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nick2011

Foam poppers bodies and strike indicators

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So i recently decided to start making my own popper heads for something new to try and its really a nice change. I made what i call a foam press and make my own sheets of block foam in various color patterns, then cut out the heads, shape them then tie them on. Does any one else use this method as well? im also going to make my own deep realease strike indicators.

Pictures to follow soon.

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There was a thread on this topic just about a month or so ago. Lots of folks use flip-flops (or Yoga mats, etc.).. Most use a punch made out of a section of copper pipe with one end sharpened. I don't use flip-flops but I do use a copper tube punch on sheet foam when I want a round piece for something Like the Confederate General body.

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Now I see.... that's for gluing the sheets. We used to use something like that in botany lab called a plant press. That's a good idea if you're planning to glue up lots of blocks. I'd think one stack of sheets would suffice to make several dozen popper heads. If you're not planning to do it repeatedly, maybe a couple of sheets of plywood and some bricks on top???

 

What do you plan to use to punch out the heads?

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Hey Nick, nice blocks. What kind of glue did you use? I drill out bodies from foam blocks quite a bit...but many of them are solid foam blocks. Oh yeah, one thing that works well to shape the foam cylinder is a dremel. You can take a longer cylinder and put a small nail in the center lengthwise. Chuck the nail in the dremel, and use it as a lathe. Shape the foam with an emery board or sandpaper to make a pencil popper, or taper the head also to get a floating minnow. Covering these with mylar or easybody gives a neat effect.post-56862-0-88936000-1442791298_thumb.jpg These are floating minnows. This work is fun. Cheers, Ed

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Good idea Ed... those are nice heads. By "drill" do you mean that you insert your copper tube into a drill chuck and literally drill the foam? So far everyone I've heard from just hammered the pipe thru the foam like I do.

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Hey Flafly, thank you. I usually use stainless tubing and sharpen the end used for cutting. You can do that by chucking it in a drill and running it while you sharpen the end. I use the drill to drill out the foam bodies. My drill only has a 1/2" chuck, so that limits body size. Tried to go to a bigger chuck...but it seemed like a pain. Maybe I'll try again on that coming up, but not sure. The size mylar/easybody/other materials is an issue too. More than you wanted to know maybe, but this stuff is truly cool and it works. I love all this topwater stuff. Gonna try balsa soon...thinking about jigs for that today, etc., etc. Cheers, Ed

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Ed... one idea for doing heads bigger than 1/2 inch... cut 1 inch squares of various foams, stack and glue (try to keep the edges and corners in line, take a razor blade and trim the corners off to approximate a cylinder, then stick your nail thru the center and put the nail in your drill chuck. Then sand/rasp it like a lathe. That would make a 1 inch diameter head. Or less depending on how long you sand it.

 

Capisce?

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Hey Flafly, thank you. This is idiotic, but I never thought of that even though I've seen it done with wood...duh! Oh, boy. Cheers, Ed

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I bought a set of cork borers off of Amazon. 1/8" up to about 1/2". These particular ones are rather dull, but I can fix that.

314l34BswtL.jpg

 

I was looking at a plant press on there the other day to do just what y'all are talking about. I'm gonna use 3m spray adhesive to stick the sheets together.

 

Kirk B.

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Goose, i used rubber cement on the foam, spray glue also works well, just let them sit 1-2 before cutting. FLAFLY yes i made my copper tubes so i can hook them to my drill chuck. and i do use the dremel to shape with sand paper. i use a piece of clothes hanger sharpened for the needle works great.

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