Paint coming off of eyes?

[Adventure568 0]

I fish the housatonic river here in CT which is VERY rocky. The paint on my lead eyes always comes off. Is there any way to stop this from happening?

[coinman66 0]

Loons Hard Head or Hard as Nails works great.

[flytire 0]

not really. eventually any coating that is applied will also chip off

[mikechell 0]

Have you noticed more or fewer hits before and after paint removal? Most people will say it doesn't really matter if the eyes are painted on there or not.

they do make the dumbbell eyes with the relieved area for the actual "eye", which should allow the eye to stay in place a little longer.

Other than that ... I agree with Flytire.

[flytire 0]

pick a different dumbbell that offers more protection to the eye itself

 

 

 

 

 

[bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0]

Flytire - those you pictured 3rd down(under the sunken brass dumbells) - do those have some sort of finish applied to them? Just wonder if that will scratch off or otherwise wear like painted eyes. Almost looks like anodizing - but I thought that was only for aluminum.

 

The recessed eyes look like the best bet as far as trying to avoid the appearance of damage to the eyes. However, they will probably still get 'wear'. Nothing is going to be bulletproof. Gives you a good reason to tie more (or if it is bulletproof - it'll cost and arm and a leg).

BCT

[Fisherboy0301 0]

It might be anodizing, I've seen aluminum dumbbells to add eyes without as much weight.

[flytire 0]

Looks anodized to me

[tidewaterfly 0]

Stop banging them into rocks!

 

Seriously, I also agree with flytire. No matter what type you use, if you bang them into rocks the coating will come off. I like those recessed eyes & add an epoxy coat to a lot of mine & they still get banged up even in places where there's not many rocks. Even sand or mud, and wood will wear the epoxy & paint off, just takes longer. I like the look of painted eyes, and sometimes a simple, all black eye looks good on some flies, (black sharpie & a bit of epoxy or Hard As Nails) but the fish don't care, they eat the flies even after the eyes are beat up.

[mikechell 0]

Anodizing is just another term for electroplating. The main difference is that electroplating usually leaves a decorative and opaque finish; Chrome, Copper or Nickel being the most common ... and anodizing leaves a transparent very thin layer.

[flytire 0]

Anodizing
Anodizing is an electrochemical conversion process that forms an oxide film, usually on aluminum, in an electrolyte (chemical solution). The aluminum parts are the anode (thus the term “anodizing”) and current is passed between them and a cathode, usually flat aluminum bars, through the above mentioned electrolyte (sulfuric acid is most commonly used). There are different types of anodize, most commonly referred to as Type I-Chromic Acid Anodize, Type II-Sulfuric Acid Anodize, and Type III Hard Anodize or Hardcoat from the Mil-A-8625 designation. Other less common types are phosphoric acid and titanium anodize.

 

Electroplating

Electroplating is the process of applying one or more layers of a metal to a part by passing a positively charged electrical current through a solution containing dissolved metal ions (anode) and a negatively charged electrical current through your part to be plated (cathode). The history dates back to the ancient Egyptians who would coat metals and non-metals with gold or a process known as “gilding”, the first known surface finish. Some metals apply more evenly than others, but the use of electricity means that the metal being deposited flows more easily to high current areas or the edges of a part. This tendency is especially pronounced on complex shapes or when trying to plate the inside or ID portion of a part. In addition to just single metals being applied, it is possible to simultaneously plate alloys of materials such as Tin and Lead or Zinc and Iron to achieve desired customized properties.

[mikechell 0]

Yes, like I said ... electrically depositing a film onto metal. The deposited film material is essentially the only "real" difference.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I make a point of baking every painted lead eye -before it's tied into place.... and still they will begin to chip off if they're not eaten and destroyed by a fish. As much as we all like our bugs to look their best I find no difference in strikes between painted and un-painted (or chipped off) eyes. At the end of a day on the water any flies we damaged while fishing will get rinsed off in sweetwater and allowed to dry -then I'll cut back and re-tie the bug to bring it back into service. Usually the first item that gets replaced are those eyes.... Here'a pic or two of the fixture I use for painting eyes, to be able to handle and paint up to 100 at a time. Each coat of paint (background, then center) are separately baked at 300 degrees for 20 minutes then allowed to cool before the next step is done. I have an "eye box" with every size of eye, both painted and un-painted as part of my production process - and usually have eyes in white/black, yellow/black, and red/black. Since I'm using an alkyd enamel for my eye painting, the baking part is just plain onerous with lots of windows open (and my other half not in the house under any circumstances....).

[flytire 0]

No electroplating is applying a layer of METAL to a part like a chrome bumper which can be peeled when the base metal gets rusted where as anodizing is a film that cannot be peeled off. Try peeling off the anodizing on a fly reel

[flytire 0]

So the baked eyes still chip?