bodkin

[mudflaper]

stupid ? what is a bodkin

[2 Bead Pupa]

A stick ( handel ) with a needle in one end . It's used to apply head cement or pick out dubbing or clean out the eye of a hook or ....

[William Fitzgerald]

No not stupid we all have to learn and this is the place to ask---a bodkin is a needle with a handle at one end. Very easily made with a small dowel and a needle with the eye glued into the wood. They are used to clean out dried spouts on glue bottles,add a small amount of glue to the eye of a fly--any job you can think of for a needle. BILL

[RDL]

Many of the commercially made ones like the photo I've attached have a half-hitch tool on the handle end, relatively inexpensive, a few dollars will buy one, and definitely worth having.

[Jack Hise]

Mudflapper;
A lot of the fun of fly tying comes from building your own tools. I have several "Bodkins" made by gluing different size needles (eye first) into small hobby shop corks. A great way to clean all that glue off the needle is a 35 mm film case filled with 00 steelwool.
As Mr Fitzgerald said "Not Stupid, we all have to learn"!

[ridgeliner]

A bodkin is a great tool to get knots out of shoe laces.

[Fly Tyer]

Good question! It is always good to learn something new. There is a great resource under the fly tying section of this website, where you can read up on all the different tying related items. It is almost like a dictionary for tying. I find myself going there once and a while even after a long while of tying.

[TyroneFly]

Here is the link to the section Fly Tyer mentioned in his post. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingterms/

[mudflaper]

all you thanks just learning ill have a million ? so bear with me

[flybinder]

M-Flapper;
Here's a pic of a few of the many bodkins, I own, maybe give you some ideas on buying or making your own. No, NO ONE "needs" all of these, not by a LONG SHOT, but what's new, when it comes to having fly tying/fishing gear? Although, I DO have a couple of different needle lengths and diameters, because different sizes can be used for different tasks. Some, needle diameters, just won't poke thru the eye of a #22 hook, but are great for plucking out dubbing.
Other's are thin enough, to go thru a small hook eye, but will bend when plucking, dubbing! But, seriously, all any tier really needs, is probably 2, at the most!
The one's pictured, are (left to right).......... a simple chunk of Thornwood branch, cut from an antique walking stick I got in Ireland. The next is made from a cork round, used in building rod handles.Long, white, one is the base of a Peacock quill and the last I made, is of course, deer antler. The remaining two, I purchased from fly shops.
All the ones, I made myself, I used "Duco 5 Minute Epoxy"......... dipped the eyes of the needles into it, then stuck them into whatever I'd used for a handle.