Cork for float making.

[Neneman Nick]

When making your own bodied floats,using cork,do you only use proper bonafide cork eg... from wine/champagne bottles ????
Or can you use those synthetic type corks ????
I have a selection of proper corks....champagne and wine plus some of those synthetic type ones.All are used and not seen a corkscrew....i have rescued them from a broken bottles skip at a wine/drinks warehouse i deliver to daily.

 

[Rickrod]

Nick did anyone ask you what you were doing in the skip

 

[Neneman Nick]

Yes.....treading about rather gingerly i replied :wh

 

[Rickrod]

ha ha ha........

 

[Neneman Nick]

Seriously.....it`s only a small skip,i just lean over and rummage about,find a broken bottle neck with a cork and keep throwing it against the inside of the skip until....bingo.
The champagne ones are a little different to obtain....i generally find them with the foil and wire still covering them.It`s just a case of unwrapping and then trying to pull the bloody cork out.
The champagne ones do my head in though,trying to get em out.So i`m gonna take a hammer to the bottle necks....should make things a tad easier.

 

[Rickrod]

Are you going to have ago at making some if so what type of float..?

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

I shouldn't worry that a cork has had a corkscrew in it. Won't matter a bit.

However, champagne corks are a bit different in that they're made from three different types of cork. Not saying they won't work, but a slight chance of them falling apart, I would think.

You can also buy brand new cork in wine making stores.

 

[Neneman Nick]

Wouldn`t the bulbous bit at the top of a champagne cork be good for perch bob type floats???

 

[peter crabtree]

This reminds me of a few years ago , I had a business thing with an Aussie bloke, who had a lovely river through his garden, you could see the trout . I asked if he fished ,and he said yeah wanna come down and have a go. I went home and got a 3m whip and a few rigs and thought I would show him.


His told his Mrs to get some bait, and she came down the garden with slices of bread on nice little side plates.

So Aussie gets out a 7ft boat rod and and attached a whole wine cork and a hook and a pinch of flake and...............


yepp.you guessed it. got battered....

 

[George387]

Nick,
All my cork floats are made from champagne corks, they are a better cork than the normal cork you find in wine bottles as they are more dense and easier to work, and yes the bulbous part is good for starting off as a bobber float as they dont need a lot of work to get them turned into shape.
Happy making

 

[Neneman Nick]

Hello there George,i didn`t realise you were back from holiday....hope you had a good time.
If the truth be known,i`m not skilled enough or even brave enough for that matter to make my own floats,unlike your good self and other folk on this site.Perhaps one day i will have a bash at it
I did think that they`d be good for floats and every day i deliver to the place,i just take a look in the skip and see what i can find.
Better i rescue them than them ending up in some landfill....

---------- Post added at 23:36 ---------- Previous post was at 23:33 ----------

Just had a thought.....the rubbery synthetic type ones could be painted up and turned into carp/ledger bobbins....

 

[the indifferent crucian]

You can buy pre-drilled and shaped float corks on eBay, there are several suppliers. It is a harder, but crumblier, cork than wine bottles and easier to shape.

Add that to a BBQ skewer from Sainsbury and your on your way.........


All the eyes and such you might want are there too and you can get balsa from model shops.

Give it a go...the fish don't know it's your first float.