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Thanks for the kind words. I am currently using Mustad 34011.

Sure. What I'll do is post in a series. I want to say from the outset that there are several methods that can be used to get the same results. I will show the methods I use. I just got some of the last materials together this afternoon to make a new batch. The first post will be materials and tools needed. You have to make one tool and I'll tell how.

Dirk

Follow this up by enlarging the hole with the 3/8" inch bit.






Using a miter saw cut a piece off the drilled end of the wood about 3/4" long and at a 15degree angle.





You might as well make a second form at this point because you have the reciprocal angle on the original piece of wood.





Take the brass 3/8" tubing and place it in the tubing cutter. Cut a piece to about 4 1/2" in length. This will be what you use to cut your balsa blanks.





Mark your balsa block 2 inches from the end and cut it off with the fine bladed hacksaw.




Chock the brass tubing with the end that you cut (conveniently sharpened by the cutter) facing out.




Drill the blanks out of the balsa. (Here's a hint. DON'T do it on your wife's good table.)You will need to remove the tubing to get the blank out after each time you cut one. I got 36 blanks out of this 2 inch long piece. You can see the pile of them in the background of the second picture below.



In part 3 we will begin shaping the blanks.

Using light strokes with the sandpaper, smooth off ragged edges at the face. Be careful not to change the angle or take off too much material.





Hold the body in one hand and the grinding attachment in the other, make a concave shape in the face.





Using just the hacksaw blade again, cut a shallow groove bisecting the bottom of the balsa. Make sure your cut is even and centered. You can see the approximate depth of the cut in the second picture below. Don't make the groove too deep in the front. You want the eye of the hook only about 1/16" deep into the body.





Check the fit and make any adjustments in the groove with the blade, and length of body by sanding the rear of the body.
This one is about right, but out of focus.





Lay a thread base on the hook and whip finish.





Apply a liberal amount of glue to the thread. Attach body. Apply more glue to completely fill in groove. Smooth out excess and let dry.

Using the waterproof craft pens lay a base coat of color on the foil. Use a darker color to shade the top section, then use a black one on the very top. If you want you can use a small section of wet sponge and some acrylic paint in different colors for different effects.




Paint the concave face of the popper. Two coats may be necessary for good coverage. I like red or orange color here.




The eyes are a three step process. I put the hook in a pair of hemostats for this step. It helps in making sure the eyes are more consistent in placement. Use the larger of your three dowels. It should measure about 1/8th of an inch across. Dip it in the red paint and make a large dot on the side of the body 1/16th of an inch behind the front of the body. Dip the tip of the dowel in the paint once more and repeat on the other side of the body.




After the paint dries completely, move down to the next sized dowel and place a white dot inside the red dot using the same method. After that is completely dry, move to the smallest dowel and place a black dot inside the white dot. If done properly you can make the eyes impart either a "fleeing "or "chasing" look to the fly.


Using small dowels you can create nice accents on your poppers. For examples look at the original pictures I posted or the header of this post.

We are almost finished!!! Next comes the fun part.

You can either mix your 30 minute epoxy in a plastic cup or you can make your own cup from foil by pressing a small doubled square around the bottom of a pill bottle as I did here. Mix about fifteen drops of resin with the equal amount of hardener. If you would like, and can find some very fine pearl colored glitter, you can mix it in now. I use a metal or plastic rod to stir the two parts until the resulting mixture turns clear. I don't thin my epoxy because I like a thicker shell covering the foil.

Shorten the fibers on a small craft brush by cutting half of the length of them off. This aids in getting a more even coat of epoxy with fewer missed spots.
Carefully brush the epoxy to get complete coverage including the concave face. Try to keep it out of the hook eye. Make sure all paint and craft pen ink has dried overnight before you begin to epoxy.
Have your rotating drying set up ready to put your flies in after you coat each one.
When the epoxy in the cup gets too thick to work with, toss it out and start a new batch. You don't want to mess up your popper at this late point. I usually get about 4 pencil poppers coated before I have to mix more epoxy due to hardening, but I have on occasion been able to coat six.





Place your flies in the drying apparatus as you finish each one, making sure you don't let them touch each other while wet. Turn them for at least 3 hours until the epoxy is set and won't try to sag any longer. Let them dry overnight before you begin to tie in the tail.




After the epoxy has hardend completely, it's time to tie in the tail. I don't like to "gild the lily" so to speak, so I tie a very simple tail on my poppers. I like to tie in a couple of strands of some kind of flashy material. Here I am using pearl colored flashabou. Start your thread behind the body and tie in the flashabou, locking it in and trimming appropriately. Next take a small to medium sized clump of marabou that coordinates well with some color in the fly. Tie that in, trim the excess, and whip finish. Place a couple of drops of head cement on the thread, and you are done!


At this point, I would like to say a little about the foil pencil popper. I did not originate this pattern. I seem to recall a fellow in Sweden named Rapala who made hand carved , and hand tuned crank and stick baits that were covered with foil and epoxy. I believe this process is probably similar to his original process.
Mr. Walt Holmann is famous for tying these and is generally considered the best in the business, if not the originator. You can catch him tying occasionally at the FFF Southeastern Council Conclave among others. I would strongly suspect my methods are a bit different from his, because I have never seen him make his poppers. I did a lot of trial and error to get mine to look somewhat presentable.

I would like to thank everyone who has inquired or commented about the pencil poppers. They are challenging to tie, and take a while to make, but look so good when complete. I hope you try to make some of these yourself. I guarantee you won't be disappointed, but you may become addicted to making and using them. Oh, I almost forgot, they catch big fish, so hang on!

Dirk Burton
aka "flyslinger"