Good stuff going away

[Doublehauler]

Seems like the last few years has seen a lot of items go away that I used and counted on for my fly tying and fishing pastime. Mustad is hell bent on discontinuing my favorite fly tying hooks, 94863, 36620, 94842, 39841. The 94863 was known as the " Ned Gray" hook, a beautiful, turned up looped eye, barbless dry fly hook. Graceful and fragile, it was a beauty, now gone. 36620 was a 6X long limerick streamer hook, just made for Thunder Creek streamers. Gone, you could get a box of 100 for the standard Mustad price, now you can pay $5 or $6 bucks for a small pack of the new Japanese hooks. I haven't yet gone over to the Asian hooks in total. Too many boxes of Mustads still in my hook drawer.

It doesn't seem that long ago that we could buy a pack of 3 tapered leaders for a couple of bucks. Now one tapered leader can cost you 4or 5 bucks. I'm learning to furl, and I learned how to tie up knotted tapered leaders many years ago. I'm going back to that, I think.

The item that I miss most is Joli Glaze. Without a doubt in my mind, Joli Glaze was the hands down best head cement around. It was intended to be a glazing for ceramics. You could buy a half pint of the stuff for less than $5, get a quart of toluene for thinner at the paint store, and you had head cement forever. Or so it seemed. I am down to my last thimble full, and it too is gone away, I can't find any anywhere. I know there are other good head cements around, but I liked this stuff.

Gone too is Overton's Wonder Wax. I hedged my bets on that one though, I ran across 4 tubes in a fly shop in 1990, I bought all of them, and I just opened the 3rd one this past winter. I'm 68, I should have enough of the best dubbing wax for my lifetime.

Ashaway fly lines are history too. If you took care of them, they could last a long time, I still have 3, and I use them. I have never cast a silk line so I can't compare there, but a tapered dry Ashaway is to me, the best casting dry fly line I have found. The new lines are great, and I have them too, but there is something about an Ashaway. And an amber colored Ashaway looks absolutely regal on a good cane rod. There was a custom cane rod builder in Seattle some years ago who used Ashaway lines on his demo rods to make sure the action of the rod was evident to the prospective customer.

If anyone should happen to know where I can find Joli Glaze, you would make a new friend in Montana for as many years as I last. By the way, stoneflies are on the move around here, and it is still only March.

I hope all of you folks have a wonderful season, full of fighting trout.


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Jim Johnson

[BSwan]

Nice post. Really pretty feel to it. Thanks.

Bob

[Diane]

Hi, Jim. I am now on a mission to try to find you a source for Joli Glaze or a substitute. I've got requests out to some ceramics instructors to see if they have any ideas. I hate to see a man get down to his last thimble-full of anything, even if you can't drink the stuff! If I find anything, I'll let you know.

Diane

[Sirrom]

Jim,
For a head cement you might try George Harvey's Shoe Goo and toluene receipe. Start off with one third Shoe Goo and two thirds toluene, this will give you the consistency of a thin lacquer. You can then play with it to get the consistency that you like best. I've been using this mixture for several years and I love it.
Chuck

[ELKHUNTER]

Doublehauler there is a product called Mold Builder that is a substitute for Joli Glaze. I don't know how it will work for what you want, but all the web sites I found it on claim it as the substitute for Joli Glaze.

Rocky

[Diane]

Not sure about that, elkhunter. The sites I saw said that moldbuilder is made by the same company as Joli Glaze but is a different product. Conflicting info.. we need a middle-school art teacher here to figure it out.

It is the age old dilemma...
If they don't sell it, you cannot buy it!
If you don't buy it, they will stop making it!
If it is built to last a life time, the company will go out of business!

You go into a fly shop, and they have 10 packets of the hook model that you want, in the whole size range, and you decide to buy them out. Well your the only person that bought those hooks there, and anyone else had to go else where if they wanted that hook model. Then the owner or the accountant see that that hook model was sold out (when they reorder for the next years season), and increases the order for that hook model. But the next season, you do not buy any, because you have more than enough to last you a long time. Other don't buy any of that hook model, from that store, because they were out of stock the last time they were there. So those hooks sit on the wall gathering dusts, and shop does not make any sales, on money invested.

Company gets large orders for a certain hook model and cannot fill all the orders as they come in, and request are put on back order until the production line becomes free to produce that hook model. Then the company increases the production number for the next year, because of the demand the previous year. Next year there is no demand, because all those hooks ordered are still collecting dust on the walls of the fly shops. Now the Hook Manufacturer, is sitting on excess stock, without any orders.

Guess why there are so many "Dollar Stores" and "Bargain Outlets", because of the fickled nature of the public, in their purchase patterns.

Economics 105, Supply and Demand.

~Parnelli



[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 26 March 2006).]

[Jim Cramer]

Jim,

A wise man once told me if you ever find a product that you REALLY like, then buy a life time supply because if you don't then on of three things will happen:1) they will quit making it, 2) they will change(improve?) it, or 3) they will raise the price so you no longer want it.

Now this is your lucky day! I have a an 8 oz bottle of Joli Glaze about 40% full which I will send to you. Let me have an address.

BTW, I have been using an Acrylic used to coat floor tiles as head cement. It is made to take the hard wear that floors take and dries to a high gloss. I thin it with almost any solvent. I had about a pint left from a prior residence. When it runs out I may have to buy a gallon -Ha Ha.

Regards,
Jim Cramer

[Doublehauler]

Mr. Jim Cramer, you are indeed a gentleman. I would really appreciate that bottle of Joli Glaze. What can I offer you in return?

Jim Johnson
POB 8009
Bigfork, MT 59911

Should you ever find yourself here in the Flathead Valley/Glacier Park area, I will make sure you get the grand tour of our best waters.

Thanks so very much.

Jim Johnson


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Jim Johnson

[Doublehauler]

Never did I think my post would earn so many replies, thank you all. Mostly, I thought Joli Glaze had really passed on into history, there would be no more, anywhere.

Diane, if you learn anything, please be sure to send it on to me, I know others who would be interested.

Elkhunter, I will look into Mold Builder. I would think there must be an equivalent product out there still being manufactured. Thanks.

Mr. McGarthwaite, I understand what you are saying. It is true, and I have often found fly shops with aging merchandise. The really sharp shop owners take a look at that computer generated inventory/order list and apply some knowledge to it before they get stuck with that sort of stuff. But then we would never be able to take advantage of clearance sales, would we?

I had a teacher years ago that called it
" Supply and be damned ".

Sirrom, I have tried the mixture you describe, and it is good cement, but an awful lot of effort to mix it up, and an awful lot of toluene vapors to inhale. When I thin the Joli Glaze, I do it quickly and get the can of solvent recapped. Those vapors can be unpleasant. And I keep the Joli Glaze capped when I'm not needing it.

One of the really beneficial things about Joli Glaze is that you can keep thinning it indefinitely. It does thicken up quickly. Capping the bottle as often as possible helps keep it thinned. Also, use a bottle with a narrow neck, and keep the bottle filled so the cement level is up inside the neck. That gives less surface area for evaporation.

Thanks again to all for your comments.