Some of the weights have the rubber throught a middle slot. If the weight comes in the right size, you could easily remove the rubber part and glue a fin into the slot.
Too bad you can’t get moldable lead that’s as dense as pur lead. Maybe tungsten putty is close. Degpleated uranium would be even better, but even though it’s ‘depleated,’ it’s still radioactive.
I’m going to try an experiment to se how densely I can get lead shot/epoxy to be. What’s the smallest lead shot- #7?
Tom, I think the smallest shot is #9. I’ve used it, but I think you’ll find you can only get about 1/2 as dense as solid lead. The result is a larger bulb and more drag. How significant this is with a Footy, I don’t know.
John, sorry to hear your mold didn’t work out. Did you find fishing weights that have a good shape for our use?
Bill
Bill-
The weights I got are the perfect shape! All I need to do is cut off the eye on the tail and Voila- solid lead keelbulb shaped like a blimp! I think I’ll use the eight ounce one I got. You know the ones that have eight sides sortof like hard chines on a boat? thats what I got. The sides fit in your vice too. If I use the one thats heavier than eight ounces I can shape it easily to be nice and slippery like a fish, and close to optimum weight. There’s nothing like trial and error for getting things right. I got mine at Roches Sporting goods in Cambridge Mass, but I’m quite sure they’re commonly available.
Cheers
These are the two sinkers I think of:
One is a cylindrical trolling sinker; the other is caled a ‘bank sinker’ and is the kind, I believe, that John was talking about- shape-wise. The trolling sinker, if you can get it at 8 ounces, would only require you to cut off the brass eyelets, and make a slot or hole(s) for mounting.