In the next few months, most of my spare time at the vice will be in preparation for that trip to French Guyana. Like i said in previous posts, flies for the aimara need to be noisy! And nothing crates more splash and noise than a good popper!
For this collection i am turning the heads myself...Sure i can buy them already made, but where's the fun in that?
I will have a few foam heads, like the double barrel and Howitzers from Flymen and some home made as well, but i think durability is essential when you chase such an aggressive fish armed with teeth that would put a pike to shame...
So the heads will be made out of wood, not balsa, as i thing its way too soft (even with a couple of epoxy or envirotex coats). So i went for basswood (or known as tilia for others) , a much harder wood than balsa .Yes it's heavier than balsa, but it won't crush like balsa, and that is the key when targeting a fish like the wolf fish!
● Basswood comes in a rectangular shape in different sizes, it's up to you to cut it to size.Using a table saw is safe and gives good, clean results.
● Drill each block to prevent splitting when you will insert a nail in the next step.
●To make the sanding an easier task, roughly cut of the corners and shape your heads a little.
● Insert a nail and make sure it's a mm thicker than your hole to assure a good grip. But also be sure than the nail fits in you Dremel tool.
●Secure the nail in the Dremel.
●Spin and slowly apply your sand paper to the wood, start at the narrow side and work you way to the front of the head. Use a coarse sand paper at first and finish with a finer one.
Heads done, just need to apply the finishing touches ( Part 2 )
In part 2 we will do the finishing touches, more shaping and painting.
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