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Head cement?
There was a thread a while back about whether or not to apply head cement to the fly head.
I mentioned that I rarely, if ever, use it and do not have thread wraps coming loose.
Anyway, was reading "Hatches II" again and noticed, for the first time, Caucci and Nastasi saying this, while showing how to tie their Comparadun patterns:
"Important Tying Notes: Do not cement or lacquer head. It is not necessary and quite often the lacquer bleeds back to the dubbing affecting the buoyancy of the fly. Four or five jam knots will outlast the materials of any fly you can tie."
Page 313
Not sure that was in the original Hatches book. Will have to look again.
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Byron I still like to cement my nymphs, if fished right they get pretty banged up bouncing the bottom. I do not cement my dries just a 4 turn whip finish. Of course if fished right they probably don't last too long anyway cement or no cement.
Gene
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I use cement on pretty much everything in the nymph/wet/streamer box. I seldom use it on dries below #16. Never noticed a negative. The potential positive is obvious. The head on most aquatic insects is fairly prominent. I prefer the head on my patterns to remain a bit glossy and prominent as well. Does it matter? Maybe so...maybe not. :)
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I don't head cement unless I need a shiny head for streamers and such. A 5 turn whip finish is all I use.
I learned this from a professional Montana fly tyer and guide. If one of his flies unraveled due to a lack of head cement, he gave the customer a dozen of the same pattern. He told me no customer ever asked for that dozen flies; and as a pro tyer, every step saved meant more flies tied. He figured he saved enough time over his tying career to tied many dozens of flies more by not using head cement.
So I agree with Byron that head cement is not needed when you whip finish a fly rather than use half hitches.
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Certainly....agreed, its a step in the process that if left out saves time. And for a commercial tyer, time is money.
I look at it this way. It doesn't hurt a pattern. And I'm far past filling commercial orders. Its not a step that I chafe at. If it was I may feel different. It basically comes down to personal choice.
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Everything is a matter of choice.
I did find it interesting that Caucci and Nastasi found it important enough to actually warn against the danger of using it in their Comparadun patterns due to the possibility of it bleeding into dubbing, thus reducing the buoyancy in addition to their not finding it necessary anyway.
Obviously, most tiers learn their craft from others, and the practice gets handed down from generation to generation.
Prior to waxed tying threads, it may have served a useful purpose, but modern threads are waxed, thus allowing much better holding whip finish knots.
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Is that what they call a "jam knot"?
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I think it also depends on the head cement one uses. Early on I learned to use Head "Varnish", which was much thinner and it soaked into the materials pretty quick. It also slightly yellowed. I could see it in that case being a concern. But I doubt it is a concern with SHHAN.
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I like o go with history. Both the Dette's and Darby's used lacquer on the heads of their flies. Mary Dette and her grandson still use it on their flies. Noe when tying North Country flies I wax the silk heavily and don't use head cement on them, same with flymphs. Neither Hidy and Leisuring used head cement but the waxed their thread.