For many years I have used extruded polystyrene to carve my fish bodies. The brand is DOW chemical co. sometimes I place an order and they come a slightly darker blue than normal. Lately they all come this way. They are also much more dense and difficult to carve. OK, I,m a whimp and getting old but after 4000 bodies carved I am spoilesd on the older(lighter blue) foam. Atempts to contact DOW were futile at best. Much red tape and little interest on their part(can't blame them) as product is intended for floatation. Anyway, does anyone have any help for me. These billets run me about 85.00 or so and measure 20"x10"x 8 feet long. THANKS!
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I see Dow is closing a big plant in Michigan. Those jobs had to go somewhere.
it's an easy float over. The question is this.....is progress really all that? I mean, now we compete with china and other countries for energy. With gas prices the way they are, people only take two trips fishing instead of ten. It's on the other eight that the trophy fish were being caught. Foam prices have almost doubled because you guessed it , they are made from petro. just another exec. sittin on the beach spendin my money if you ask me. And worst of all....? The packers look like s%#&$ today.
...receiving the "Square Edge" billets instead of the "Buoyancy Billets"? Dow makes both and the Square Edge is much more dense. I use both. But, Ideally I would love something in the middle. Imho the BB is too soft and not dense enough. And the SE is too dense and difficult to carve.
Boy, I wonder what their prices are going to go up to with the cost of petroleum products going up, up, up?
I do note a slight difference in billet shapes but nothing note worthy. When I contacted DOW they said keep track of the stamped codes on the billet itself but, The correct ones(lighter blue) never have a code on them. I believe I am just getting a variance in chemical make up between batches. When you order your two types, do you specify SE or BB? I wasnt aware there was even two types. The BB has always worked for me. Is the SE still the same size? I know they make different thicknesses of the BB 10" and 7" thick. Thanks!
I don't have any Square Edge in my shop not, but the B.B. is stamped right on one side of the billet next to Dow. I'm pretty certain it says Square Edge on those as well.
I don't know what you carve your fish bodies with but I have tried just about every fillet knife out there and I REALLY prefer the Rapala 6" fillet knife. The blade flexes just enough. And fthe blade is thin enough that it slides thru the foam easier than any other knife I've tried. It'll work on the Square Edge. But it dulls the knife really quickly and you have to keep sharpening it.
See if you can find what's stamped on your billets. And "yes", I do specify which type I want each time I order them.
Yes, the Square Edge billets I order are also 20"x10"x8'. Also a suggestion. Wherever you get you billets have themn cut it down the middle to form two 5" thick pieces. 80-90% of the fish I do can be done with the 5" thickness even with their curve. It really saves on waste. I usually keep one around at 10" thick for those really big fish.
Yes I also use the rapala fillet knife. They even become more valuable as they wear and get thinner. I NEVER need to sharpen though as the foam seems to do this for me, so yours must be different foam(square edge) than I am using. The billets I buy always have (boyancy billet) printed on them. the codes I spoke of are stamped in very small print. I have not seen them stamped square edge. Waste is not my problem though. I use whats left from all the salmon, muskies and pike to carve what I need for smaller species. I do about 70 walleyes a year though and those may work with the 5" thickness. will try, thanks
It would have Square Edge stamped on it if it were that. No, I prefer the BB as well. SE will dull the knife pretty quickly. I usually sharpen it after carving a few bodies with the SE. Whereas (like you say) the BB I can get away w/o sharpening for quite awhile.
If I were you I'd complain. Maybe they'll give you some new billets and let you keeo the bad ones as well?
70 walleyes a year huh? That's a lot of walleyes. No wonder they call you the "fishmeister"!
when you live on the banks of the fox river(a walleye factory) which flows to lk. winnebago(a walleye factory) and flows from the waters of Green Bay( a walleye factory) which contains little bay de noc and big bay de noc(two walleye factories) it.s pretty much par for the course. We are blessed with walleyes here and basically if they aint 28' or better they don't make it to my studio. Each batch contains atleast a few 14plus pounders.But , before all you fish taxidermists pack your bags and move on over, let me say this.......COMPETITION IS STEEP, quality fish taxidermists are as common as the big walleyes, so think twice! PS. FOR ALL YOU FISHING FANATICS THOUGH, consider this.... the size limit in spring on many waters here is 28 inches and for guys in the know, you can catch these with reckless abandon,infact most guys want ATLEAST 30" to display.
I carve my fish out of the dow bouncy billets too, but I use the 7" because the density is different than the 10", and I only pay $52.00 per billet here in se michigan. I had no problems when I called and talked to the dow representive, and they even told me where I could get the billets close to me.
its been yrs since I used the 7" I didnt realize there was a difference in density. I will try and 52 bucks is a stael. Better stock up though, those gas mogers are watching.