First Balsa Floats

[John C Watson]

Read this group posts and it got me interested in making some personal floats and a few to give to a friend who I tie flies for. 

Started out with 1/2x1/2" balsa

Glued in some bamboo skewers for the center post after drilling an appropriate size hole trough the blanks.

Took a length of 1x2 and drilled a hole the diameter of the center post of the float.  Aligned the 1x2 in line with the drill press chuck.

Used assorted grades of sand paper to shape and finish the floats

Made eyes out of stainless wire, thread wrapped the top and bottom of the center posts, Coated the floats with super glue to seal, then applied three coats of clear enamel to complete,  Sanded in between coats.

This is what my final product looks like.  Haven't tried them out yet.  Most are being sent to my friend with an assortment of flies for him to use this summer.

[Tony Livingston]

Nice work John!

[Keith Ritter]

Great floats John, I make mine in a similar fashion with a variety of materials. Where do you get you balsa? I give or trade most of my floats away to friends. Keep it up !

[John C Watson]

So far, I have only gotten balsa from Hobby Lobby, but I am looking for a better supplier with a larger selection of sizes.

[Kelly Peterson]

They make a sanding sealer for filling/sealing raw wood-much cheaper than using super glue.