hair stacking help please

[rippdr]

i have tried several time to stack hair and just cant get the hang of it. i have watched all the utube videos ect. and still cant get it. i think my problem might be the hair isnt coarse enough but im not sure.
anyone have tips to help out a beginner?

[Wes]

hi rip

make sure all the underfur, the real fine stuff, is removed and hammer the hair stacker like yer driving a nail. i have a 1/4" rubber pad to pound on. size of hair stacker may also make a difference. small amount of hair = small diameter hair stacker and the opposite for a large amount of hair. hold the stacker at an angle, almost horizontial, when removing the barrel and remove the hair by the tips rather than the butts.

[jburge]

Everything Wes said. I was shown a tip once for removing the underfur -- get an old toothbrush and go to work. It's amazing how much stuff comes out.

John

[Bass_Bug]

What exactly is not working? Are the tips not evening out when you remove the hair from the stacker? Or are you referring to spinning the hair after evening the tips?

Coarseness shouldn't have much to do with it. Fine hair will stack easier than coarse, but wont flair as much as coarse when spinning. Even the most crinkly hair like Kip/Calf tail can be stacked, just do smaller bunches and give lots of room in the stacker.

If you comb out and remove all the underfur as mentioned, you really don't need to bang it that hard, just some firm taps on a semi-solid surface. It you bang it too hard or use a hard surface, the hair will bounce back up inside defeating the purpose. You also don't want to fill up the stacker either. No matter what size (diameter) of the stacker you should not load much more than about half of what it will hold (uncompressed). You have to give the hair room to loosen up and fall down on the tips.

If you're referring to spinning after stacking that's a different topic altogether. Chris Helm (http://www.whitetailflytieing.com/ht...tact-order.htm) is the master of deer hair. Check any of his deer hair videos for everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-working-with-hair-but-were-afraid-to-ask. Or like I've said before, Helm will answer your questions on the phone if you cal him.

[Al Beatty]

Hi rppdr,

The other posters have provided great information and if you are doing a good job of removing the under fur/short fibers then static electricity could be a problem. If the hair doesn't want to stack, sticks to the stacker/hands or just seems "not get with the program" then it could be the problem. Two products from the laundry area at your local grocery store can help; they are Static Guard (spray can) and Bounce Pad (fabric pad to go in clothes dryer). Just spray your hands, tools and piece of hair with Static Guard to eliminate the static electricity. OR Place a Bounce Pad in your lap and touch your materials/hands to it every few minutes. Let us know if this works for you. Take care & ...

Tight Lines - Gretchen & Al Beatty
www.btsflyfishing.com

[narcodog]

What Al says, I use a used dryer cloth on the tying tools and inside the tube. which also imparts anti-static to my fingers. In the winter and in dry climates you'll have more of this problem.

By the way dry cloths can be used in the dryer more than once may be as much as four times. Saves $$

[Normand]

comb out all of the fuzz from the butt ends of the hair with an antistatic type of comb.

comb out the tip ends also.

dont try to stack the hair in the diameter of a cigar. use small bunches

[ducksterman]

I know at least one tyer that used glass test tubes as stackers to avoid the static problem and also to get an easier stack.

[martinwestbeek]

+1 what the others have said. Plus a neat trick I learned from the FTBR: clip the hair and take the hair by the tips. Then blow hard into the clipped ends, take the clump of hair by the clipped off ends and comb out the underfur towards the tips. That's easier than combing towards the other (wider) end.
And I avoid wearing fleece when I'm tying with deer hair.

[SteveP]

Best advice I received when I began to play with spinning and stacking deer hair was to not stop trying... you may get annoyed, you may get frustrated, when you get to either of those points stop and walk away or tie something you're more comfortable with then go back... eventually it will all come together and you'll have it. It took me about 6 months of this (I have a short fuse) and bam now I spin and stack all kinds of hair all the time.

Steve