Been too lazy to post for a long while since I have no facility to make lures after moving to a new house. But things are getting more organised now so here is one to start the ball rolling agian.
Foiling lures.
Tools and materials.</font id=“size4”>
Foils that can be used comes from many sources, the most common ones will be kitchen foil and construction foil.
Fig 1: Top to bottom: Kitchen foil, Self Adhesive Construction Foil, Cigarette packing foil, candy wrapping foil.</font id=“green”>
Tool wise you will mainly need you fingers and nails, then later rely on burnishing tools which are simply hard and smooth implements like a ball point pen, plastic cigarette lighter, or special burnishing tool available from you art store.
Fig 2: Burnishing tools, right to left: Exacto knife handle, goldsmith burnishing rod, acrylic rod, ball point pen, plastic cigarette lighter</font id=“green”>
Steps</font id=“size4”>
Here I will illustrate the steps to foil with self adhesive construction foil.
- Start by cutting it to shape slightly bigger than needed and enough to go around curved surfaces [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/6f803a9e.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/57231f17.jpg[/IMG]
- Peel off the backing paper on the foil half way or less for longer project. We want it just enough so we can stick it onto the starting point. Now fold the backing paper back and line up the foil on your lure. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/201ad3f8.jpg[/IMG]
- Next press foil down firmly at the mid-line of your lure working towards the side where the backing paper is. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/152989ea.jpg[/IMG]
- As you slowly peel the backing paper off, work the foil along the middle line of the lure down all the way until you get to the end of the lure. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/5f7ef611.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/3606fafb.jpg[/IMG]
- By now you should have the foil securely stuck to the lure and laid down evenly for further work without having to worry about the foil getting all over the place and yourself. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/97c6e23c.jpg[/IMG]
- Next comes the steps to lay the foil down conforming to the shape of your lure. Start working at one end, slowly pushing the foil with the meaty part of your thumb toward the edges. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/97c6e23c.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/5e2b5874.jpg[/IMG]
- If it begins to crumble before you get to the edge, stop and work on the other end. Next work the middle.
- Repeat and try to make the foil lay down evenly. Any crumbled zone can be worked out with your nail. Foils (aluminum) are slightly pliable so they will stretch a bit to conform to contours or crushed to even out. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/f2c09627.jpg[/IMG]
- Now we should have one side laid down with excess sticking out. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/3eaceefa.jpg[/IMG]
- Cut or trim the excess with a sharp scissor or an art knife. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/275bb52b.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/3369b1a7.jpg[/IMG]
- Only now do we get to the burnishing part. As you would have notice, the foil that is laid down is still not shinny smooth. These minor crest and wrinkles can all be taken out by burnishing. Start burnishing as you did when laying the foil down. Start from the middle then work toward both ends and the edges. [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/045e228b.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/4d3356b5.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/0711ce47.jpg[/IMG]
- To get it shiny smooth, work it with a metal burnishing tool. As it burnishes, the metal burnishing tool will also polish and weld the foil into a blemish free surface. (One thing that you have to be aware of is the foil will only be as smooth as the underlying surface. Any blemish there will show thru. So to get a mirror finish, make sure you prepare the surface you plan to foil as smooth as you can.) [IMG]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/LaPala/FCU/389a7723.jpg[/IMG] (Okay this is not exactly mirror finish, I kinda rushed thru the burnishing process and left some streaks that I haven't even out with further burnishing. Final burnishing can be done with a flannel cloth as well.)
A little note, as your burnish, you will inevitable work some of the adhesive out and it will stick to your foil and burnishing tool. These have to be cleaned out with mineral spirit or other solvents that dissolves the glue. If left sticking to your burnishing tool, it will leave little lines on your foil as the tool is no longer smooth but streaked with little bumps of glue; these bumps will transfer as streaking on the foil.
Fig 3: Gunk on burnishing tool and end edge of foil.</font id=“green”>
There you have it foiling in a nutshell. Feel free to ask if you have any question or tell us ways to improve the technique.
Good Carving.
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