They Said It Couldn’t Be Done !

There was a post a little bit ago about a gentleman that was looking for someone to paint some tungsten ice.

Most all replies stated they couldnt be powder painted due to having to heat the jigs,(thought to my self.. I beg to differ),I have Powder painted 1000’s of jigs and knew I could do it but first I had to dig up some tungsten ice jigs.

I located some and began testing with the heating process to dip them in powder paint,Low and behold and just I thought it worked even after a 350* bake for 20 minutes in my toaster oven.

Now I just have to work on the 2 tone a little.

Are they painted as nice as store bought ? NO, but the fish wont be able tell the difference.

I thank all who advised against it… I love a challenge when it comes to powder painting.

FYI… The hook eyes were a bit of a challenge to clean out before baking.

PS: I didn’t melt one jig in any way shape or form.

Look great to me!

WTG!
It seem that everyone is “in the know” these days without having done it themselves.
Its like I tell my students, I do things I dont know how to do everyday.
What are you trying to accomplish?
What do you know about it?
What do you need to know about it?
Ask what my potential outcomes are?
What could go wrong?
Try it.
Succede or Fail?
What did you learn?
Is it worth another shot after learning what you did not know?

Good Job Jeff. Tungsten, eh….tungsten, the filament of a light bulb, heats at tremendous temps, and doesn’t melt…makes sense you should be about to heat it to 350`F…it melts at over 3400`F….

Its not the tungsten that melts its the low temp solder used to adhear the tungsten to the hook. I would bet different brands use different types of solder for that part of the jig making. Looks good! Care to share the brand you used?

You are right it is the solder that holds the hook in that melts.

If I knew the brand I would share but I do not know it..for I did not ask either , I just wanted some to test with.

BUT ,now that I know I can do it I will be researching them this summer and buying as many as my “play” money can buy.

Which by then I am hoping to have my airbrush set-up going and use that for a cleaner 2 tone ie.. fire tiger ect..

Your right tungsten does melt at over 3400 degrees. It melts at 6100+ degrees

I haven’t powder coated any tungsten jigs yet, but I did try some flutter spoons made with willow blades and a 90 degree jig hook soldered on the back. The light weight solder used gave way @ 425 degrees in about 5 minutes.
I just looked up melting points for random solders and they range from about 190F to 370F. So having the combination of lower temp powders that cure in the lower 300’s and higher melting point solders in the upper mid 300’s shouldn’t be a problem.

Way to meet the challenge Jeff. You won’t know if you don’t try.

I wonder how much of the “it can’t be done” mentality comes from the companies that don’t want people to stray from their stock in stores or on-line?

While painting lead jigs I have learnt to watch the jig change color as you heat it to dip in the powder,the color change will travel from one end to the other,I took that same theory and used it as I was heating the tungsten jigs, but it took just a second or two more to heat the tungsten jig to get the powder to melt evenly so it would leave a nice smooth glossy coat.

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Are they painted as nice as store bought ? NO, but the fish wont be able tell the difference.

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Look just fine to me

Nice work guy