OK, most fly tyers have heard at one time or another to use a coffee grinder to blend your own colors of dubbing. I always assumed this was taking various shades of dubbing and mixing them together. Not wanting to spend $10 on a new grinder for something I might not use much I kept an eye for a used one and finally picked one up at a Thrift store for a $1.91. It been in my fly desk for several months (unused) until recently after watching an episode of Fly Tying the Anglers Art. Engerbretson and Hyatt were talking about mixing their own blend when one of the said "you can make your own dubbing by chopping up any color yarn in a coffee grinder." Thats when the light bulb went off!!!!

Digging out scraps of variegated camo-yarn I had cut down and separated into individual colors ( black, browns/tans, olives and greens) I went to work. After a few quick 'grinds' I figured out that about 36" of normal size yarn will yield the amount of dubbing we generally buy in a pack from a fly shop. I chopped up the yarn into roughly 1" pieces and 'ground' for about 30 seconds ('stirring' a once or twice to get it all down in the blade).

Wallah! instant dubbing. I don't have the original package from the yarn, but I know it's some kind of Rayon or Antron etc. I think Wally World still carries it, so I'll look next time I'm there. This picture doesn't show the colors very well but you get the idea. If you know a knitter or crocheter, you're probably set with a life time supply of free dubbing.