Tungsten

[hookup]

Anyone ever work with this?

Keitech has some tungsten jigs that cost an arm & a leg. The other night a buddy & I had a long talk about how they make it.

From what I understand Tungsten melts @ around 6000dF, which makes melting out of the question for the home pourer.

But, I seen fine tungsten powder for sale & when you look at the Keitech jigs, they really dont feel like a metal. Keitech has some patented procedure to make their jigs.

So we were thinking about mixing some of this powder in with epoxy's and injecting molds.

Anyone have any insight or experiance working with Tungsten that they want to share?

 

[CrappieHappy]

I have never worked with it , but Recalled Sonny making a comment about tungsten powder and epoxy. I found the below thread.

http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=840&highlight=tungsten

 

[Hawnjigs]

Why or when would having a smaller size jig head be worth all the trouble?

 

[hookup]

Why or when would having a smaller size jig head be worth all the trouble?

When your state makes lead illegal

 

[Hawnjigs]

Huh, never thought of that since I've been lead free in fresh water going on 10 yrs. and never once fished where lead was banned.

Anyone who can pour lead can pour tin or bismuth with the same equipment.

 

[eyecrosser]

We use Tungsten jigs for ice fishing, sometimes the smaller size is what the fish want and they fish a bit heavier than lead jigs of the same size. When you are on a hungry school that may move they get you back down to them in a hurry.

 

[hookup]

Hawn - buddy's trying to make a Keitch tungsten jig for cheaper. He's got a big bag of powdered tungsten he's experimenting with.

Have another buddy who's a biochemist - he told me to send him one of the jig heads and he'll tell me what the composition is. Must be nice having a mass spectrometer and chromatographic equipment to play with.

 

[Hawnjigs]

How much does tungsten powder cost? RotoMetals has small lot bismuth for $20/lb and low melt lead free alloy for $17.

Does your buddy ever test for aluminum fallout from geo-engineering?

 

[smalljaw]

Hawn - buddy's trying to make a Keitch tungsten jig for cheaper. He's got a big bag of powdered tungsten he's experimenting with.

Have another buddy who's a biochemist - he told me to send him one of the jig heads and he'll tell me what the composition is. Must be nice having a mass spectrometer and chromatographic equipment to play with.

Tungsten can't be don'e on the cheap, using the powder and epoxy method is time consuming and it doesn't yield the same result, I have worked with a few people trying this. The way jigs are made is by a process called sintering, it can't be done by us unless you own a plant with that kind of equipment but they you have to buy the Tungsten powder. I had a nice long chat with a rep from Eco Pro Tungsten and the reason it is so expensive isn't just the way it is made but the cost because it is used a lot in military applications and is expensive to acquire, so if you want to make a tungsten jig, that is one thing, to do it cheap is a pipe dream but if there was a way it could be done cheaper than it is now you would have a lot of business. 2 things we can't do at home, 1 is make tungsten jigs and the other is titanium wire spinnerbaits, well you could make them with titanium wire but you wouldn't be able to temper the wire so they would end up brittle.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Not sure why anyone would go with the more compact, very expensive tungsten jigs. I WANT bigger,but lighter heads - Hawn's tins give me a spoon like flash, as well as great action jigheads!. In fact I believe the "metal jigs" (SPOONS) are terrific, and the "new" ice fishing models such as "Ken's Hook" from Michigan might open many new avenues of success!

 

[quivira kid]

We use Tungsten jigs for ice fishing, sometimes the smaller size is what the fish want and they fish a bit heavier than lead jigs of the same size. When you are on a hungry school that may move they get you back down to them in a hurry.

This.

Fishing 10 ft deep plus, tungsten ice jigs really shine. I've been fishing a size 14 tungsten ice jig this fall/winter and doing very well. It feels heavier, so you have good sensitivity for what is typically a finicky bite. Vertical jigging out of the boat, I really like a heavier head/smaller hook setup. It makes a difference!

 

[eyecrosser]

Like QK said, finicky cold front panfish really fall for these heavy little jigs in both shallow and deep water and the sensitivtivty you have with them coupled with a spring bobber is a killer combo.

 

[Bucho]

I got some samples of slotted tungsten beads from a local tungsten specialist. Tried to tie them in as well as using fluid-bed powder paint to glue the bead to the hook. Both worked out well, though the thread is visible and the powder paint breaks of if you smash the jig against concrete in a manner that would deform lead, too. As some of you have read, I am developing a jig for urban fishing with a lot of bridges, hence the trial...

I asked the guy for a B2B quote on a lot of 100 pieces, and he offered me
€24,50 for the 6mm - 2 gram - very, very roughly 1/16th oz
€36,- for the 7mm - 3 gram
€55,- for the 8mm - 4 gram - in this case, maybe 1/8th

http://www.tu-wurm.tbds-server.de/product_info.php?products_id=191

either painted or not. I put some of them on the fine scale and found that there were quite a few micrograms missing, but that´s how exact things are being handled over here where there`s not too much micro jig tying going on. For the same reason, I don´t take any responsibility in the data given and don´t even start to convert them, sorry. (Edit: I just did, see above)) Mr. Wurm said he would ship to the States, my personal experience is that shipping can be done very quick and rather inexpensive, 10 days and 5-6€. No idea about his english language skills however, but I can always help out if needed.

Here´s a pic of them with a size 8 hooks. Up left is the 8mm, bottom the broken off 7mm and right two "powder-painted-on" 6mm :

i

 

[Shoemoo]

If you are looking for a jig that will not show chips and scratches when bounced off a rock, you're better off using unpainted nickel or brass. All paints will chip, crack or show marks when enough force is applied.

Steelhead and salmon anglers usually aim to run their jigs within a foot of the bottom, which means a lot of contact with gravel and underwater obstacles like big rocks. Painted heads always eventually end up looking like they were ground along the pavement. In my experience, people think it's a lot bigger deal than the fish do.

 

[Bucho]

I usually don´t care too much about chipping, but when I glue a heavy bead over a boolie propeller then broken paint means a loose bead which renders the lure utterly useless, at least in the eyes of the purchaser.

BTW when I spoke to the guy about paint, he said that powder would chip and galvanized would be far better. When I asked him about the baking scedule he used, he silenced.... I once dropped a bag with some of his orange painted beads, and they chipped instantly.

Long story short, the gold and chrome beads in his shop are outstanding but the colored ones are probably not even cured.

 

[Hawnjigs]

I haven't actually poured any, but a #8 Sickle appears to fit a Do-it STL steelhead ball head mold 1/16 oz cavity. The Pro 101 1/16 needs a slight lowering towards the head of the hook eye slot to fit.