Cork poppers

[Poopdeck 0]

So many ways to skin a cat. I rough shape with a hack saw blade and finish on a belt sander clamped to a bench. I cup with a burr and cut the hook slot with two hacksaw blades. I've grown fond of the bent shank hooks made specifically for poppers. I set the hook in somewhere between the edge and center. Don't squeeze the cork to close the gap as this promotes cracking. Just fill the crack with 5 minute epoxy over the hook shank.

 

I use to paint the cork body with 5 minute epoxy to smooth it and then paint over the epoxy with whatever I got laying around which is usually cheap craft store paint or testers. Finish with a coat or two of SH, sometimes I sprinkle with glitter followed by another coat of SH. I've since cut out the painting with epoxy since it takes more time and a smooth body adds nothing in the fish biting column. Simple functional consumables is also how I view them.

[Peterjay 0]

Great looking bugs, Duke. Nice to see that somebody else makes his own eyes; yours look terrific. I haven't had much luck with the puffy paint - a bit too thick for my uses. Do you thin it, and if so, do you use water? I've been using cheap acrylic paint from Walmart on polyethylene bags. Once they cure, they're fairly easy to peel off, but I'm definitely gonna try your wax paper method. A little trick I picked up is to put a layer of glitter paint over the base, before adding the pupil. Makes for a nice sparkling effect. I coat them with a layer of liquid fusion once they're applied. I recently watched a Davie McPhail video, where he put a drop of UV resin on each eye to make hard eyes. It's a lot easier to just buy stick-ons, but making them is a lot more fun.

[Guest]

Used sparkle fingernail polish and puffy paint and they're really easy to remove from snack cake waxed cardboards

[Guest]

Tried just Krazyglue for the hooks and seal cork, SallyHansens and glitter powder/dust no paint...pulled some crystal flash thru with the rubber legs.

[fshng2 0]

Great looking poppers Denduke.