My daughter got me a new Dremel Tool for Christmas and I finally put it to work power-sanding balsa float bodies. Seen here are 23 that are headed for the tackle pail. They still will get some latex tubing on the white stems to make them static, or fixed, floats for water under 5 feet deep but can be used as is as a slip float. Throughout the open water season I use them both ways.
The bodies start out as balsa blanks 3/4” square and 1-1/4” long. I use #10 machine screws 1-1/4” long, minus the head, and thread a blank on the screw leaving about 1/2” to chuck the screw up. I shape each one individually and without any gauges or patterns, totally random. Smaller ones are great for 1/42 to 1/24 heads. The larger ones will carry a 1/16 and a 2-1/4” Fry bait nicely. Having random sizes really allows to balance out just about any plastic I may have along.
I laminate two 1/4”X4” balsa sheets with 1/4”X1/8” strips of balsa leaving a 1/8” gap between each strip to get the dimensions I want. The 1/8” hole between two strips makes the hole to screw the small bolt into to sand them and also to glue the acrylic stem in place. I make about 84 blanks at a time.
I give the blanks a little spin across some medium grit dry wall screen and finish on 200 grit sandpaper. A couple dips in well thinned clear lacquer then the paint colors, also thinned, makes them pretty and two dips on CS Sealcoat wraps the up.
The design of these floats makes the super good at detecting those miserable upward hits that crappies are so good at. The slightest bump or lift lays these floats right over, flat on the water. They work wonders.
