fiber types

Is there a way to tell what type of man made fiber a cord is made from if you don't have the label? I tend to buy stuff at 2nd hand stores and garage sales that is the right color but with out the labels?

Thanks

Eric

There is a test kit consisting of a text plus samples og materials that will you basically CONFIRM whether a sample is a particular material. It will not let you IDENTIFY a sample without an extensive series of tests.
You will also find that the investment will be more than what you would spend on buying labelled material rather than the mystery material you now buy. Break down and spend a buck or better yet, buy stuff to share it with a buddy.

Ray, if I could Identify this stuff I could share with half of FAOL. this is material such as cord for macrame from the 70's in olive and orange. I have poly etc bought at fly shops, bought for a couple of bucks for a few yards but I realy like using stuff that I find from out side normal sources. If I can't find a use for it fishing, I will possibly revert to my junior high roots and tie up some plant hangers.

Eric

macrame is almost always poly from that period. with a decent magnifying glass one can see the tri-lobal qualities of antron.

I've got plenty of materials that I can't identify. I still use them just the same. I'm not one to follow patterns or recipes in general, so the name of a material isn't all that important to me. I say use it, and if it doesn't work for your intended purpose, try using it for something else. Is there any reason you want to identify it besides the curiosity of knowing what you have?

ETA: You could try taking a small section into some craft stores and your local fly shop(s) and see if they can identify it for you.

Eric,

You probably won't be able to 'identify' the stuff with any precision.

But, you can do some simple tests to see what it will 'work' for.

By far the most imporant thing to know is 'does it float?' and then 'how well will it float?'. Does it Absorb water? Is it colorfast in water? Will water desolve it?

You can find the answers to these with just a bowl of water and some time.

It's likely that it's poly yarn, since most macrame cord was. Once you've determined that it floats and won't either absorb water or disolve, you can use it for strike indicators. If it's colorfast (some of those dyes they used weren't all that great), then you can use it for wings, bodies, posts, etc.. That's if you care about fading/leeching of the color, if not, then it's useful for whatever.

Buddy

I've worked in the plastics industry for 27 years, most of that working with polypropylene. We get unknown materials all the time. We use equipment to ID materials now, but back in the old days we would burn the plastic and smell the smoke (not advisable nowadays) if it had an acrid smell, it was polypropylene, if sweet it was polyethylene. Nylon has a specific smell that I cannot describe on a forum.It can be hard to do without a "known sample to compare to. Polypropylene cord if completely wet out should still float in a glass of water as it has a density below 1.00, where nylon (like anchor line) is well above 1.0 and would sink in water. I think antron is a type of Nylon, but I am not sure as I don't work with it.Y ou can wet it out with some rubbing alcohol. Drench it then sweeze out the alcohol. That's what we did. If you would like me to help ID the fiber, PM me and I will give you my address and I will give it a shot.

Roy

its a general question, I attend yard sales and second hand stores all the time, (never know what I will find) I guess I will give what I have the float test. If it doesnt float I can still tie warmwater flies or what ever with it.

Eric

I find that if the yarn is sparkly when you shred it into its component fiber, then it is good stuff. How's that for scientific??