Wine corks float well, which is why they are an ideal raw material for making homemade floats. Such floats, unlike factory foam and plastic ones, are shipped with a heavy sinker, so the equipment with them flies to the desired point when casting, without deviating with the wind.
Materials:
- wine stopper;
- bamboo skewer;
- small safety pin;
- waterproof glue;
- thread;
- primer, paints, varnish.
Making a float
We cut the skewer if it is initially too long.
In the center of the wine cork, you need to drill a through hole with a 3 mm drill to insert a bamboo skewer into it. If you plan to make the float antenna not from a skewer, but from a round piece of wood, as in the example, then you need to select a drill to match its diameter.
Next you need to glue the antenna into the cork. To do this, waterproof glue is applied to the center of the skewer, and it is threaded through the cork.
After the glue has completely dried, the cork must be sanded by clamping the workpiece in a lathe or simply in a drill chuck.Use a piece of sandpaper to give it the required teardrop shape.
Next, cut the skewer to normal size. If desired, the upper antenna can be made long. After cutting, the ends are lightly sanded.
Then you need to attach a ring to the lower part, the keel of the float. You can use a spring from a safety pin as it.
To insert it, you need to cut the keel lengthwise by a few millimeters.
After this, a ring is clamped into the crevice, and it is wrapped with thread.
In order for the float to be clearly visible on the water, it must be painted. Before doing this, it is advisable to apply a primer.
Primer and paint are applied by dipping. It is better to paint the keel of the float black, and the surface part in any bright color that is clearly visible from afar.
It is very convenient after dipping the float to dry it in a suspended state using a clothespin.
After the paint has dried, you should also dip the float in varnish to increase the wear resistance of the coating and also to protect the exposed part of the cork.
Since the varnish is less thick, when dried in a suspended state, it will flow and hang from the float as a drop. You need to blot it with a napkin before it hardens.
In this design, the float is used on sliding equipment. If desired, a piece of cambric is installed on its antenna, which will allow you to adjust the constant depth, for example, for fishing in the upper layers of water.
