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## yakfish (Mar 13, 2005)

I've been powder painting jigs for years. I use a heat gun on the lowest setting. Most heat guns have a flat end so you can sit them on your table with the heat facing up. I can fit 3-4 jig heads or spinnerbaits on the heat gun at a time. Once the first few are warmed up I will cycle through them until all are finished. When I take one off the heat I replace it with another cold head. This way you don't have to take 15 or so seconds to wait for the head to heat up before swishing in the powder. You can just cycle through them one right after the other. This is a very fast process and I can knock out a 100 jig heads in no time.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

AtticaFish said:


> 9Left - I cure in a toaster oven for about 15 minutes at a temp just below the ProTech suggested temp since my oven cycles a little over the set temp. Never tried to cure over a heat source like that. If it helps, no need to change!


Toaster oven is a good, inexpensive idea, I might give that a try instead, thanks for the info


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

You can find them at thrift shops sometimes for really cheap....... but the simple ones are not all that expensive to begin with. I flipped over the wire rack in mine so it is up high and just hang the heads and blades. Only other advice is that you may want to bring it up to temp (just under 350°) slowly if your paint is thick. If it gets hot too fast it will begin to flow and make drips/nips off the nose of the jig.


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## Headboat Hunter (Apr 18, 2010)

Heat gun on sale Harbor Freight around 9 bucks and a simple toaster oven from Wal Mart 20 bucks and your in business.


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## bjicehockey (Apr 11, 2014)

Yep that's how I do all of mine. I am trying not baking some so we will see how it works


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## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

9Left 
pur your jigs and do not work over the pot,you would need charcoal filter,bad fumes,pur your jigs outside where is open air on nice day and paint and cure,like attica,
do not need any health problems.


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## top shelf (Apr 16, 2009)

I use a Coleman camp stove to cure my powder coated jigs. I'll hang my jigs on the grill then drape some foil over top and bring the cover down. It works great. Just don't use it for cooking after


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