Materials and Production

We have built up a network of suppilers and manufactures over 11 years. The attention to detail that we pride ourselves on at Ds Floats is simple if we don’t use it, we don’t sell it!!
The information below we out line key information ( not all our secrets ) what we do on our production runs.

Bodies
All of our stock material for bodies are machined in house on our fully automated custom built CNC lathe. We now only use high grade rochacell products as balsa natural properties make it extremely hard to find constant balsa.

ROHACELL® IG-F structural foam is a closed-cell rigid foam based on polymethacrylimide (PMI) chemistry and contains no CFC’s.
The “IG” in ROHACELL® IG-F stands for “Industrial grade.” It is THE standard product in our range of rigid foam products and is suitable for a wide variety of automotive, medical and industrial applications.
The “F” in ROHACELL® IG-F indicates the foam’s fine cell structure that will take up only minimal resin at the surface where the cells have been cut open. Less resin take-up during part processing means less final part weight and overall cost.
PROCESSING AND PRODUCTION
ROHACELL® IG-F is particularly suitable for prepreg processing, but can also be used in resin infusion and RTM processes up to temperatures of 130 °C (266 °F) and pressures of 0.3 MPa (44 psi).
THERMOFORMING AND SHAPING
The thermoformability of ROHACELL® provides tremendous manufacturing advantages and ROHACELL® IG-F is easy to shape by machining.
High precision, pre-shaped and ready-to-use foam cores in complex or simple geometries can be supplied by the ROHACELL® Shapes Department.
We only use Igf110 as this gives a much better overall ratio in terms of eye strength, and weight ratios. We believe that at this moment in time there is not a better grade or product to use anywhere on earth!!! Please don’t get this product mistaken with other Products on the market, those products are not as good for the application of pole floats even if there the same density, the cell structure of Igf110 is still multiple times stronger than its competitors at the same 110m3 due simply to the cell structure. Example is pre cast concrete on the out side both slims would look the same but, the one with the rebar inside is simply better!!

Stems

We use glass carbon and wire in all our floats. Glass is one of our top sellers and is the one to choose when strength is needed as its virtually indestructible. It also lends well to the entire stem going through the centre of the body which will maximise strength and allow the use of ‘Hybrid Power eyes ‘!! Wire has lots of advantages over other materials. It offers far more stability & turns over much quicker than glass or carbon. Perfect for f1 pellet floats or shalla fishing be it with a dibber or deep shalla. It can also be used to grate effect for shy biting fish by reducing the amount of shot down the line but still offering fantastic stability. Carbon is fast becoming a very very popular choice!! Weight ratio per mm compared to the other two Main materials in the same diameter is different!

Example
▪️ Carbon 0.6mm = 0.007g
▪️Wire 0.6mm = 0.042g
▪️ Glassfibre 0.6mm = 0.011g

As you can see carbon is nearly 50% lighter than the second closest material. This offers far more natural Buoyancy and creates a natural pendulum for fishing through the water. Carbon can also be used in larger diameter when a Hybrid style pattern is need.

Eyes
We only use two types of eyes the
Traditional twisted side eye, and our very own custom built in house “ hybrid power eye “. We now have our traditional twisted eyes made purposefully for us as we struggled to source a perfect product .We wanted some flex in the material which we could not find ,by using mass produced eyes .Most eye damage is caused by sudden force, this is caused by a Multitude of factors. The user, The elements or the fishing. We have developed a system that we call “ ultra grip eye” it means we have to spend considerable time pre-drilling and fixing the eye in place but the end result is worth it.
‘Hybrid Power Eyes’
These are a completely different form of eye. The stem of the eye is placed in the opposite side of the float and then sits around the stem underneath the tip. Put simply they are the same weight as a normal side eye, so no effect on balance, they twist into a loop as a normal side eye so no line damage but they are stronger than a spring eye. Strongest eye on the market, raising standards!
Finish
We have spent hundreds of pounds and years tweaking and expanding the finish to evolve into what we feel is the perfect finish. Ultra Hard resin primer and our purposely mixed “Tough Ink “ combination is the ultimate finish on a float to date!!! Due to the cell structure we believe that multiple layers of low viscous ink and resins are a major break through in “ finish “ technology & Technique. The inking process takes a total of 10 layers but only adds 0.012mm on the bodies giving flexible finish which don’t crack and are much more resistant to the odd knock.

Hopefully this is a little insight into the manufacturing & research that has gone into DS FLOATS and what makes us one of the world leaders in top flight pole floats!!

Tights lines
Dave Smalley