That is very true, I have flung foam all over my garage!
As far as the foam I use, I go to Hobby Lobby and they have a great selection of colors and thickness to choose from.
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Jesse: cedar? Wow! Never thought of that! Really interesting idea. And yes, I will definitely wear eye protection.
Dog: Glad to hear cork isn't all bad; I'd still like to at least give it a shot.
Jim: I don't have access to shell casings, but I definitely like the idea, along with the rest of your tips!
RHenn: Thanks for the foam info; I will check them out.
Great info, folks! This is really interesting reading!
Sure,,,why not?
I made a lot of wine cork poppers back in the day with nothing more than files and a coping saw.
I still use it once in awhile,,,albeit commercial preshaped, here's a corked devil bug.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...psa0e539d5.jpg
Hi Teachmarkey,
I have a broken radio antenna, the telescoping type, that I intend to use to cut plugs with. I need to take it apart and sharpen it. In the past I used a laboratory cork borer, which works great, but is a bit of a pain to borrow and bring home from work. For what its worth every now and then you see cork borers on Ebay. The ones we have are a bit like a simplified hand opperated drill press. They make power models, and also make hand heald models.
You might be able to contact your local gun club to get access to some cartridge cases. Even if everyone reloads at the gun club, cases wear out, and get disposed of, so you might be able to pick some up. You don't need many, just a few would be enough.
I like the hump back mustad popper hooks, #33903 is the old model but I don't know the new model numbers, that mustad makes for poppers. The hump helps the popper body grip the hook shank better than a straight shank.
The way I attach foam bodies to a popper hook is to first wrap the shank of the hook with very open spirals with a coarse tying thead and then coat the spirals with a very thin layer of thin super glue. To attach the foam body to the hook shank I cut a slot for the hook shank and do a trial fit. I use a pointed blade to cut the slot a bit deeper for the "hump" on the hook. When the fit is good I put a glob of the thick super glue on the hook shank and then "pinch" the "top" of the popper body to open up the slot on the bottom of the popper. The thread wraps help the body to "grab" the hook shank.
With the slot opened up I set the body on the shank, and then carefully pinch the foam body to hold the slot shut over the shank for a little bit. Be careful not to glue your fingers to the popper body....it can happen. You ought to have some acetone on hand to free your thumb and first finger if need be.
Regards,
Gandolf
Teachmarkey,
PM me your mailing address and I'll send you some shell casings you can use free of charge.
Jim Smith
PM sent, Jim! Thank you!
Gandalf: great advice with the acetone. I am definitely the kind of guy to wind up gluing a popper to my thumb otherwise! :p
When making foam bodies (my preference) I use Aberdeen hooks (they are readily available, cheap and will like hold anything you catch on a flyrod) I run a piece of mono through the eye of the hook, then use a large sewing needle to pull to pull both ends of the line through the body. This allows me to get the shank of the hook through the bottom 1/16" of the body. Super glue has be adequate to keep them from rotating in the body. I have covered the hook shank with a thread base but I am not sure that is necessary. I modified a pair of large pliers to kink hook bodies but rarely use them anymore.
The only thing I dislike about using cork is having to fill the holes and prime the bodies before painting. And I myself seem to have a difficult time making the small bodies, i.e, size 10.
There is also this...
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flyt...010603fotw.php