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Homegrown Reed Floats

I made a few floats from my first crop of ornamental grass/bamboo/reeds I transplanted to my yard summer before last. I painted these but I wish I hadn't, the body material is very slick and the paint doesn't adhere very well. My painting isn't great anyway and having a slick surface didn't help. I will only paint the stems from now on.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Damon Toney on July 3, 2016 at 9:14am

Nice. Very nice.

Permalink Reply by Keith Ritter on July 3, 2016 at 9:25am

Thanks Damon the reed replaces cork or balsa. One stalk produced these.

Permalink Reply by Damon Toney on July 3, 2016 at 9:56am

I wondered if bamboo could be used like this.

Permalink Reply by Keith Ritter on July 3, 2016 at 10:06am

I don't know if this is true bamboo but it is a close kin. The floats in this pic are made from black bamboo the ends are sealed with cork.

Permalink Reply by Damon Toney on July 3, 2016 at 10:10am

nice. Right on the knuckle.

Permalink Reply by carl hendrix on July 3, 2016 at 10:55am

DAAM GOOD LOOKING FLOATS KEITH ! YOUR ALWAYS THINKING AHEAD; OF WHAT TO MAKE; PLUS THE MATERIAL NEEDED ! GREAT JOB BUDDY !

Permalink Reply by carl hendrix on July 3, 2016 at 10:58am

KEITH;; IVE FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY;; ANYTTIME I PAINT FLOATS;; I HAVE TO USE EITHER A SPRAY; POLY; OR SOME KIND OF CLEAR COAT;; OR; USE VARNISH TO SEAL THE PAINT ; AND TO KEEP THE PAINT FROM; JUST PEELING OFF. IT ALSO MAKES THE FLOATS; A LITTLE SLICKER FOR THE RUBBER TYPE STOPS

Permalink Reply by Damon Toney on July 3, 2016 at 6:00pm

Yeah, I use four coats of varnish on all my floats after painting.

Permalink Reply by carl hendrix on July 3, 2016 at 6:28pm

DAMON;; I DIP MY QUILL FLOATS IN VARNISH ALSO;; AND IT USUALLY TAKES 3 DAYS; BEFORE I CAN RE- DIP THEM AGAIN;; THEN; 3 MORE DAYS; TO LET THEM DRY OUT ENOUGH TO HANDLE THEM;; BUT; I ALLOW; 2 TO 4 MORE DAYS; TO LET THEM AIR OUT BETTER;

Permalink Reply by Keith Ritter on July 3, 2016 at 11:19am

They are dipped twice in polyurethane so they won't peel. The paint was so fragile before dipping you coldly even handle them. I spent as much time touching them up as I did painting them. They look good natural and painting the stem will be plenty of color.

Permalink Reply by Bruce Tomaselli on July 3, 2016 at 5:21pm

Those are great. Nice job!

Permalink Reply by Keith Ritter on July 3, 2016 at 6:14pm

I have put a corn cob float coated with Polyurethane in water on my bench and it floated for over two weeks. So if you keep them dry when you are not using them they should last a long time. If you don't lose them or break them.