Was wondering if anyone could give me an easy way of making balsa wood popper bodies.
At this time on the forum read the one titled BALSA BODIES for all the information that you need. It will also be shown on the FLY TYING section. BILL :tieone:
Raiderhunter, I use the foam from flip flops and they work great. I place an aluminum arrow(short piece and the diameter depends on how large you want you poppers to be) in the chuck on a drill and the arrow shaft will make a perfect plug. I take my dremel and I push a needle(must have a flattened part to keep bodies from spinning on the needle), and shape it with emery board. When I finish, I cut a groove in botton of newly formed body, place hook in groove, and glue it. Then I dress up which ever way I want it to look. PM me and I can give you more details. mathcarver
A search turns up with no results.
I just go buy the balsa spars they sell in the craft stores for the r/c airplane guys. I buy them in various widths (I like the square ones rather than the dowels) for different sized poppers. Then all you have to do is cut off a piece the length you need the popper body to be, sand it to the desired shape, glue it to the hook, paint it, then I usually coat it with some type of clear coat for durability, tie on the tail and you’re there.
Raiderhunter
Go to a hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes and they sell assorted styles of cork stoppers. They range in diameters from about 1/4" on up to very large. Sorry I can’t remember which section they were in. You can also find them in the craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby. They are easy to work with and they float like cork.
Greg
http://www.peninsulaflyfishers.org/Fly_Tying/tom_balsa_popper/balsa_bass_poppers.html
and theres a lot more ways if you did a GOOGLE search
I have a pictorial set of directions regarding how to crank out popper bodies using flip flops here (they go very fast) -
http://www.freewebs.com/fountainheadflyfish/apps/blog/
(scoll down about one screen, you can’t miss it)
Other than a drill or dremel tool and a piece of sand paper or nail file, there nothing else you’ll need.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would want to make balsa or cork poppers except as an historical investigation. I did this for years and I shudder when I think of the labor-intensive process involved. Even though I made poppers in groups of 10-25 at one time, I never seemed to have enough in the summer because the process was so slow. It took the better part of a week to complete a batch of poppers because of the many steps and the need to let things dry completely between steps. 1. shape and sand cork 2. cut notch in cork for hook. 3. wrap hook shank and glue cork to hook 4. fill notch and large holes in cork with plastic wood 5. sand filler in notch and holes 6. apply primer/filler to cork 7. resand popper 8. apply plastic wood to any remaining flaws in cork body 9. resand body 10. apply another coat of prime/filler 11. resand lightly 12. apply first coat of paint 13. sand very lightly if needed 14. apply second paint 15. paint details such as eyes, spots and gills 16. cover body with clear coat 17. secure rubber legs 18. tie in tail Important note: any of the filling, sanding or painting steps might have to be repeated more times than listed here. When completed, the poppers lacked the durability of foam poppers and generally could not withstand hard contact with trees, rocks or even too many fish. Ah, Gurgle Pops, don’t leave home without them. I’m sure others will disagree. 8T 
I’m with you on cork and balsa. I gave up on cork early on and found you could do some interesting things with balsa but the durability is really bad, at least for a guy with my casting skills. Without a good coat of epoxy they last only a little longer than a live cricket.
I came up with using my old running shoes midsole at first which is really a good quality foam but size is limited. Then I discover children’s foam puzzles, old flip flops and most recently synthetic wine corks. I have yet to see the owner or user of a flyrod who could cast poorly enough to destroy the a foam fly body.
I agree, the foam is tough stuff. I plan to catch at least a couple hundred bluegills (along with a few incidental bass) on a flip flop foam spider. It may not be as tough as shoe leather, but it’s pretty close.
Norm, That PAFF link has some great info, some of which is new to me, like I’ve never heard of ‘heart balsa’ or balsa sealer.
Pszy22, I love the simplicity of the dremel/toothpick, have not tried it yet, but will. Only drawback to a ‘turned’ body is that they are symmetrical. Not a bad thing, but not always the desired shape/profile. Still, ‘simple’ ALWAYS gets high remarks!!
8T, I hear what you’re saying, and yes, outside of realistic tying like His Highness Graham does, poppers rank up there for the longest time a pattern takes to tie per fly. However doing the steps in batches reduces total actual time per fly to a minimum if you think mass production. I agree balsa is not as durable, but polyurethane foam like the precast bodies, is nowhere near as workable as balsa. They both have their tradeoffs. “why anyone would want to make balsa or cork poppers?” Same reason most tyers tie ANY pattern? To make you own. Why tie your own nymphs, dries or streamers? Most do it for fun, creativity and the thrill of catching fish on your flies. What they’re made of is just personal preference.
Uncle Jesse, All my balsa bodies are epoxied on kink shank hooks, then a second application to totally cover/seal the balsa. Only one coat of paint after that. "I have yet to see the owner or user of a flyrod who could cast poorly enough to destroy the a foam fly body. " Never seen ME cast I presume! :razz:
What I don’t get, is why anyone would want to lash a balsa body on to a hook with thread and THEN cover with epoxy? Making a slot for the hook takes less time than reaching for a bobbin, but to each his own.
Bottom line: Like any material, balsa has it’s pro, cons and limitations. The hard polyurethane foam blocks I posted in the “Foam cylinder sources” thread is the best cross between balsa and preshaped foam that I have found so far. Show me somthing new, and I’ll gladly try it out.
Bassbug,
When I first started trying to turn the bodies using the dremel, I was having trouble with non sysmentrical shapes resulting. If the block you start out with isn’t square, but rather a rectangle, you end up with flats on top and bottom. That wasn’t what I was trying to do, so I haven’t really experimented with it to any extent (other than to try to avoid it). Of course, it is possible to cut/sand facets into the body after it’s turned as well.
But all in all, there are probably better ways to skin that cat if you want a profile other than symmetrical.
[QUOTE=Bass_Bug;315647]Norm,
8T, I hear what you’re saying, and yes, outside of realistic tying like His Highness Graham does, poppers rank up there for the longest time a pattern takes to tie per fly. However doing the steps in batches reduces total actual time per fly to a minimum if you think mass production. I agree balsa is not as durable, but polyurethane foam like the precast bodies, is nowhere near as workable as balsa. They both have their tradeoffs. “why anyone would want to make balsa or cork poppers?” Same reason most tyers tie ANY pattern? To make you own. Why tie your own nymphs, dries or streamers? Most do it for fun, creativity and the thrill of catching fish on your flies. What they’re made of is just personal preference.
Hey Bass Bug,
I don’t mean to put down any activity that you or others enjoy. I’ve tied hundreds if not thousands of cork and balsa poppers in the 60’s and early seventies out of pure financial need. I just plain couldn’t afford to buy poppers at two or three bucks each. Popper were certainly effective but got torn up quickly by the fish and the process of hook removal. To be truthful with you, I don’t think that there is much prettier than a well made balsa popper. Jim Hatch certainly turned out poppers that were miniture works of art. Personally, I enjoy just about every aspect of fly tying except making balsa or cork lures. Even when done in large batches, which is the way I did them, popper manufactor is just too slow and repetitive for my taste. And then I was saved by Peter Frailly and his Gurgle Pops. Gurgle Pops are cheap, easy to tie, durable and just as effective as balsa or cork. You can’t ask for much more than that. I’m sure others will disagree but that’s what makes a horse race. 8T
I will apologize for the quality of the photo, but the attached show on reason to use balsa. (I know what I said earlier) I don’t know if I could make these with foam, probably with more work. These are several years old and have really not be fished and really need a coat of epoxy before being wet or they will destruct easily.
The shortest is about 1" long, the longest about 2", one of my experiments.
Just ran 3 weeks straight with a Gurgle Pop tied on…broke off on a 15" or so Smallie when I grabbed the tippet and it jumped, again!
Tied another right on after that one!
Caught at least 50 Smallies probably 2x that many Bluegill, Pumpkin Seed and Rock Bass…the darn things just work!
Go to a model shop buy balsa dowel in the desired size cut and shape as needed. Gun shop and ditto earplugs. The plugs come in different sizes and have great action. It’s easy to add legs, eyes, or what ever.
Pszy,
Thank you. I just went over some info on the site . Interesting stuff you’ve done there.
I like to toy around too but none is posted.
Jeremy.