Making Traditional Fishing FloatsI

[@Clive]

I've ordered a sheet of cork 12" x 8" and around 1/4" thick from a modeller's supplier - £7 delivered. It is the coarse grade as used under model railway lines. The fine grade sheets are four or five times the price. I'm thinking of using circular hole cutters up to about 1" diameter, may be a bit more and stacking 4 or 5 discs to create a Fishing Gazette type float. I could cut a groove to replicate the slot and put drilled beech dowels at each end with some 1mm tubing between them inside the float so it will be a slider, not a peg & slot line fixing.

I ought to have got some cork dust as well, to make a paste that could be used to render the outside if the cork is too grainy. I wonder if I could make some in the blender using wine corks?

 

[Butcherboy]

If making floats for general use do they need to be varnished?
I'm making some peacock quills up with\without inserts then painting with acrylic paints, would this be sufficient ?

 

[ian g]

You'll need to varnish as acrylic paint is water based.

 

[@Clive]

I use clear nail varnish over water based varnish. The water based varnish will go milky and soft after exposure to water for any length of time. At this time of year it is important to warm the varnish to at least room temperature otherwise it could be too thick and difficult to brush on thinly. I just use the brush that comes with the bottle of nail varnish.

When varnishing cane rods I tip some polyurethene varnish into a small glass jar and pop it on the radiator to warm up before brushing it on. When it is warm it is much thinner and easier to apply without causing it to run. A bloke who I used to work with had trained as a coach builder in the days when carriages and some cars had exposed woodwork. He showed me how to warm up varnish then stretch it on thinly to avoid runs.

To be fair though peacock quill has a waterproof membrane and it is only the ends that need sealing if the membrane isn't damaged.

 

[Butcherboy]

You'll need to varnish as acrylic paint is water based.

 

[Butcherboy]

I use clear nail varnish over water based varnish. At this time of year it is important to warm the varnish to at least room temperature otherwise it could be too thick and difficult to brush on thinly. I just use the brush that comes with the bottle of nail varnish.

When varnishing cane rods I tip some polyurethene varnish into a small glass jar and pop it on the radiator to warm up before brushing it on. When it is warm it is much thinner and easier to apply without causing it to run. A bloke who I used to work with had trained as a coach builder in the days when carriages and some cars had exposed woodwork. He showed me how to warm up varnish then stretch it on thinly to avoid runs.

Thanks, off to superdrug

 

[@Clive]

Thanks, off to superdrug

Just re read it as I added somethng.

 

[markcw]

Thanks, off to superdrug

Sally Hansen's " hard as nails " is brilliant .

 

[nottskev]

Sally Hansen's " hard as nails " is brilliant .

It is. I've used it to add a gnat's **** to a loose fitting quivertip, among other things. ( Gnat's **** is not a vulgarity but an SI unit)

 

[nottskev]

It is. I've used it to add a gnat's **** to a loose fitting quivertip, among other things. ( Gnat's **** is not a vulgarity but an SI unit)

Jesus. The asterixed part of the gnat begins with "D".

 

[@Clive]

Jesus. The asterixed part of the gnat begins with "D".

Yes. Even saying the blasphemous D i c k Walker gets you Asterixed on here. Yet you can say tits as in Kate Humble showed us some great tits on TV. And there is an airgun forum where typing Penistone or Scunthorpe get you into trouble.

 

[markcw]

It is. I've used it to add a gnat's **** to a loose fitting quivertip, among other things. ( Gnat's **** is not a vulgarity but an SI unit)

I use mainly on pole floats , especially my margin ones .
It stop the line cutting into the float body .

 

[Butcherboy]

This looks good as well

 

[Blue Fisher]

View attachment 32721

I recently finished this book by John Whitehouse. I bought it through Amazon for £13.99. It’s well written and if you are into float making or want to get into it then you will find it both interesting and useful. I found the parts on making some of the double ended quill floats and paper floats particularly of interest. I tend to use more modern materials but I will definitely have a crack at some of these.

I deliberately didn’t post this in the review section as it gats spammed to death by a certain Hawaiian chap, who posts reviews for profit. Incidentally you can block him on here and not have to endure it.

Ray,
I hope you are getting commission, I brought one.
However I started experimenting before I read the book.
These are my dog walk floats, teasel, gull quill and bamboo kebab stick ( stick from the kitchen not the walk).

Design concept.
The fish will see float and won’t believe there is a competent angler on the lake, hence more bites.

At least one of them floats, not checked the other yet.
Teasel stem seems a really good material, although rather rustic. I left the seed heads for the goldfinches.
good fun

 

[ian g]

They look good , I fancy a go at them . I've made plenty of floats and bought the book myself . Always good to get different ideas

 

[@Clive]

Ray,
I hope you are getting commission, I brought one.
However I started experimenting before I read the book.
These are my dog walk floats, teasel, gull quill and bamboo kebab stick ( stick from the kitchen not the walk).

Design concept.
The fish will see float and won’t believe there is a competent angler on the lake, hence more bites.

At least one of them floats, not checked the other yet.
Teasel stem seems a really good material, although rather rustic. I left the seed heads for the goldfinches.
good fun
View attachment 32799

Those look really good. I would be interested in hearing how they you get on with them.

 

[Ray Roberts]

I’ve not used reeds that I’ve gathered myself and I will probably give it a go this year. Sarkanda reed is natural and very easy to use because most of the prep work has been done for you. I probably have enough of those to last for years. My next project may be some small bodied porcupine quills which should suit a couple of narrow rivers I fish.

 

[@Clive]

The sarkandas reeds that I get need rubbing down before varnishing as they have a waxy finish. I also find that it is difficult to drill into the centre in order to fit a cane stem inside.

I only use ordinary reeds as make do floats when mullet fishing near weed rafts. I just cut it to length, put one or two float rubbers on them and discard them when they inevitably become damaged. I wouldn't invest any time and materials making reed floats. They are too fragile.

 

[@Clive]

The book that Ray recommended arrived today. I'm just about to have a look through it.

I also received some 5mm thick cork sheet the other day. I used a 44mm hole cutter to cut out most of the slices and a 36mm one for the ones at each end. Today I bought a 6mm beech dowel from a DIY shop to make the peg. I'll turn that down on the mini lathe to give the tapered bottom part, then mount the slices of cork sandwiched by some PVA wood glue onto the dowel peg before turning the cork cylinder down to shape on the dowel peg. If things go to plan I intend cutting out a slot, sealing it all, then putting two small wire eyes on the fixed dowel peg to make a slider.

 

[@Clive]

You might have seen Ryan's post on another thread about making split-cane float stems. He descriibe the process as being the same as when building a split-cane rod. That requires a lot of accurate cutting and planing to get the angles right. In John Whitehouse's book he describes a different method in that he glues together a bundle of round bamboo skewers that can then be turned or sanded back to a round profile. The latter method got me thinking.

I have a thousand or so small, flat bamboo sticks that presumably are used to to make small ice lollies. They cost 99 cents for the pack. Each stick is about 150mm long, 5mm wide and about 1mm thick. Using wood glue I stuck a batch together and bound them tightly with masking tape. Small clamps would be ideal, but they were in use elsewhere. Once the glue has cured and the unglued ends cut off it leaves a 100mm x 5mm x 5mm useable baton that could be shaved down with a sharp knife then sanded round. If you chose each element to contrast with the ones adjoining it would give a pleasing laminated look. I can't help thinking that round beech dowel that is cheaply available at DIY stores is a better alternative. It is more dense and conveniant.

I also used wood glue to laminated the cork slices that had been roughly cut out of a 5mm sheet using hole cutters on a cordless drill. The diameter of the larger cork slices is 44mm. That is too much to fit on the Unimat lathe so I will have to do the initial shaping by twirling the cylinder against a bench mounted belt sander. The cork is glued to a 6mm round beech dowel that will replicate the removeable peg on the original Fishing Gazette floats.