Painting your own jigs

For those using powder paint...heating the jig head and dipping in the powder is NOT enough...As has been mentioned, heat the jig, dip it in the powder and hang them on a string/wire. when you get 40-50, cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and put it on the bottom rack in your oven. Put the top rack towards the top of the oven. Hang the jigs on the top rack over the baking sheet. Heat the oven to about 200 degrees and bake the jigs for about 20 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the door and let them cool. The paint will have a nice shine and any clumps will smooth out. Don't heat the oven too much more than 200 degrees or the paint will get too warm and drip off (which is what the baking sheet is for). If you have a source to get free lead, you can make 100 jigs for about $10...if you have to buy the lead, then just buy the jig heads.

I powder coat my jigs and after baking them I coat them with extra hard nail polish.

I use garage floor paint, which you can get from any decent paint store. Its not cheap but a gallon goes a long, long way. It also smells awful, so it's not something you want to use inside the house. But the dry paint has this kind of rubbery texture to it and it's about as chip resistant as you can get. The only downside is that the choice f colours is pretty limited, black, gray or yellow mainly.  

I've used both the baked on powder paints and nail polish lacquers. Nail polish comes in a million different colors. I learned this from my daughter who gave me countless rejects of mostly filled bottles, complete with brush-in-cap.Why women would want green fingernails (Salley Hansen / Emerald city) that is a perfect match for the green in Lake Michigan perch is a mystery to me. Clear polish on a freshly poured jig will keep a shiny silver look. There are hologram flecked finishes that look even better. The only downside is the finish is destroyed when soft plastics are in contact with it. Powder stays and lasts. Lots of good info on that already. Got a new heat gun with a thermostat to preheat that is great for not melting the lead right off the tiny jigs. My small jar says bake at 350.

I've been painting jigs for over 40 years now.  I go through a lot up in Canada every year.  I also use the powder paint from Reinke's (Out of business) so not sure who is stocking it now days. I still have the original jars of paint and I must have painted over 500 jigs, if not more. Getting low on the hot pink. I buy bulk jigs on Amazon, heat them over the stove for about 3-5 seconds, dip in paint and knock off excess, and hang them over paper or something that catches any potential drips. After they cool, I place on the rack in the oven and bring it up to 225 and hold for 15-20 minutes. This gives the paint a rock solid finish.  Make sure you clean the eyelets before baking.  Don't heat over a candle as you will get black soot on the jigs.

As for using the Pro-tec powder, my wife was getting rid of an old toaster oven which I snatched and kept in garage. You can set the temp and stick as many jigs as you're going to paint that session in the oven for initial heating. I can typically remove 4 or 5 at a time that stay hot enough to dip into the powder, hang them on chicken wire draping over a bread pan after tapping off excess powder, and remove the next batch of 4 from the oven to coat. When all have their initial coat and are hanging on the chicken wire, I stick the bread pan back in the oven for glazing. Makes for quick work.

Use  pro-tec powder paint heat up jig with stand up heat gun dip in powder knock off excess powder then hit with heat again quickly hang on a string or styrofoam and let cool and cure, no extra clear coating step necessary. If you can get  free or cheap lead, the hooks from mud-hole or memphis net and twine the powders not that much you save alot on buying jigs. i fished the wolf alot and would go thru countless jigs in a day and i had free lead so it was very cost effective for myself.   good luck and have fun with it, lil trick if you fish heavy current, i would just after pouring the jig and getting it out of the mold flatten both sides with a hammer makes a flater style jig

It depends on how many and how long you plan to make your own. I’ve been making my own jigs for over 40 years and I know I saved a ton of money over the years. I own 8-10 different molds and a nice melting pot that I’ve been using since I started. The price of bulk hooks is relatively cheap and I used to get all my lead from the job. In the early years I would dip or hand paint all my jigs with a base coat, color and clear coat. Now I primarily powder coat everything which lasts longer and takes a lot more abuse.
If you’re only trying to increase your supply of certain jigs, then purchasing bare jigs is probably your best option. The only thing you’re going to need is the type and colors of paint that you want. 

Thanks for the comments.  

What I'm considering doing is just buying unpainted jigs in bulk and painting those.  Would that eventually put the cost in my favor?

I used to make lots of them, from 1/32 up to 1/2 ounce. I have all the molds and bought many different hook styles and have a quality lead melter.  My goto paint was a coat of white, than pink/chartreuse or what ever and than clear coat. I bought the paints that were made for jigs. (Rienkee's in Milwaukee, 33rd and Greenfield) You are not going to save money making your own jigs. It's a hobby, take your time, experiment and enjoy catching fish on something you made.  
Funny thing to,  for years I added buck tails to my jigs in many different colors. Now it seems like "Hair Jigs" are some hot new thing.

seal with clear nail polish.