Hook Breakage
Like other tyers I bought quite a few obsolete Mustad hooks on EBay. I have found that model 7947B to be brittle. When trying to flatten the barb I end up with broken hooks. Whether or not this applies to the other old hooks being sold I don't know.
Tim
are you actually breaking the hook shank or just breaking the barb off when you pinch it down?
I've had issues with the old Mustads as well, but it's always been just a few here and there, never a whole batch. So far with the new signature series, I haven't had any problems at all.
If it swims and eats, it'll eat a fly.
Norm - its the hook shank. I assume I am twisting it more than I realize. Breakage is maybe 1 in 5. Using the same pliers I have bent down hundreds of Mustad 3399, 3366 & 9671 with hardly any problems.
Tim
If you'll contact Mustad they might just replace em if you tell em whats happening free of charge.
I have done this with some dull eagle Claw Hooks 4 or 5 times and they even send more than you complain about.
Just call em and Find out.
I can't seem ta find the sweet taste of the stream
With obsolete or even "vintage" hooks off E-Bay your chances are slim as to getting Mustad to replace them. They're obsolete for a reason. I bought some old wet fly hooks and had a bit of a problem with them too. Of course those hooks are possibly older than I am, in that case a little breakage is okay with me. I break easier now too.
REE
Happiness is wading boots that never have a chance to dry out.
The 79XX series of hooks were forged hooks (casting). Which means that the hooks are brittle and will break.
Wire hooks are rolled to align all the metal cells so that the hook will bend, which means they are not as brittle as the forged hooks. The molten metal is extruded as circular tube and stretched through a long line of rollers that reduce the wires diameter to the finished wire diameter.
If a wire strand is allowed to cool slowly at air temperture, the metal is soft (annealed) to strengthen the wire you heat the wire until its internal material is super hot, then quick quench it is a liquid brim to rapidly drop the internal temperture. That is referred to as Heat Treatment.
Most dry fly hooks are wire constructed not forged. The wire in the the hook will bend instead of breaking when too much force is applied to the hook.
Cast Iron is brittle, and will tolerate large forces on it in compression (your fly tying vise head). If you exceed the maximum pressure, the object will crack.
While wire will be able to bend (as long as you do not pass it point of elasticity) and will return to its original shape. Otherwise the wire suffers internal damage with ruptures that will soften the metal (steel) or harden the metal (copper).
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