Fighting Foam Torque

There are times when torque is your friend - distributing deer/elk/pick-your-favorite-ungulate hair for wings/bodies, hackle fibers for tails/legs/beards, driving down the highway. When tying with foam, not so much; few things are more frustrating than watching the stuff spin around the hook, no matter how much thread you use (more just makes a bad situation worse), how hard you lean on the bobbin (you'll either cut the foam or pop the thread), or how much glue you use after the fact (Super Glue isn't much help if you've established a poor foundation).
Jay "Fishy" Fullum showed me (actually me and about 50 other folks at one of the Fly Shows) an easy way to anchor the foam (and save the spinning for deer hair) that adds maybe 5 seconds to the tying process; I can live with that.

cover the part of the shank where the foam's going with thread (bare shank bad)

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0054fae9.jpg


taper foam strip to allow for neater tie-in

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...pse1f7f8fb.jpg


tie foam down at hook bend

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...ps78c53692.jpg


pull foam up and brush a little Super Glue on shank

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psf0129a1b.jpg


with foam still pulled back, advanced thread forward a bit

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...ps70f18c88.jpg


now take a wrap over the foam onto the shank

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4adb88ac.jpg


repeat 2 previous steps as far up the shank as needed

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...ps120811fc.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psb0f7629c.jpg


then return to bend, covering the foam with thread wraps and you're in business

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psdd450c9e.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psb89775ac.jpg


It really helps to repeat this process when you're tying the business end off, as well.

Regards,
Scott

Clever, clever.
Mike

Just a question about the use of glues and mater4ials: Don't you find that some types of glues are better for use with certain materials? For example, the use of Super Glue with foam. Is it the best glue to use? How about contact cement or rubber glue.
Just asking and perhaps you've tested some others for use with foam.

Thanks.

Allan

Allan,

For foam-to-foam, contact or rubber cement works great (adds time but provides a strong, flexible bond), but for tying on a hook I find the cyanoacrylates work better - faster, neater and stronger. Just my 2 cents.

Regards,
Scott

If you look at my two super glue articles from 2010 you will probably find all the answers to questions about use with foam.
Good luck.
Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CoachBob

If you look at my two super glue articles from 2010 you will probably find all the answers to questions about use with foam.
Good luck.
Bob

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Bob,

Was this one of them?
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...r-Glue-Science

Regards,
Scott

2010 rticles:
Jan 18 FLY TYING WITH CYANOACRYLATE = CA - SUPER GLUE
Feb 15 FLY TYING WITH SUPER GLUE PART II

The thread you cite was another exploration of the super glue science that got excellent responses.