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I don't know about the rest of you but, I'm a messy fly tier.
There I said it. My bench is a cluttered jumble of tools
hidden under dry fly capes; packages of hooks are stashed
among the little baggies of dubbing; loose spools of thread,
tinsels and wire are everywhere. Combine this with the fact
that I like to be close to the kitchen with the refrigerator
and coffee pot, and have the TV on so I can catch a few of
my favorite programs while I tie makes for a very messy living
room. My wife, Vickie, doesn't let this bother her (she also
ties, but is much neater than I) unless we plan on having
guests over. Then there is a scramble to vacuum up all the
clippings that have fallen to the floor and get the stuff
out of sight.
I really have tried to organize things. I've gone with the
plastic shoe boxes to hold materials, but they aren't all
that attractive stacked up around my bench. I've had the
portable benches like those marketed by several companies.
I even designed and built a fly tying armoire with lots of
cedar drawers to hold my treasures, a couple of carousels
to hold long stranded materials, ample storage for my
collection of fly tying books and everything was hidden
from view when the doors were closed.
The portables didn't solve the material storage problem. They
only have a few places to store spools of thread and tinsels,
and the holes provided for tool storage were in all the wrong
places for me. The armoire came pretty close, but a guy from
the local fly shop came by to see it, liked it, and offered me
way to much money for me to refuse. I never got to tie a single
fly on it before it went out the door. As soon as I was through
building it though, I saw ways to improve it. Now I'm back
to square one. My little makeshift bench is a chaotic mess
again.
As I was making my usual stop at FAOL, a recent thread on the
tying board piqued my interest in designing and building a new
bench . . .There were other tiers out there searching for a
bench that was perfect. A bench with everything a tier could
want in material and tool storage. A bench that had everything
located in just the right place. A bench that would allow the
unsightly disorder of a tying session to be hidden with some
ease.
I know we are all different. Some of us prefer a portable bench,
some prefer something a little more substantial, built like a
piece of furniture. I figured with all of the tying experience
out there in our cyber community of fly fishers WE (we, is the
operative word here) could all make suggestions to produce the
perfect FAOL tying benches. Yup, benches. One portable and
one built like a piece of furniture. A couple of spaces on
the tying board so we could offer up our ideas on each style
of bench would give us a place to gather this information for
the wood butchers among us (Jim Hatch, I'm talking to you) who
could build one of each type. Then we could produce some drawings
or plans that would be offered to our friends here on FAOL free
of charge, of course.
As we make our suggestions, we should keep a couple of things
in mind. Not everyone has a cabinet shop like I have. Let's
assume that the entire project should be able to be constructed
with tools that are common to most households, or at least available
for a reasonable rate from a rental center. We should also assume
that not everyone has a large bankroll burning a hole in their
pocket to purchase a perfect bench. Let's plan on using materials
that can be purchased for a reasonable amount of money. To be
honest, that's why I build most of my stuff. I can't see paying
$100 to $300 for a portable bench when I can make one for about
$50.
Think about it boys and girls. With a little thought and community
contribution we might soon be the producers and possibly owners of
an original FAOL tying bench. ~ REE
Editors note: There is a 'section' on the Fly Tying part of the
Bulletin Board for your suggestions and ideas. Look for Perfect Tying Bench!
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