Bobbing Threading without Threader

[gpatton]

I was tying flies with a friend the other day and wanted to share a little trick I picked up from him. I always struggled changing out threads on my bobbin and was thinking of maybe considering buying a bobbin threader when I noticed how he threaded his. I thought it was a great idea and wished I'd thought of it myself. All you do is start inserting the thread, which usually gets stuck at some point along the way, then suck on the end of the bobbin and the thread gets pulled the rest of the way through. Maybe not the most sanitary thing to do when working with dried animal hides and stuff but hey we eat beef jerky all the time without mishap Maybe everyone already knows this trick and I'm just the slow one, but figured I'd share.

Greg

[Rick Z]

I do it, but I don't share my bobbins with anyone.

Rick

[crazy4oldcars]

I made my own out of an old steel E-string. (the little one ) One of my son's friends broke one, and I claimed it. I bent it in the middle, and glued a bead at the free end.

On a side note, steel guitar strings are too stiff to tie with. you let up tension on it, and it "spriongs" on you.

Kirk

[WarrenP]

You can also go to the drug store and purchase a pack of floss threaders for about 2$ and the pack will contain about 20 of them.

[ridgeliner]

I've done it before. Not the most sanitary way of doing it. With swine flu, chicken flu or whatever is out there - I prefer a threader of some kind. With all the fur and feathers we use, I prefer to play it safe.

[J Castwell]

Thanks for the tip. It is at least as old as are bobbins,,, but that doesn't mean everyone knows it.

[Normand]

i use the 'mouth and draw' method 99% of the time but every now and then use a threader just to clean out any waxy junk that may have built up over time inside the tube.

[kglissmeyer]

Ditto for this old fly tyer.

kelly.

[Eight Thumbs]

I've used the "oral thread retrieve" method since I started tying in 1957. If you wanted a real challenge, you should try threading the old Herter's bobbin with it's J-shaped thread tube this way. But in all that time, I should add, that I never exhaled. 8T

[Joel D. Popham]

Greg,
I really didn't know there was a way to thread them other than the "oral" method. Best Regards....