"Painting" bead heads.

[switch10 0]

I have a ton of gold tungsten beads, but I have been using a lot of black ones lately. I was wondering if it is possible to paint the gold ones black. What should I use? I was thinking nail polish. Any ideas?

[flytire 0]

you can use powder paint

 

[Piker20 0]

Thats a good link. Have you tried it? If you use the bead eye trapped in some wire to dip it, what happens when you take this off? Or do you nip the wire and tie that in along with the eye?

[SCOwens 0]

I use finger nail polish. It's cheap and accessible. As low as $0.99 a bottle, just have to deal with the odd looks at the register haha

[perchjerker 0]

You simply unwrap the copper wire, to be used again for another set.

 

I would like to add a couple of comments to this very good video.

 

1) You should be able to heat a section of chain, dip it, and reheat. This would enable one to do many pairs of eyes at one time, and to cut them into pairs later. (The "pros" don't powder coat lawn furniture one small section at a time.)

 

2) You can avoid blackening white, which he said is a problem, if you use ONLY the hot part of the flame. Anyone who has ever taken a high school chemistry course knows that the hottest part of any flame is the BLUE part: NOT the orange! (Ask anyone who uses an acetylene welding torch which part of the flame they use!) Combustion is very near complete in the blue part, but only partially complete (incomplete) in the orange part. Soot is not produced by complete combustion, but is when combustion is incomplete. Soot blackens things quite readily. If you pay close attention to the video, he always uses the orange (incomplete combustion) part of the flame. I'll bet a "cold one" that his reds, oranges, etc., all have a soot deposit on them! This, clearly, does not create a problem on the black ones.

 

Based on the prices in my local "just down the road" Bass Pro Shop for their powder paint, one would have to do hundreds, if not thousands of eyes to justify the expense. It is a shame that they don't package it in much smaller containers.

 

Regards,

Frank

[flytire 0]

Thats a good link. Have you tried it? If you use the bead eye trapped in some wire to dip it, what happens when you take this off? Or do you nip the wire and tie that in along with the eye?

 

i supplied the link thats all

 

i havent tried it but i suppose you could make a loop in a piece of wire, coat the bead, shake off excess powder and follow the instructions on the video. after cooling, slide the bead off the wire. you only need to coat the outside of the bead anyways.

 

put the bead on the hook and coat it that way

 

2 oz jar

 

 

regardless of what you use, its likely to get chipped anyway if your sh!tty backcasts are hitting rocks etc

[Piker20 0]

regardless of what you use, its likely to get chipped anyway if your sh!tty backcasts are hitting rocks etc

 

So that was you stood behind me

[Peterjay 0]

You can use nail polish, but unless you're fishing over a soft substrate, they're gonna chip very easily. You can extend the life a bit by coating the black with clear polish, but they're still gonna chip eventually. I used to coat weighted shad flies with nail polish, but their life expectancy was so short that durability wasn't really an issue. Or maybe you could just put away the gold beads for future use and break down and buy some black ones.

[Stippled Popper 0]

It probably wouldn't work to Blacken Tungsten beads. But to Blacken Bead Chain eyes I use Brownell's Gun Metal Bluing.

 

The Bluing has worked on all of the Nickle/Steel Bead Chains I've used it on. The resulting color isn't going to chip off.

[netabrookie 0]

I just came across this subject and thought that I would give a suggestion for a source for your powder coatings. Im not sure what all the shops are charging, but one rod building/fly tying catalog listed a 2 oz. container for $6.42. The Eastwood Co. (automotive restoration) lists a bunch of colors in either 6 or 8 oz.(i can't remember) containers starting at $ 7.99 and going on up. I have never tried it on a bead or a jig, but it works very good on automotive/motorcycle applications...just a thought...Take Care...

[Obi 0]

Hi!

 

I use Email-Color for these kinds of applications. I am not sure if REVELL-color is well known in the US, but this kind of colot is widely used for building models. U know, like for painting of tank- or airplain-models.

Email-Color is available in a wide range of color-shades. It is durable and comes in very small quantities. Only negative aspect I can think of: It takes several hours to dry.

 

 

Take care, Obi

[mikechell 0]

Yeah, we have paint for Revell models. Cars, trucks ... tanks? You have a war collection Obi? LOL

The paints available for models is extensive and to be honest, I completely forgot about them. I will probably head to my local hobby shop to look for some colors this afternoon.

I got caught up in the craze for fingernail polishes ... does that mean I am into cross-painting?

[Obi 0]

@ mikechell: War-collection? Not at all .......

 

The only time I use nail-polish for painting flies is when I need this "twinkle-twinkle-multi-color" stuff for finishing streamer-heads and poppers. Adds a nice effect to the pattern........

 

REVELL-color also works great for adding "hi-vis-marks" to dark patterns like black foam beetles and such.........

 

 

Cheers, Obi

[switch10 0]

Thanks for all the replies! I actually just purchased 100 black tungsten beads, but I may pick up some of the powder paint for when I run out again!

[Mike1958 0]

Nice vid... thanks!