Coffey Grinder

[sparkleminnow 0]

I always had a problem with the idea of tying a white popper, streamer, whatever, and adding color with a marker on stream. The problem is that I never did find a marker where the color stayed put. It would always wash off...even "permanent" markers. Now, the markers could give you the right color, right where you wanted it, but how to keep the color...? Well, I decided to coat the body with rod finsh. Bingo! Now whatever I dream up for a color pattern, it will stay.

 

So, luvinbluegills, you think a bluegill pattern next?

[Fusion Fly Boy 0]

nice, i love the fly...help us out

[sparkleminnow 0]

nice, i love the fly...help us out

Can you be a little more specific? I'll certainly try to help any way I can. You want directions, materials, all of the above...what? :dunno:

[cornmuse 0]

Wow! :bugeyes: NICE TIE!!!! Is that balsa?... foam? :dunno: I've got a couple Heddon plugs that look just like that and they work wonderfully. I'd love to see a step-by-step of how you made that baby bass.

 

Joe C.

[Guest]

That is a great looking lure. Like Cornmuse said, give us a step by step on it. It looks a lot like a pattern I saw recently in one of the magazines-Flytyer, I think but don't remember for sure. It was made with balsa then painted and lastly coated with epoxy.

 

Dave

[sparkleminnow 0]

It's foam. Since I don't usually like to tie & photograph as I go, I don't have a step-by-step yet. However, I can give you the tools list. OK...hope you're sitting for this...

 

*Dremel tool with flex shaft. This allows more dexterity for precise shaping of the foam.

*Sanding drum for Dremel tool using item #432 - 120grit sanding band.

*chainsaw sharpening stone for Dremel tool. It's the pink cylindrical stone. This is for boring the holes to sink the eyes

*Several wooden clothes pins. A couple with light spring pressure, and 6 with heavier spring pressure. Start scouring the garage sales. You might still find a few.

*Q-tips in bulk. These are used to absorb any extra super glue that squeezes out of the body. I also cut the tips off after they are used up, and use the stick to mix epoxy.

*Sanding sponge. 150 grit is about perfect. I use it to smooth the body, sometimes, but it is for blending body colors later in the process.

*multi-color markers. Wide variety. Highlighters, children's makers, art markers....you might have to experiment to find the right colors you need. Note - I have a more long, drawn out explanation as to how to get the colors that markers, alone, won't give you.

*razor blades - I use the Schick double edge blades to cut a slit into the body for inserting the wire form.

*wire bending tool. - This is a tiny little thing that is sold by Stamina tackle. It's $15 vs the $85-$125 larger wire forming tools.

* drying motor - mine's 7 RPM.

 

 

Materials list

* 1/2" Rainy's foam cylidars - available from any fly shop, or you can get them from Clouser's Fly Shop.

*.031" wire with preformed loop at one end. I prefer the 4" long, but they come in 6" long also.

* hollow, metal, 5/32" chrome bead. (for the blade bearing)

* Chrome #1 metal prop-type blade.

* #6 VMC 9908NI double hook for the tail hook...doesn't rust!

* Sz 10 - 8089NP Tiemco nickel hook....doesn't rust!

* 20lb Hard Mason mono (for weed-guard)

* 6/0 Uni-thread

* Zap-A-Gap

* 7/32" stick-on, domed, prizmatic eyes ....colors to suit your taste. I prefer silver or gold.

* Flex-Coat 2-part rod finish.

* Saddle hackle feather for tail dressing

 

Most of these materials are available at staminainc.com

 

Tying directions...

I'm lazy. I'll get to it later..

:dunno:

[Guest]

In a word:

 

OUTSTANDING!

 

 

Chartreuse...Fire Tiger...Yellow Perch....Black...and what's that other pattern? Hmmmm...it was on the tip of my tongue...oh yeah!

 

 

Bluegill!

[sparkleminnow 0]

OK, someone here might like this. I wonder who likes bluegills? Hmmm...

[sparkleminnow 0]

Ok, you wanted step-by-step.....Let's see if I can make this work.

Step one) Carve the body using the dremel w/flexshaft, and a 120 grit sanding roll.

[sparkleminnow 0]

Step two) Pre-determine the length of wire form needed by measuring against the body length. It will need to be slightly longer than this to accomidate the blade, bead, and kink in the wire needed to complete the form. I use the 4" pre-looped wire. (One end is already looped.)

Once the length is dertermined, place the bead, and then the blade on the wire. Bend the wire around the center pin of the bending tool. The instructions will say to use the outside pin, but it makes the loop larger than it needs to be. The front loop might not line up exactly with the tail loop. If not, bend the wire to align the eyes using two pairs of pliers.

 

Now, wrap the 8089np hook with thread. When you reach the back of the hook, tie in a 2 1/2" piece of Hard Mason mono for the weed-guard. You will need to keep the tie in point at less than a 1/4". It should not be on the shank, but the upper side of the bend. This is so that you can attach the wire form to the hook with thread, and you don't want the weed-guard to interfere with lashing it down. You need to wrap along the length of the wire and hook, in loosely spaced wraps, up to the eye. Now, wrap back to the bend, in loosely spaced wraps.

 

Insert the tag end of the Hard Mason mono through the eye of the hook. If it will not go in, try to push the wire off to one side. When you get the mono in the eye, check the length, and cut it off leaving 1/4" sticking through the eye. Now, melt the mono to make a ball from the tag end. Be careful not to burn off too much! The ball will keep it from coming back through the eye.

 

Use Zap-a-Gap to coat the thread on the wire, and hook. Set aside & allow to dry. Do NOT use Zip-Kicker to accelerate the curing process! After it is cured (not tacky), use needle nose pliers to put a kink in the wire form. This will expose more hook gap, shorten the wire form's overall length, and prevent the form from twising in the foam body.

[sparkleminnow 0]

Use a razor blade to carefully make a slit in the body that is perfectly centered. To say it a better way, make a dot in the center of the tail, and the nose. The blade should hit the dot on both ends; not hit one and miss the other. Anyone can do it. Just take your time, and be slow, and careful. It's not as tough as you might think. Do not cut more than half-way through the body.

[sparkleminnow 0]

Place the wire form in the body; hook eye first. Work the form in slowly being careful not to tear the foam. If the wire sticks out the tail too far, or not far enough, remove it. Bend the kink in the wire form until it fits in the body with just the eye exposed in front, and 1/16"-1/8" gap between the body and the blade, at the rear.

[sparkleminnow 0]

You will now have a gap in the belly of the body. You have to seal it shut with Zap-a-Gap. You want to spread the body, and using the long-reach tip supplied with Zap-a-Gap, place a drop or two inside under the wire form. Make sure the wire form is still seated properly, and seal the nose area. Use your fingers to hold the two sides together to be sure the glue holds before moving on. Place another drop of ZAG behind the weed-guard and work it towards the hook bend. If any excess seeps out of the gap, use a Q-tip to soak it up. hold in place until the ZAG takes hold. It should take between 10-30 seconds to do this. Now, do the same to the tail section. Be sure not to let excess get into the propeller blade!

[sparkleminnow 0]

Now, we move on to the eyes. When I used to make them uncoated, I would use domed eyes. I think the tape eyes would cost less, be lighter, and I could make the eye sockets shallower. I use a sping-loaded clothes pin(clip) to center the eyes. You can see if both sides are even, and that the eyes are at right angles to the hook bend before boring the eye socket. The pink stone is the large chain saw shapening stone for the Dremel tool; easily avaiable at any hardware store. It is exactly the same size as the 7/32" eyes.

 

Use a fairly high speed for sinking the eye sockets, but be careful. You might cut deeper than you want to if you are cutting at a speed that is too fast. Too, slow, and you will leave a large nipple in the center that you will need to cut out with your scissors.

 

As an aside, you could speed things up, and not buy the stone to grind eye sockets. Just stick tape eyes on the body, and use a spring type clothes pin to maintain pressure against the eyes until they are fully secure on the body. When coated, they aren't going to go anywhere.

[Joe Hard 0]

So very cool. Great instructions!!!