Well, I had to goto Canadian Tire on the weekend to pick up an “O” - ring for my vise, after 8 years of tying, it broke, and while it was usable, it was a little bit of a pain. Anyway, while I was searching for the ring in the flip out bins, I noticed that there were tapered cork pieces of varying sizes but paid no attention to them until I headed back to the van (and since I was in the automotive section I was not expecting them, not sure what automotive use they would have but anyway, they were there). They were the kind, if you picture them about 1/4" diameter and round on one end and 1/2" diameter and round on the other and about 1" long with straight sides. Kindof reminded me of a bass popper that I saw once on the internet but cannot find now. Has anyone used these before to make bass poppers, I think they would be ideal, and since they are made of cork, what do you paint them with?
I tied my first popper the other day, with a few small corks that i’ve got in my box of goodies. I inherited the box from a teacher, many moons ago. The corks I’ve got already have a little cut in the bottom of them, so that you can stick the hook in. I’ve found that you can shape the cork by burning it. I wanted to get a rounded edge on the back of mine, so I burned it with a lighter, and it worked.
Sounds like your corks are probably pretty similar. Are they compressed cork (made of lots of small pieces, like plywood) or are they whole cork? With a really fine knife you could probably shape them and get them right.
Some where, some how, 15 or so years ago, I acquired a box of 500 test tube corks.
At the time I was really into tieing hair bugs.
I don’t even carry the bugs anymore.
IMO the toughest thing about making poppers is cutting the kerf (slot) strait. Stand up so you can be looking strait down when you do it. For cork bodies I cut the slot with a razor blade. When I make foam bodies I use a jig saw blade.
Wrap the popper hook with a thick thread like rod wraping thread or cotton sewing thread.
When I make foam poppers I use crazy glue to attach the body, but with cork epoxy is best because you can fill the kerf at the same time.
I finish mine with Testors model paint and colored nail polish. Then they get covered with a coat of epoxy. The epoxy is not necessary but makes them super tough.
If you are going to sew in some elastic “legs”, apply the epoxy at the end.
Just started tying some new poppers I call "Pop-n-Glos. Got these Glo-in-the-Dark
Paints in different colors at Michaels & I’m having a blast with them on these popper bugs !!! Can’t wait to try them out !!!
Using Saltwater Irredescent (Glows-in-the Dark) Flash with the marabou for the tail,
& even Glo Flash Wings !!!
I use corks all the time. Love them. You can take the right size cork, cut the slot, mount the hook with the cement of your choice (I like zapagap) and then go straight to prime. You can round the edges with an emory board, and it is very easy to cup the head using a roud bit in a dremel. Be sure to prime them with flat white acrylic paint, or I like artists gesso, to seal the holes. It will give you a better painted finish. They are also easy to add rubber legs through the body. I Prime and finish with water based acrylic paints and clearcoat with sally hansens hard as nails. You can also airbrush the water base as well.
ON foam poppers I have a dremel tool and a 1/64 bit, that I drill holes in the foam and then glue them on.
I just off set the hole to the edge of the foam and then put that on the bottom.
DBenner,
In the most recent issue of Fly Tyer there is a fairly big article about foam poppers, might mention cork in their too. If you know of a place that carries fly tyer magazine, that might be a helpful source to check into.
-David
FOr a good source of tapered corks, try most craft stores, hungates, michaels. They usually have them for around 5-10 cents apiece. There’s also a good place on the internet, [url=http://www.corkstore.com.:945c2]www.corkstore.com.[/url:945c2] They sell for about 6 cents each there. The information on FAOL is outstanding for tips on poppers, and there is also a great book out by C.Boyd Pfeiffer called Bug Making. You can get it at amazon or barnes and noble. It covers pretty much everything on cork, foam, balsa, hair. Lotsa good info.
Hope this helps!
Stevo
“There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot”
thanks for the responses. I just got the new edition of Fly Tyer (good prompt for me to go buy it), now just need to read it.
Harebear, those poppers are excellent, just what I need for inspiration.
Off to Canadian Tire after work, I think they were like 15 cents a piece but cheaper with the price of gas than driving to Saint John to go to the brand spanking new Michael’s craft store (I noticed it last week when I was leaving a restaurant). I have seen other posts on here about the products they carry, I guess I should book an afternoon off to go in there the next time I have to go for a meeting.