How to Make Paper floats

How to Make Paper Floats

Paper floats are one of the easiest to make as they're made by wrapping triangular strips of greaseproof paper or tissue paper around the stem of the floats.

The body shape is determined by the angles of the sides of the triangle (Scalene Triangle).

And by altering the angle you can make different body shapes.

This is helped by lightly drawing in pencil a scale onto the paper to be used (then erasing it before the wrapping stage) as a cutting guide/template.

The scale height should equal body length ( 1½ " - 2 ½" wide ) x body width ( dia~10 - 16 mm ) 12"+ long. This Will give a rectangular shaped piece of paper.

Cut out the triangular slivers of paper, one that will yield three to five triangles, 1 x main body wrap and additional wraps in descending sizes (narrowness). One sheet could yield up to five pieces (wraps).

These are then given a very thin coat of glue, either watered down PVA glue or a cheap glue stick (PVA).

Then the initial wrap is made by placing the straight edge along the float's stem, being careful with the alignment. It's best to put a small amount of weight to the pointed end of the sliver of paper triangle to keep it under tension whilst it's wrapped around the chosen stem.

Carefully wrap the paper around the stem maintaining a level wind and apply the occasional dab of glue to avoid the paper slipping internally between the layers.

Several additional wrappings may be required to gain the body size and shape required and each sheet may need to be cut short and restarted if required. Some experimenting might be required and times two parallel wraps are needed with a filler to attain correct body shape and size.

There's no limit to the designs to choose from and the types of floats you can make....

...such as a Ducker/Puddle Chucker, Cane Avon, Crowquil Avon, Zephyr/Chubba, Tissue Avon, Porcupine Quill.

Paint your floats tips with fluorescent paints ready for the final clear coat of varnish.

A final sealer coat of clear varnish or neat waterproof PVA wood glue.

you could also add some turns of whipping to decorate and strengthen your floats.

Materials

• Parcel wrapping paper
• Greaseproof type paper (any one sided shiny paper will do) or cheaper rolls of baking paper
• Kitchen towelling is both strong and cheap; its quilted, absorbent construction makes for a very buoyant body

Glues

For the actual sticking of the paper to the stems and to secure the windings you can use the waterproof PVA wood glue that's been thinned down with a drop or two of water to give a thinner coating.

Or a PVA based glue stick is great as it gives easy application and a thin coating of glue.

Body stems can be a variety of materials - cane, peacock quill, balsa or wooden dowelling, porcupine quills, reed stems, etc.

Some paint for the float tips and clear varnish to finish it off.

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