# First attempt at making floats.



## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

The recent rainfall and snow melt gave me the opportunity to start making my own balsa floats. 

I went to the local hobby store and got some balsa wood, carbon fiber stems, paint and some sandpaper.

I cut the balsa down to the size I wanted to work with and drilled centerholes and glued the stems in place. I let the stems sit overnight and let the glue dry. 

The next day I put the stems in the chuck of my drill and started to shape with the sand paper. Out of the 4 blocks I cut I was a ble 2 shape 2 floats. The other 2 stems broke on the other blocks. I think I need to use a thicker carbon fiber rod next time so they don't break. 

Anyway, here are the 2 floats I shaped.


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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

This is the other float

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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Nice....I'm going to do the same very soon.....modeling mine after raven 15g.....i want a longer stem

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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

Thats kindof what i was going for with the larger float. The other was modeled after raven FS. Im not sure what gram they are yet i will have to test them before i paint them.

I have a 1.5 inch stem on the bottom of the small one and a 2.5 inch on the larger floats. I think im gonna try using either thicker carbon fiber stems or try a combination of wood skewers. Or possibly those metal stems they use for yard flags, something that wont break while im shaping the float.

They were pretty easy to shape took only a few minutes.

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## "Big" mark the shark (Jan 21, 2010)

That's interesting where do you get the carbon fiber stems.


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## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

Very interesting. I like the Thill slip floats and never thought about trying to make some. Thanks for sharing. Those are really cool


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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

The stems I got from the local hobby store. They were fairly expensive, about $6 for two 3ft stems but everything else was fairly cheap. Tonight im going to paint them and will post pics of the progress.

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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

I look forward to the pics.....I just took a good look at your avatar....that's great!

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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

Nice looking floats. I need to make some myself to drive away the winter blues.  What sort of paint did you use?

I started a thread elsewhere on this forum about my experience with balsa.


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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

I use createx flourescent orange for the tips it was recommended to me by others.

The black im gonna use is just leftover spray paint. Im not too worried about filling the grains bc I am going to seal the float in polyurethane.

Again this is my first shot at making these so if it didn't work out I didn't invest too much into it. 

Pics are on the way
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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

Here are some new floats I made.

some turned out ok, some ehh.... not as well as i wanted. but again this is only my 2nd time im hoping to get better each time.

I got a little more creative this time. Maybe I should of just stuck to a basic patter.

I think i need to invest in a lathe. But considering I just dropped my driveshaft in my truck I have more important things to shell out cash for than a hobby.

I haven't posted the pics of the finished floats from before yet because I messed them up so im trying to fix them. I wasnt able to get a nice even line when i dipped the top of the float .


Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.


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## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

Just got a question. How are you planning on attaching these to your line? Are they going to be slip bobbers?


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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

Float caps. I cut surgical tubing into 2 sections and thread them on my line. One for the top stem and the other for the bottom stem.

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## phishyone1 (Jun 27, 2008)

Looking good Fishermen4life42....... You inspired me to make up a few myself............ As soon as take some pics, Ill post them:G:G:G:G


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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

The past few weeks I've been to busy to work on the floats. I finally got them painted now I let them dry.

Will post the final product in the next coming days once I get the polyurethane coats applied.

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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

For those still tuned in to this thread.

The floats have all been painted and have 2 coats of polyurethane on them. 
One more coat and these should be ready for the water.

Below is just one of the floats hanging dry.:F


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## fisherman4life42 (May 25, 2010)

Well here is the final product hopefully I can get away from work and hit the water and test them out. Hopefully with a fish on the other end.



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## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

I really like these. I like the way they glow.


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## Golden1 (Jun 27, 2009)

Looks like my tips paid off for you. . looks like some real nice floats. Hope they get you a lot of fish.


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