sloppy dots

[catmanclark 0]

Yeah so I love making balsa poppers for panfish, and am experimenting with paint (testors) pens, sharpies, using a pin for dots, even Qtips. I have a pretty steady hand, but not very good with a brush.. My inquiry is; what are some of you using to make consise dots with out running, or smearing? Is there something others have been using that I don't know, or is there something I could construct?

 

Thanks

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

I used to use the back of my paint brushes with the rounded tip cut off to make a flat surface. Then I used wooden dowels that I sharpened in a pencil sharpner and cut the sharpened cone at different points to get different sized dots.

Now, I use pins and nail heads. The nail heads are ground down to different diameters to produce different sized dots for the eyes and other markings. Just chuck the nail shaft in your drill with the head sticking out and run it on a steel file until the nail is ground down to the desired diameter. I then glue them in to wooden sticks to make easier holding.

I mainly use dots to make eyes on my poppers but also for markings.

 

Kirk

[Stippled Popper 0]

Yarn Darners, Tapestry, and regular Sewing Needles can be purchased at little cost at such places as WalMart. They are more uniformly cylindrical along the shaft than nails and should provide enough diameters for most purposes other than eyes for large poppers. Just cut with something like a Dremel tool. Embed the back end of the needle in a balsa dowel to make a comfortable handle.

 

Another option is to use the back end of old drill bits if you have access to some that are no longer needed for their original purpose.

[flytire 0]

if you have disposable money burning a hole in your pocket, wasach has a tool set just for this purpose and for painting eyes

 

http://www.flytyingtools.com/webpages/tools/eyePaintKit.html

[perchjerker 0]

SP:

 

Using the back end of a drill bit does not adversely affect them for their originally intended use! They don't even need to have the paint cleaned off. They will still properly chuck up when needed as a drill bit. I will admit that it is perhaps nice to clean the paint off before it dries; but not absolutely necessary. How many other tools can you buy today that you can get mote than one type of use out of without permanently damaging it, or having to first alter it?

 

If you are going to use them, they should definitely have flat back ends, as the tapered ones would not be expected to give the desired result.

 

Also, who other than the tier will ever notice that those made with nails, straight pins, wooden dowels, etc. are not perfectly round? I seriously doubt that the fish will notice; or even care!

 

On the other hand, if, like one very well known deer hair tier, you are an artist, and this is your medium, then it perhaps should be a concern.

 

perchjerker

[Stippled Popper 0]

I tried using a drill bit as is. However, the problem for me is that some of the diameters were too small to hold in the hand for very long with any comfort. Also relatively sharp edges were not that comfortable either. I'd rather use a drill bit embedded in a wooden handle were I to use drill bits and hold onto that handle.

[perchjerker 0]

Stippled:

 

A turn or two; or three or four, of masking tape should do the trick!

 

perchjerker

[Stippled Popper 0]

Flytire:

 

Did they finally actually start selling those sets. I quit looking for them about a year after I first saw they

had been announced.

 

One Saturday a while back my local Fly Fishing Club put together a Popper Clinic which covered how

to make foil balsa pencil poppers and applying details to any popper using my methods. Yes we actually

got the full 10 people we set out to sign up when we came up with the idea.

 

Here is an image of one of the 10 tool sets made for the detailing portion of our Clinic. The brass rods

were used to paint eyes on the pencil poppers.

 

 

The brass rods were also used to paint eyes on the pencil poppers.

 

The balsa handled tools were made from needles, Yarn Darners, Tapestry Needles, and a couple the

more usual needles used to sew on buttons and such. The balsa handles were also used as the pencil

popper bodies.

 

 

 

The Black marks to the right of some of the needles indicate the approximate place to cut the eye of

the needles off. I use the remaining needles to make my own versions of several different bodkins for

several purposes.

 

 

 

[Dart 0]

I'm thinking I may finally put some wooden handles on my little ole drill bits. Maybe that'll be a Sunday afternoon "project."