tips for poppers...?

[Fla. Panfisher 0]

Hi all, I have been readin' alot of the back pages to gain a little knoledge. I went to Bass Pro and picked up a few items... well I was foolin with a little balsa and was wondering some of ya'lls sandin and shapin techniques, or any other tips I could use being a complete beginner ... I got a few books off e-bay but am still waitin for delivery. I was kinda dissapointed in the small selection that Bass Pro did have. On a better note, I did manage a 2 pound or so bass last night. Goin to the Gheenoe rally this weekend on the Econ gonna give it a go there... try and get some pics if anything worth while comes up. Thanks. Conrad

[Po0gs 0]

jschmidt63 will have this knowledge proably. PM him possibly?

[Guest]

For Balsa I use a block sander. Not sure exactly what it is called but it has some type of foam in the middle surrounded by sandpaper

 

Anyway just cut a small piece of balsa to fit the size of your hook and then go to town sanding it to your desired shape. You can make any style you like; pencil popper, regular popper, slider...etc.

 

Then I usually use model paint and then coat with epoxy.

 

 

[jschmidt63 0]

glad you are experimenting with poppers

 

my best luck with balsa is buying square blanks of it in 3/8 and 1/2" sizes. I simply hold the blank in some sandpaper and start rotating it unit I work it to the shape I want. Since balsa is so soft it doesnt take much to shape a round popper or slider. The block sanding technique mentioned above I use on bigger balsa flies but I tend to make most of mine using the "roll the blank in sandpaper" technique. Once I get the shape I cut the ends using a sharp double edge razor blade. I sometimes trim the bottom of the balsa just a little to make it flat.

 

Then I paint with water base enamal, add spark sometimes, eyes and then 5 minute epoxy.

 

here is an example of a mini slider I did recently using this technique.

 

[Fla. Panfisher 0]

js I pretty much did like ya said already. I work as a general contractor so I have had experience with all kind of materials, but my fingers seem so big and the wood so small. I was wondering how ya cup the face be'in end grain and gettin it smooth. Gonna dig out the old dremmel tool I guess. I will try again today, hell I'll probally take some to work and try to do a little shapin there while I babysit the crew. Thanks for your help...Conrad

I'll post back up later this afternoon.

[mozes 0]

If you want to use dremel take a look here.

[Fla. Panfisher 0]

Great link moses... Thanks... just might work...

[jschmidt63 0]

QUOTE (Fla. Panfisher @ Jun 2 2005, 04:49 AM)

js I pretty much did like ya said already. I work as a general contractor so I have had experience with all kind of materials, but my fingers seem so big and the wood so small. I was wondering how ya cup the face be'in end grain and gettin it smooth. Gonna dig out the old dremmel tool I guess.  I will try again today, hell I'll probally take some to work and try to do a little shapin there while I babysit the crew. Thanks for your help...Conrad  I'll post back up later this afternoon.

Fla

 

your right, sorry about that, when I read through your post again you pretty much do the same thing. Now a dremel I dont have, curious about those puppies, thinking of buying one.

 

As for the cup and end grain, I just lightly work a real fine sandpaper thats bent in a loop. I admit its hard to do this so most of mine dont have the cupped face.

 

Also about how to attach to hook. I lean towards a v cut and use gorilla glue. Curious how you attach to the hook.

 

 

Also, since your in construction, I am wondering if you have ever played around with harder woods for poppers, like pine. I know it would mean allot more work and they would be heavier but I am curious about the potential results. I may try some pine.

 

 

also, a few more recent balsas

 

[Fla. Panfisher 0]

nice work john they look great... as far as a harder wood? suppose it would work...gonna go by skycraft tommorow, as they have all kinds of surplus, gonna build a lathe outta some parts I'm sure they have there, should be really easy, and they have 7 rpm sign motors that should make a good dryer. I know the epoxy likes to run , have had a hard time buildin on my boat this winter cuz of it. Some pieces took 2 days to dry. I was gonna try and see about using some core cell foam thats a 15 lb density, way harder than balsa, should sand easy though, use it for boat transomes so I know its some tough stuff. The very little I tried I did glue a hook in one, but it would spin in the epoxy, probally gonna pound a flat spot to stop rotation, hopefuly. I'm sure I will get the hang of it sooner or later. Conrad.

[Guest]

For forming the balsa I actually use a wood rasp to get near the final shape and then switch to emery boards fo final sanding. I do use a dremel tool to make the concave faces on the poppers. This has worked for me. The wood rasp lets me shape the poppers very quickly. I usually make short dowel pieces by punching them out of a block of balsa (with the grain). Then I make the concave portion using the dremel tool and a spherical grinding head. Then I split the balsa cylinder in half along the grain using my pocet knife. i then file a shallow groove to put the hook in the cylinder in one half of the balsa cylinder and then epoxy the pieces around the hook. I usually don't use crook shanked popper hooks. For freshwater poppers I like Aberdeens, for saltwater Mustad 92611s (with the offset straightened). After the cylinder is on the hook i use the rasp to rough out the shape and then use the emery boards to fine tune the shape. Finishes differ, you can see how to do a fishscale finish, it is in the fly archive.

 

Mark Delaney

[Guest]

Forgot to address the other woods. I've seen poppers made from basswood and cedar as well. They will float lower since the woods are denser. I've also seen people put toom much finish and have underwater poppers with these woods. Have to remember the finishes are all denser than water as well.

 

Mark Delaney

[SwampHunter 0]

This is cool, and it's something I can do as soon as I build the components for the lathe. I have two Dremel tools, a Foredom and a drill press as well. I am sure with one of these I can make a lathe that will work for spinning Balsa.

I had a huge chunk of Basla that I just went out to the shop and ripped into 1x1's. I also have Tupleo, Cork, Basswood, Jelutong, and some old foam crab pot floats that I could use for materials.

I have a working knowledge of all of these materials and have a shop that is set up for cutting, carving and shaping.

Thanks for the links and the tips. They really open alot of new doors.