foam popper bodies

[sniksoh 0]

ive been making these poppers on my own for about a month now and if anyone wants to know how to make the popper bodies, here is a step by step that will easilt teach you how to make them.

 

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:

 

gasket punch (or compas and scissors if you dont have a gasket punch)

 

hammer

 

2mm foam

 

rubber cement

 

nail

 

paintbrush

 

dremel tool

 

 

STEP ONE

 

start out by selecting your foam colors and punch out holes with a gasket punch. if you dont have a gasket punch, you can use a compas to draw the circles and then cut them out with scissors. note that you might want to measure the hook shank in millimeters of the hook you are going to use and then divide that number by two to get the right length of the body of the popper. the reason why we are dividing by two is because we are using 2mm foam.

 

 

STEP TWO

 

glue the circles together with rubber cement. i find that it is easier to apply the adhesive with a small paintbrush. you can use super glue on this step but the rubber cement gives the popper a more "squishy" fish like feel and the super glue gives the popper a hard body...and i think rubber cement is easy to work with.

 

 

STEP THREE

 

let the adhesive dry. i place my popper bodies in a vice so the will stay together while the adhesive dries.

 

 

STEP FOUR

 

after the body dries, shove a nail throught the center of it. the gunk that you see on the popper bodies and the rough edges will go away when we shape them.

 

 

STEP FIVE

 

place the nail end into a dremel and apply a small bead of super glue on both ends of the popper body.

 

 

STEP SIX

 

turn on the dremel. while the body spins, shape it with an emory board. i like to cut the tip of the emory board to a point. this helps cup the popper.

 

(to cup the popper, just place the emory board at the angle you want the mouth of the popper to be and lightly apply pressure at this point. but do this after you shape the popper.)

 

 

STEP SEVEN

 

then take the nail out of the dremel and pull the popper off the nail, braking the bond of the super glue while doing so.

 

and there you have the finished popper body, i like to wash mine off in a bit of water but is not neccessary. you can also cut the bottom off the popper to give it a flat belly.

 

 

STEP EIGHT

 

now just shove the hook, eye first, through the hole that the nail made in the popper body. and add a little super glue to keep the body secure. tie on some tail materials, a couple of 3D eyes, and maybe a weed guard, and you will have a popper ready to be fished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[captaincondor 0]

This is great. Exactly what I needed to see and read. I am going ot make a bunch of these guys tomorrow. I tried to make some and shame them with a blade but they look terrible. These all look great so we will see how the pan out tomorrow

Thanks again

Cheers

Connor

[oatka 0]

AWESOME! as much as I could picture in my head exactly how you said you made these, it's great to see the pictures.

 

So, Sunday was my 7 year anniversary of the day I met my wife. So, last night she took me out to buy me a little gift. We got to Wally World and she took me to the craft section.....see where this is going.....and said "Happy Anniversary. Pick out 1 of each color of foam!"

 

So I got 1 of each color of foam they had. I have about 25 sheets of the stuff now, but that's probably around 12 colors since they doubled (or more) up a few colors.

 

And of course, I looked at my new collection and thought "Sniky Poppers" here I come!!!

 

I might add this fly to my agenda for the tying party I'm having saturday. I fit's the bill since I don't think anyone at the party will have tried this before!

 

Thanks again for the step by step!

[flyfishing idiot 0]

great work. just want to ask do you think it would be easer to glue the sheets togather frist then cut them out ?

[sniksoh 0]

great work. just want to ask do you think it would be easer to glue the sheets togather frist then cut them out ?

 

i did try that but the gasket punch didnt cut through all those layers and i dont think scissors will either...you have to use a spray adhesive to do glue them together and it takes just as long if not longer.

[day5 0]

Ridderbos glues the sheet together but Im not sure what he uses for a punch I do know that they turn out sweet!!!

[sniksoh 0]

i have heard of people glueing the sheets together first. and then use a drill press with a gasket punch or sharpened metal tubing inserted in the drill press then use that to punch the holes...i tried this with just the hammering method and it is pretty darn ahrd to get through all the layers...i didnt even get passed the first layer of foam.

[Batman 0]

Good Work,,,,,,,,,,,B

[dsaavedra 0]

very nice! i cant wait to make a few of these!!!!!

[captaincondor 0]

One issue i have is that the foam body continues to rotate as i spin it. I tried going very lightly and no change. I also tried a screw and put the drill in reverse so that it would force itself agaist the screw head and use the friction but still nothing different.

Any suggestions

Thanks

[Blueman89 0]

One issue i have is that the foam body continues to rotate as i spin it. I tried going very lightly and no change. I also tried a screw and put the drill in reverse so that it would force itself agaist the screw head and use the friction but still nothing different.

Any suggestions

Thanks

 

Sometimes they do that. I think it's mostly because the glue doesn't allow the foam to 'heal' itself as well, thus creating less friction to work with. I try to make sure there is a small area with no glue near where the needle goes. And when I do have a piece that acts up, I just cut it up and make smaller bodies.

[sniksoh 0]

well what i do is stick the foam on the needle with no glue first. then just apply a tiny bit on each of the ends and thats how i do it...but put the foam on first and it will heal itself. then apply the glue...works for me.

 

sniksoh

[letumgo 0]

Outstanding step-by-step instructions, snicksoh! :headbang:

 

I must give this a try. I think I can make a nice tube fly popper with your foam heads.

 

I have exactly the same set of gasket punches that you do. When I bought them they were quite dull and did not cut foam very well. I a friend sharpen the ends for me by putting the punches into a metal lathe and holding a metal file at the end of the punch while it rotated. Now they are razor sharp and I can cut foam with the slightest twist of the punch. If you have access to a grinder you may be able to sharpen the punches to make them work better (please use safety glasses and use grinder with care).

 

Thanks for sharing the process.

[sniksoh 0]

Outstanding step-by-step instructions, snicksoh! :headbang:

 

I must give this a try. I think I can make a nice tube fly popper with your foam heads.

 

I have exactly the same set of gasket punches that you do. When I bought them they were quite dull and did not cut foam very well. I a friend sharpen the ends for me by putting the punches into a metal lathe and holding a metal file at the end of the punch while it rotated. Now they are razor sharp and I can cut foam with the slightest twist of the punch. If you have access to a grinder you may be able to sharpen the punches to make them work better (please use safety glasses and use grinder with care).

 

Thanks for sharing the process.

 

mine are pretty dull and the take about 5 wacks with the hammer to cut out a piece of foam...but i dont have a grinder...would i be able to some how use the dremel to sharpen them?

[sniksoh 0]

never mind i figured it out