Expert fly tyers

[eaustin]

Interesting thread. Since I'm a tier, durability means nothing to me. I can tie more. However, the look of the fly means everything, as I'm trying to catch fish. So I don't want a bunch of thread wraps, unless of course, I want a bunch of thread wraps for the look of the fly. I'm glad I don't have to please customers like the commercial guys, or listen to complaints that "The fly fell apart after two fish". Hey, if you got two fish on it, it did its job....twice.
Eric

[adso4]

Jgoding,

A duck quill winged dry will not last 30 fish... the quill wing will shred after about 5 fish probably, this is the nature of the material.

Duck quill wings such as those in No Hackle Dun are very durable because you do not lose feather fibers even when they are chewed apart. You can still catch fish on and on and on.

Just because duck quill wings are shredded does not mean that they are not durable. Shredded wings may not look aesthetically pleasing to you, but they do not lose their effectiveness. Mike Lawson once said he caught 35 trout on a No Hackle PMD.

When you tie hair wing patterns, individual hair fibers in their wings are already apart from each other, right?

So, shredded duck quill wings do not have any durability problem in and of themselves.



[This message has been edited by adso4 (edited 20 March 2006).]

Rainbow,

I don't know the specifics to answer your question. I will say that I've been told you could use pine sap for the resin componant if you were to make tying wax.

Something I'll be trying sometime this year.

Allan

[Jim Slattery]

Fran,
Yes you can use Bow rosin . Here is the Keene recipe that Liesenring used:
8 ounces of Resin
1 ounce of Pure white beeswax
1 tablespoon of fresh lard.
The lard is what makes it soft.I wouldn't recommend using more than what the recipe calls for,perhaps a TINY bit more,very tiny.
you of course can cut the recipe in half or in quater.
I would highly recomend making this outside as it will have a very strong oder, and the fumes can be overwelming.
Simmer ( just below boiling) the rosin / wax mix for 15 minutes. stir occassionally ( use a clean stick} then add lard and simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring fequently.
Pour wax carefully into a basin of water to cool. When cooled enough to touch pull the mix as you would with Taffy, until you get a unuform texture and is light in color. If it gets to hard to pull submerge it in warm water to make it more pliable.
Jim

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[Rainbowfran]

Wondering, would pine resin wax be similiar to the resin used for bows on violins etc? I got a stash of that somewhere in the house
fran

[ducksterman]

Wouldn't lard go rancid? Maybe I should just ask my wife...but she's gone right now.

[Jim Slattery]

Nope

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duckster,

I seem to recall that in place of lard or tallow, you can use 'castor oil'. Certainly better use than drinking it.

Allan