Float making materials

[Aaron1976]

Hello! Can anybody advise me as to where I could source some float making materials such as peacock quills or similar sort of items for wagglers etc?

 

Would varnished mahognay make a suitable material?

 

Aaron

[Melvin]

Hello! Can anybody advise me as to where I could source some float making materials such as peacock quills or similar sort of items for wagglers etc?

 

Would varnished mahognay make a suitable material?

 

Aaron

 

 

Try here mate

 

http://www.tacklebargains.co.uk/acatalog/F..._Materials.html

[david t]

That site is good mate, i sometimes get annoyed at the lack of river fishing floats available in the tackle shops, may have to get myself some of them crow quill avons, or the fluted body avons, i can imagine they would be useful in windy conditions, as they would keep to their desired path.

problem is they are quite expensive, probably put them in a bush first cast.

 

i suppose the only time i could see mahogany being useful, is in base of a stick float, much the same way as alloy stems are used, to keep them stable in the flow. otherwise could mahogany maybe be slightly to dense, and if used as a float on its own would it maybe feel a little unbalanced, on the cast.

Edited May 17, 2006 by david t

[Andy Macfarlane]

A trip to the local aviary/zoo/sanctuary should provide you with a decent selection of feathers, of all sizes and shapes.

[markp]

Ebays your best bet mate i got 10 decent size feathers for just under £5 with postage made about 35 floats out of it too

[Guest tigger]

Ebays your best bet mate i got 10 decent size feathers for just under £5 with postage made about 35 floats out of it too

 

 

I've just sold a large ammount of Macaw feathers on ebay (over 200) and I sold them for less than a fiver. I think a lot of people tie fly's etc with them.

The larger ones could be used to make floats. I often have them as I keep macaws and collect them as the birds moult them out. I just used to throw em on the compost heap until I found people want them.

If you have a mooch round under a Rookery you should find plenty quills.

[GlennB]

I've just sold a large ammount of Macaw feathers on ebay (over 200) and I sold them for less than a fiver. I think a lot of people tie fly's etc with them.

The larger ones could be used to make floats. I often have them as I keep macaws and collect them as the birds moult them out. I just used to throw em on the compost heap until I found people want them.

If you have a mooch round under a Rookery you should find plenty quills.

Tigger have you got any photos of the macaws you could post over on the photo forum? I love macaws - would dearly like to have 1 or 2 one day. The series of parrots we've had over the years have been great, mind But parrot feathers are not quite the business ...

[ColinW]

The stem of a waggler needs to be as light as possible, mahogany would be useless. Nothing has the combination of light weight and strength that feather stems like peacock quill gives. Don't forget though that the main reason the professional companies use peacock is because it provides consistently long straight lengths which are easy to work on machines. For DIY float making that's not necessary. Find some geese, swans, crows or even seagulls and you'll get plenty of material. Parks with duckponds are a good place to look.

[Paul Boote]

Tigger have you got any photos of the macaws you could post over on the photo forum? I love macaws - would dearly like to have 1 or 2 one day. The series of parrots we've had over the years have been great, mind But parrot feathers are not quite the business ...

 

 

Glenn,

 

If they are blue Macaws, then their tail feathers are worth a few bob to a flytyer. Contact me in future if you have any of the long blue tails up for grabs; I use them to tie an old Welsh sea-trout pattern named the "Haslam".

 

ATB

 

PB

[Paul Boote]

Glenn,

 

If they are blue Macaws, then their tail feathers are worth a few bob to a flytyer. Contact me in future if you have any of the long blue tails up for grabs; I use them to tie an old Welsh sea-trout pattern named the "Haslam".

 

ATB

 

PB

 

 

I got the wrong man - I should have addressed the above to Tigger.

 

So...

 

Tigger,

 

What I said to Glenn still very much applies: I'm in the the market for a few blue tails...

 

PB