Matarelli for me 100%. Can't do the finger thing as I do lots of work outside plus hunting/fishing so my hands are usually pretty beat up so the thread gets hung up.
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Matarelli for me 100%. Can't do the finger thing as I do lots of work outside plus hunting/fishing so my hands are usually pretty beat up so the thread gets hung up.
Fingers. I like the feel of finishing by hand. I have a couple of store-bought whip finishers, but the two that I was born with work pretty well.
:)
At least I quit rubbing a dab of parafin on the heads of all my flies before putting them in boxes. That can get a little rough on the old fingers, expecially on little flies where the barb and the eye are close together.
Ed
P.S. Good point from Dr. Fish. There have been times when whip finishing silk thread by hand seemed like a lost cause.
I use a Matarelli for smaller flies and if I need to work my way around materials that stick out a little toward the eye. I think my wraps are more precise with the Matarelli but if I am in a hurry or just can't find the whip finisher then I whip by hand. I also hand whip when I am trying to tie off larger flies with large materials that stick out over the eye or am trying to whip finish farther back on the fly shank (such as a crayfish fly that I tie.)
I use a Matarelli. Used a different kind when I was growing up, tried a Matarelli once and never looked back. Works on any fly, easy to use, ambidextrous.
Griffin or by hand. The main thing if you are thinking of buying one is to go to a FLY SHOP and set up a vise and hook. Try all the whip finishers they sell and choose the one you feel most comfortable with. I can use a Matarelli (almost the same as a Griffin), had a couple of Indian ones (double bend at the 'tip'), but feel more secure with the Griffin
I use my fingers. The pro is that I haven't lost them yet, unlike the whip finisher tool that I've never quite learned to use properly (a thompson, I think). Con, it prevents me from learning how to use the tool, and I would like to become familear with it. Just can't find it as it seems to have sunk to the bottom of the material's box through disuse! :)
- Jeff
Been fly fishing for 15 years, and fly tying for 14 years. During those 14 years I have only used the Matarelli Whip Finisher. Tried the others, and they were too complicated, and unwieldy. Gotten to a point that I do not do half-hitch anymore, I just use my Matarelli Whip Finisher.
When dressing brassie wire bodies I secure them with a Matarelli Whip Finisher.
~Parnelli :D
I have both the Thompson, and Materelli, but I probably use the Materelli more. It's easier to put whip finishes on other places besides the nose of the fly, like in the middle of the body for Chernobyle Ants, Pom-Pom Spiders, etc...