THIN Aluminum Foil - Recommendations

[SlowFISH]

Hey All -

Decided to get back into foiling some cranks to get a bit more "bling" than just using a silver paint.  I had been using (and just finished off) an aluminum foil I bought from the dollar store about 8-9 years ago.... it is SUPER SUPER THIN... which is great because you can burnish in down to near nothing and press out almost all of the wrinkles as you move around compound curves.

So - anyone have a source / or using something similar.  For reference - Reynolds foil is probably a good 3x-4x thicker than this stuff.... so when I say it's thin - it's almost useless for anything other than foiling baits!!! LOL!!.

 LMK what you guys are using - figured at worst I'd make a few stops and buy the cheapest stuff they have to see if I can find something as thin.

Thanks!

J.

[RPM]

SlowFish, I'll jump in and add that I to have been wanting to do some foil this winter and talking to another plug builder buddy of mine he suggested I try Candy foil, it's very thin and I beleive others have foiled lures with it, the thing I'm intrigued with it was the color selections. I have been told it's not as cheap as some aluminum foils but the lures I have seen that were done with it turned out stunning. We fish quite a few tournaments on the Ohio River ( Dirty Water ) and there is a color called Sun Granny and done with this candy foil the ones I've seen are spectacular. I'll be doing some research and sourcing, if I come up with a viable supplier I'll pass it along and would appreciate it if you would as well. Best of luck, Happy Holidays.

Rich  

[eastman03]

I would love to have a source of foil that is thin and shiny.  I have tried a few different brands of hardware store HVAC tape, and it all works, but I think I may be going in the wrong direction.  I bought the more 'expensive' brands at the store, and yea they are thicker, which is probably good for most uses except mine lol.   I have also found some brands kinda get tarnished and lose their shininess when I handle them.  Perhaps a cheaper foil would be thinner on average.   

One foil that has been recommended on this forum, and I can not find myself is 3m venture tape.   Man that stuff looks amazing.  Different sizes, thicknesses, and strong, but still soft and pliable.   I can't find it anywhere to try it out here in Canada (for a reasonable price I should add).   

https://www.3mcanada.ca/3M/en_CA/company-ca/all-3m-products/~/3M-Venture-Tape-Aluminum-Foil-Tape-1520CW/?N=5002385+3293084283&rt=rud

Candy foil is a neat suggestion as well RPM. I'll keep my eyes open for some of that stuff too. 

[Big Epp]

Not sure what's local to you, but I got some foil at aldi that seems very thin. They sell 75ft of heavy foil or 100ft of the thinner stuff. Might be worth checking out.

[SlowFISH]

I've tried the adhesive backs stuff.... like hvac tape and such - WAY thicker than the stuff I'm using.  For something large or a flat side crank the HVAC stuff is not bad - but no where near as "flexible" for the really contoured stuff. 

I use a light spray of Super 77 - then press this thin foil down, working it with my fingers to get it as flat as I can over half the bait.... I then use popsicle sticks I've sanded/shaped to press and burnish it down into the details and rub flat the wrinkles as best I can.  In some instances this stuff will rip if your a little too physical with it.... but if you look in the pics - on one of the tops I've added a few tiny piece to cover the rips and pressed it down - you can barely see it - I'm hoping with a shot of clear coat it will all be smooth before I start painting over it.  I will admit - it dos seem to lose it's "shine" as it's worked.... but still has more reflection/bling than any paint I've used.

I believe the thinner the material the better... I'll look into the candy foil - cost isn't an issue - more just finding the right stuff.

J

[Travis]

I find most all the "generic" foils to be acceptable.  Reason they are cheap compared to Reynolds.

Dollar store always a good bet.  

 

[SlowFISH]

2 hours ago, Travis said:

I find most all the "generic" foils to be acceptable.  Reason they are cheap compared to Reynolds.

Dollar store always a good bet.  

 

That's what I was hoping.... the nearest Dollar store is about a 20 minute drive.... guess I have something to do now!! LOL!.

[BobP]

I just never got the knack for gluing foil, so opted for thin adhesive foil, namely Venture Brite-Bak foil.  It used to be available from art shops for stained glass art but no longer.  The last I found was on EBay.  It adheres very well, burnishes out nicely, and has good shine.

[SlowFISH]

2 minutes ago, BobP said:

I just never got the knack for gluing foil, so opted for thin adhesive foil, namely Venture Brite-Bak foil.  It used to be available from art shops for stained glass art but no longer.  The last I found was on EBay.  It adheres very well, burnishes out nicely, and has good shine.

Key is super 77..... that stuff is incredible... I've used it for decades at work - accept no substitute when it comes to spray glues.

 

 I think I might have found a foil I'm looking for.... Amazon is selling a brand a bunch of people gave 1 star / negative reviews for being too thin to take off the roll or use without tearing.... sounds like a winner for me - plus its $2.20 delivered!! LOL!!!  Should be here Monday.... will let you guys know.

  J.

[Chuck Young]

Have you tried nail art foil? It is used in hair and nail salons to adorn women's fingernails. It is an ultra thin layer of shiny material applied to the thin plastic backing. After being glued, the plastic film is removed. 

The material I use is 4 cm wide and comes in 120 meter long rolls. Many colors are available: silver (shinier than aluminum), holographic silver, and holographic clear are most useful. Gold is also useful for a few patterns. The cost is much more reasonable than you might think. 

You can use m77 to apply it. However, I prefer to use thin epoxy like E tex or Devcon 2T thinned with a little denatured alcohol added to either of them. The key is to apply the right amount of epoxy; You should be able to feel the scale texture as you remove the excess with your finger. Use 4 layers of 1/4" craft foam (Michael's) on each side of the lure. Add a board to the top, and compress gradually with C- clamps. When the left over epoxy is cured, release the clamps and remove the plastic. 

I did a tutorial on this site earlier using heat transfer foil. Look it up. Many of the finer points still apply. This updates that process a little. 

http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/34741-using-heat-transfer-foil-to-chrome-no-machine/

 

[SlowFISH]

1 hour ago, Chuck Young said:

Have you tried nail art foil? It is used in hair and nail salons to adorn women's fingernails. It is an ultra thin layer of shiny material applied to the thin plastic backing. After being glued, the plastic film is removed. 

The material I use is 4 cm wide and comes in 120 meter long rolls. Many colors are available: silver (shinier than aluminum), holographic silver, and holographic clear are most useful. Gold is also useful for a few patterns. The cost is much more reasonable than you might think. 

That stuff looks interesting.... is the foil paper backed?   Meaning you're gluing a foil with paper back onto the lure (or nail!!) or is it pure foil once the plastic carrier is removed?  I like the color selections - holographic is cool.

I have some really thin paper backed foil - it does work reasonably well - but still isn't as thin as just the pure aluminum foil I've been using.  For 75% of the lure body (sides) you really don't notice a difference between the 2 - they both look real good.  It's the very top/bottom - where that little extra thickness of the paper backing makes it hard to press out flat.  With the super thin foil - you can get it to a point it's nearly "smooth" to the touch - plus it stretches ever so slightly where paper tends to resist.  

J.

[Chuck Young]

There is no paper backing. Just pure foil. But the foil is not metal. It is mylar, I believe. The duller part goes next to the lure. The clear plastic backing (which gets removed) goes to the outside allows you to handle it. This gets removed after the epoxy sets. The shine you see through the clear plastic is the shine you get after the plastic is removed. 

Excess epoxy can cause some wrinkling on the edges in some (fatter) lures. but this can be trimmed or sanded. The foil can also be applied to tacky resin which is set. But details such as scales would be lost. 

The actual thickness of the foil material applied to the lure is approx 1/50th the thickness of Renolds aluminum foil. 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Chuck Young
addition

[SlowFISH]

50 minutes ago, Chuck Young said:

There is no paper backing. Just pure foil. But the foil is not metal. It is mylar, I believe. The duller part goes next to the lure. The clear plastic backing (which gets removed) goes to the outside allows you to handle it. This gets removed after the epoxy sets. The shine you see through the clear plastic is the shine you get after the plastic is removed. 

Excess epoxy can cause some wrinkling on the edges in some (fatter) lures. but this can be trimmed or sanded. The foil can also be applied to tacky resin which is set. But details such as scales would be lost. 

The actual thickness of the foil material applied to the lure is approx 1/50th the thickness of Renolds aluminum foil. 

I'm gonna have to try some of this stuff... the hologram clears look cool.  Thanks for sharing.  J.

[SlowFISH]

So to wrap this thread up... my $2 foil from Amazon came in.... it actually measures considerably THINNER than the stuff I was using!!  No clue ho you use this for cooking - it would be a disaster.

So I foiled up a bait - it tends to rip ever so slightly easier than the stuff I had when trying to press out wrinkles... which is not great - BUT you can really burnish is down nicely and patch areas/rips with very little ability to see the edge.

So if anyone looking for some thin foil to try on the cheap - can't beat $2.20 if you have amazon prime..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TQR4RG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

J.

 

[Big Epp]

This is the foil from a Ferrero Rocher chocolate candy...

I think think this is the 3rd bait I've ever foiled, so I'm certainly no expert.  I just smoothed the foil over the bait, then took it off, applied superglue and put the foil back on.  Running my finger over it smoothed the glue out under the foil and drove it out to the edges.  Seems to have worked pretty well.

[RPM]

Big EPP, Looks good, Thanks for sharing, like I said I have a buddy that does awesome foil work and he swears by the candy foil.