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Experimenting with slip floats...part 2

That's looking more like it:

Determine the length of the "stem" and insert it into the body:

Pressing a glass bead into the stem. I despise the plastic beads used on most slip floats, as the wear too easily and pinch my line. Also, the glass beads have a smaller hole in their center, which does away with the need for the bead included with the bobber stop:

All that's left is to apply a finish, and weight the float using the washers and an o-ring. I haven't decided on a finish yet, as I'm still experimenting with shape and sizes. So for now, I just go with white, and a brighter color on top for visibility. I intend to airbrush the colors when I'm satisfied with the floats themselves. here's a few I'm currently working with. And they even catch fish!....

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Comment by carl hendrix on March 18, 2014 at 6:09am: those look real good tony!! glad to hear there are guys that just like to make their own floats! another type of plastic I like to use at times;; is from convience stores where you buy gas;; go to the coffe area;; and those little coffee stiring sticks!! those are also good when I make my stops for slip bobbers!!

Comment by Bryan Russell on January 18, 2013 at 8:34am: Very nice! What kind of plastic tube is that?

Comment by Leo Nguyen on January 14, 2013 at 6:30pm: LOL Thanks for the inquiry. Been quite busy with projects and family. Just want a bit of down time to jettison the full mind of headaches by surrounding myself with fun again.

Interesting approach Tony. I'm still favoring metallic grommets and eyelets. However, there are more materials being made nowadays that will last under intense torturous conditions..aka..mono/braid rubbing. Have you considered in using surgical grade glass tubing? I've seen quite a few over here at the local medical store I visited that use surgical grade glass tubing for siphoning blood samples, which is extremely durable, smooth, and easily cut and smooth with a bit of heat and dremel diamond blade.

Comment by Tony Livingston on January 14, 2013 at 6:19pm: Leo! good to hear from you! I was inquiring about you just recently....glad to hear everything is OK, and good to have you back..

You're right about the line cutting into the tubing, and my first generation floats utilized glass beads top and bottom to prevent this. Trouble is, you then need a bobber threader to string them on your line. Then, I switched to a metal grommet for the bottom of the tube...larger opening compared to the bead, easier threading, but still problematic.

Now, I'm using a different type of plastic tube on the gen 2 floats..it's quite hard, so I'm hoping that the line won't cut into it...still running trials!

Comment by Leo Nguyen on January 14, 2013 at 5:56pm: Excellent approach. Wouldn't the tubing get cut up by the mono or braid? Incoporating a copper/tin washer to prevent the line from cutting into it? There are eyelets sold at the arts and crafts stores that fit the tubing perfectly.

Comment by wag on January 11, 2013 at 1:46pm: I use the small red straw that comes with WD 40 (and other spray cans) for my float stem.

Comment by Tony Livingston on December 30, 2012 at 5:52pm: Vince I'm using 3/16" rigid aquarium tubing. It took awhile to find the right material.