Really OLD hackle pliers

[Bass_Bug]

I suppose this fits under Fly Tying as much as any other topic on the board.

I'm a regular patron of my local library system and have used them for many fly tying, fly fishing and rod building books. I usually sort by publication date and focus on newer publications because of the latest techniques, tools, materials and especially high resolution color photos. However I ordered a book recently in the on-line catalog that I didn't noticed the date when I ordered it The book was titled: Fly Tying & Fly Fishing for Bass and Panfish By Tom Nixon.

When I picked it up It was quite obvious it was an older book, (c) 1968, but I perused it anyway. There were few pictures (black and white) and many sketches and drawings. What caught my eye in one of the photos was, what looked like hackle pliers, or more like what i call reverse tweezers. The same clamping principle as hackle pliers. Anyway reading the caption under the photo, I stopped, kind of shocked. It said something like "...use a surgeons artery clamp for hackle pliers...".
Ok so the design it's anything new.Many of you probably have tweezers or clamps like this already. I started searching the web for surgeons artery clamps and found this.

http://www.braceface.com/medical/Sur...%20forceps.JPG

But the real kicker is that this picture which looks exactly like what was in the book, even though THIS clamp dates to the Civil War.

Artery clamp, or Tissue forceps, from what the website says, this picture is Civil War era. But this is identical to the picture in Nixon?s book which he describes as a Surgeons artery clamp.

I found the Civil War era reference very intriguing.

[narcodog]

The Dette's used those for many years and Mary Dette Clark still uses them. You can get them from her Grandson Joe Fox at http://www.dettetroutflies.com

[George Emanuel]

Sometimes the most interesting things turn up in the most mundane places.

[hairwing]

BB

Here's my AT's. I love 'em. They came in handy when a size #14 hackle was only an inch long. Todays genetics provide the same #14, only the hackle is 10-12 inches long. Incredible! All you need are your fingers. I'll bet the Darby's and Dette's could only have wished.

file:///C:/Users/ods2679/Pictures/Picture0071.jpg

[aged_sage]

I have two pair that were given to me years ago, that I really like. Mine have serrated jaws for absolute blood-flow cut-off. I simply covered one jaw with heat-shrink tube to minimize feather breakage due to the serrations.

[Thwack]

I found a pair of self-closing tweezers at a hobby store that look like a descendant of that artery clamp. Mine have a curved jaw/point which I really like (helps keep my hand out of the way of my line of sight).

The ones I use look like #33A at this site: http://www.precisiontweezer.com/prod...-tweezers.html

I don't see a way to order from there?found them locally at a hobby store mixed in with the tools for model-makers.

[Al Beatty]

Hi Group,

We sell a pair of tweezers similar to item 33 that Thwack (but no wood handle) mentioned in the previous post. I have to admit we've never used them for hackle pliers but do find them helpful for picking up beads or hooks and for holding sections of monofilament when melting eyes. Take care & ...

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

[Breamchaser]

Check out micromark.com. micro mark bills themselves as the small tool specialists. Most of their tools are aimed at the model making/inventor/hobbist crowd but they do show self closing tweezers in their catalogs. They also have many other small tools that can be used at the tying bench to hold beads and many other jobs. They also have a supply of material that might find use on the fly tying bench. Take care, John.

[NJTroutbum]

I picked up a Dr Slick Extra Hand last spring, and love it! I use it for much more even than hackle pliers.

[aged_sage]

Incidentally, the item shown is a pair of self-closing forceps (tweezers), not a clamp. The jaws in the clamps are flat and make direct contact with each other along their entire length; not just at the tips, as these do.

Cheers,