Since one of the techniques is to twist the wire till it breaks…IMO this can be a little tedious.
It strikes me that it would be relatively easy to drill a hole in the knob and epoxy in a shaft…then use something like a cordless screwdriver to do the turning…my cordless screwdrivers have gone belly-up so currently I have none but if I remember correctly you can run at a fairly slow speed???
What do you think?
The shaft should be out of the way for manual use.
Any better ideas for a power source? Dremel tools seem too fast.
Find a discarded portable sewing machine and strip out the motor and foot control connector. Mount the motor and use the belt that runs from the motor up to the sewing machine’s hand control (you’ll see what I mean when you disassemble the sewing machine). Will work beautifully because you then have your hands available while your foot controls the turning speed!
Yep, I always scout out flea markets, garage sales, and TRASH DAY for discarded portable sewing machines. Those motor’s work for a whole lot of projects - especially if the foot controller is working!
Jim, I have a picture you’ll get a kick out of. I have a friend who hooked up his vise to a belt/motor to allow it to become a fly dryer. Cool stuff. I’ll see if I can get the pic posted…
I have a powered turbo dubbing twister just about ready to release. I have found an interium solution if you want to give it a try. Start by drilling a small hole in the center of the twisting knob on the Turbo Dubbing Twister. Insert a small eyelet. It will thread itself into the composite material of the twister knob. You can then mount a small hook, like the one in the dubbing twister in a dremel and it will twist up the dubbing brushes in about 2-3 seconds. I have used this method with my variable speed dremel with pretty good success. The motorized one I am working on eliminates the twister/bearings and simply has the hook eyelet inserted into the shaft of a small two speed motor. When I get it finished, I’ll post some photos. I the meantime, any of the folks that bought dubbing twisters from me that would like to try the dremel method and need the eyelets/SS eye hook, send me an email and I’ll mail them out to you free of charge.
I’m doing OK with the dubbing block thus far in
manual mode. But maybe I’ll put some more thought
in the old Danvise so I can do some powered dubbing.
I’m working on a pattern for a quick tie scud. I’m
aiming at 10 seconds flat.G I figure at 6 per
minute, thats 360 per hour, or 3600 in a 10 hour day.
If I can net $.50 each, I’ll clear $1,800 a
day. I figure in about 6 months, I can spring for a
Winnebego with a driver and start attending all of
the FAOL fishin’s as well as fish along the way with
my fellow FAOLers.G What a grand idea.G Warm
regards, Jim
P.S. If you havn’t guessed, it’s almost 0330 a.m.
here and I’ve been popping happy pills for the knee.
I’ve been thinking…and yes I know that can be dangerous…but a couple of ideas… [haven’t tried]
Why not borrow an idea from the furled leader jig…drill some holes in the bottom of the tray and use a movable post to allow for brushes of different lengths…
Also how about doing some maneuvers as done with the Marc Petijean tool…or just a clip…to get materials aligned and then slip it in the twister loop just like is done with a loop on the hook…the depth of the tray could be an issue… but a filler piece of wood could be placed in the tray to get the loop higher and more accessable…the filler could have holes in it for the peg to adjust the length to accommodate the material…
I think that both of your ideas are certainly do-able, however, I starting with the simplist approach I can to make this work. I have a 1/20 hp two speed motor that runs at 1500 RPM top speed. I have a couple of the components still on the way but as soon as I get this completed, I post a photo. If it isn’t too difficult to build, I will probably offer it as a motorized model for those who feel the “need for speed” when making dubbing brushes.
It has a small motor which runs on a battry or AC adaptor and has a potentiometer switch to vary the motor speed. It also has a really clever pivoting dubbing table. I have played around with it a bit and it is a really nice little toy. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Roots company is in business anymore.
Thanks for posting the photo. It looks like a really neat little machine; very inovative and well made. I think the problem is not figuring out how to make a good motorized dubbing twister, but rather making one that is not so expensive that people will not want to buy it. Both the Roots and the Siman dubbing twisters are nice machines, but it appears that the companies went out of business trying to get rich on their great ideas. We’re left to figure one out for ourselves that works well and doesn’t cost as much as a new vise. Thanks for posting and I’d love to hear your feedback on the Roots maching if you’re using one.
Ive been playing with something like this for some time now, I thought I was my own with this idea but oviously not thought I’d join up and show you what Ive got so far:
Its powered by a drive motor from an old cassette player and uses a adjustable DC transformer, by altering the voltage from 3v up to 12v you can alter the speed at which it winds, if I wasnt so impatient I’d have done something with a variable resistor. Anyway it works, but doesnt look that pretty at the moment, it started out as more of an experiment than an attempt to build a finished twister :roll:
Perhaps it will give some of you some ideas, to play with
Well I bought the Roots machine second hand off e-bay so I have no idea what the price was for it when it was new. That had to be what sunk the company because it is a really impressive product, nicely packaged and with lots of great information like a list of recipes for flies made from dubbing wire and a pretty slick instructional video. It is probably nicer than it needs to be. I’ve played around with it a little and it has been a pleasure to work with. Hopefully I will have a bit more time this winter.
Here is a Roots dubbing machine.
thought I’d join up and show you what Ive got so far: