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Thread: Question about veevus thread

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  1. #14

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    Got two spools of the 16/0 to try a few months back, one each black and pale olive.

    In my use, it's an okay-but-not-great thread, and I won't be buying any more. It's worked okay for patterns that don't rely on any tension techniques, but it has caused me more frustration than satisfaction on any fly that even requires as much tension as needed for a hair wing (caddis).

    It handles nicely, but I can get just as good handling with superior performance under tension with Uni 8/0 or Sheer 14/0, and since I'm already confident in the Uni 8/0 for all of my sub-#8 patterns (#8 and above get 6/0), and 14/0 for all dries, and anything #16 and smaller, there's no real reason for me to add the Veevus to the rotation, especially since I have to really baby it to avoid breakage.

    EDIT: I use white UTC 70 for the majority of the process for any "fancy" fly I tie, and absolutely as an underbody anywhere floss is required. It's highly prone to fraying, but there are a few ways to mitigate the overall impact of this. First, keep at least bobbin-weight tension on the thread at all times...low tension lets the filaments spread out on the hook face, and really makes it easy to snap individual filaments, leading to fraying. Second, a bit of beeswax here and there can help keep everything together. Twisting works to keep things tight when you aren't using it for it's ability to lay flat (but if I don't need that particular characteristic, I'm going with a bonded thread like Uni), but the tradeoff is that it's a bit weaker, and obviously won't lay as flat.

    When you're ready to whip finish, I use two things to reduce the tendency for fraying at the head of the fly: first and most direct is to tie off the UTC just before the last material is added, hiding the whip finish under a hackle collar, topping, etc. which is added after starting a black bonded thread for the head, and second, try to whip finish with just enough tension to keep the thread from falling off of the tool. It's really a tricky balance since the Venn diagram between tension that will cause fraying and looseness that will make the thread spread out has very little overlap, but it can be done.

    As a workaround to save an already botched head, add a few coats of thinned head cement that will penetrate the thread. Once it's completely dry, shield the rest of the pattern and use a lighter (in *very* quick passes) to singe off stray fibers, then hit hit it with a few coats of black lacquer, and finish with a clear topcoat.
    Last edited by Featherbender; 05-05-2014 at 02:14 PM.

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