DIY barred rubber legs

another cool technique from an old friend
http://flytyingnewandold.blogspot.co...bber-legs.html

Thank you Pillcaster...that has always been one of my "Go To " sites. Great great resource.

Here is another great place to spend some time checking out fly tying tips and I mean a lot of them and they are great!

http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingtips/

After "clicking" on the link above, go to the bottom and "click" on Archives of Tying Tips.

Interesting idea but would take WAY too long if you were doing a lot of them. Much easier just to put the bands between two clips (or on a clip board, stretch them a bit, run a permanent marker across them (with or without a straight edge), remove clips, and use. Not quite as uniform as the commercial variety, but close enough for me.

The rubber legs from jannsnetcraft.com come in strips 12" long and about 30 legs wide. Lay this flat and draw lines across the width with a permanent marker. no clips required here.

As to 'what's quicker'...

I have a 'lot' of round rubber skirt material...I used to make bass jigs. I always used the method Coach Bob posted (my strips came in pounds..one continous length of I don't have any clue how long). It works, but there are two issues with it...you have to hold the strip secure (I used a clip board with two clips on it), and you have to hold the straight edge in place while you draw the marker across the strip, moving the straight edge each time and trying to keep it sort of even (doesn't need to BE even, but it looks better...). This method works, but the barring doesn't go all the way around the strand and I always got a bunch of the ink on my fingers, especially when separating the strands. And it does take a few minutes to do correctly.

I saw the 'twist and line' method posted here a few years back. It looked pretty slick, so I tried it. I liked the way it looked, but was it too time consuming?

After running few 'tests' I found that I could cut the strip to the length I wanted, separate the strip into individual strands, and then twist and draw an permanent marker over each one just as fast as the 'draw the lines across' method...with no ink all over my hands. I could vary the spacing as I chose based on how much I twisted the strands. I did cut a notch in the marker to make it easier to draw the length of the strand easier and more evenly. And I tried two colors as well...pretty cool.

In any event, you can make several hundred four inch legs in an hour with either method. I do prefer how the 'twisted' ones look.

Buddy