Shape Dry Fly Wings?

[Allan]

I happened to view several videos of tyers tying 'upright and divided' dry fly wings. There was a variety of materials used but wood duck was the one used most often. It was interesting to see the various ways that the tyers performed the task and managed to get similar results. At least they looked similar in the video. Perhaps examining the flies close up would've revealed differences that may or may not be important or simply personal preference. Anyway, I did not see the method I use most often and which was taught to me by 2 exceptional tyers, both were 'experts', multi-published authors, and are no longer with us.
Anyway, what method do you use the most to tye 'upright and divided dry fly wings'?

Allan

[ScottP]

This is how I wing a Wulff with deer hair; pretty much the same with calf tail/wood duck/mallard flank

place hair on top of shank; 2 soft loops on top of each other; pull bobbin firmly towards you allowing hair to flair (but not spin); take a few more very firm wraps, pull butts up and cut at an angle





add a drop of Crazy glue to the stub and apply more thread wraps to anchor and smooth, then move in front of hair, pull up and apply thread dam to set wing upright





divide hair to create 2 even clumps





take 3 wrap between clumps, front to back





then 3 wraps back to front





wrap around base of near wing clump





3 or 4 more firm wraps to create "post"





take 1 wrap behind both wings (helps lock the near wing in place) and then repeat process on far wing




take a wrap behind wings (helps lock the far wing in place); coat base and posts with a little cement




front view





Regards,
Scott

[Hans Weilenmann]

Ditto on the exact sequence Scott showed.

Cheers,
Hans W

[hap]

I tie in the tail first to both establish a thread base for the wings and create a body that is much easier to smooth out with the wing butts slightly overlapping the tail butts.

I usually divide the wings with a single X wrap before I stand them up. If I miss a fiber or two in the initial wrap I am not concerned. By doing it this way the standing up wraps in the front are easier and tighten the wing bases with less thread. The sloping thread dam can sometimes make it hard to make the hackle look good without a bunch of extra thread to build a smooth base.

With duck flank or hackle fibers of any kind I do a lot less wrapping then with deer hair; and with calf it takes somewhere between.

A couple years ago at a local tie-in benefit for CFR I showed a friend how to tie wings as he was making a big deal over them... For the rest of the day he sat there muttering to himself "Sixty years old and I finally realize how easy wings are!"
art

[Moscow]

Nicely done, Scott!

[Gene]

If and when I tie them anymore probably a cross between Flick and Leiser.
Gene

[flybugpa!]

nice done wing thingys Scott.

[Allan]

Scott,

That's exactly the way I had been taught. I purposely omitted identifying the method and the two tyers who introduced(taught) me to this technique because I thought that to do so could inhibit responses or possibly cause some hijacking of the topic. However, now that Scott has provided and excellent photo sequence and described the technique, I'll mention the tyers: Poul Jorgensen and Dick Talleur. In my opinion both of them were exceptional in their abilities to tye flies, demonstrate tying and teach the art. As Scott mentioned, works with any material. I would add one slight and important additional technique to what Scott described when tying wood duck wings. That is, as you encircle each wing for the last time, squeeze and twist the base so that the entire wing is edge forward rather then bunched. This way it will give a better impression and cut into the wind on casts.

Allan