We went to Preston today (about 35 minutes by train from Manchester) to spend time with friends. We arrived a few hours before they were to pick us up so that we could have a wonder about the town. Well, we just happened to end up in a fishing shop and I was able to get some Pearsall’s Gossamer silk in primrose, and it came with a chunk of Cobblers wax for proper “Greenwell’s Glory”! It looks like a piece of dark chocolate in colour. It might be that a dark brown bee’s wax candle would work as a good substitute?
From my little bit of web research it appears that cobblers wax was commonly used for fly tying in years past, esp. in the UK. It was used as a waterproofing for thread, to increase the tackyness and as a coloring to darken thread. Lots of traditional patterns call for it.
Based on some some of the forum traffic that came up on my search it is hard to find these days. It is still used by bag pipers to wax the hemp thread bindings on bag pipe parts. One reference warned that some bag pipe wax contained coal tar and was of no use to the fly tier.
In the USA it seems that dubbing wax is more commonly used than cobblers wax.
Bees wax
Bow resin (can be gathered from pine trees and melted into the bees wax)
Lamp Black
The resin varies in tackiness, with the darker resin being more tacky. The cobblers wax was used to help bind materials to the hook (silk is slippery stuff), change the color of the silk (that “proper” Greenwell’s Glory color), and to help waterproof the silk.
Cobblers wax is called for in many of the old pattern’s for that proper coloration of the silk when tying.
Use it on the primrose yellow silk and it gives the silk a greenish olive color. The darker colored wax seems to make a big difference on the final color of the silk body over a lighter colored dubbing wax or light resin/beeswax mix. I made up some myself from 60% dark resin 40% beeswax and enough olive oil to give it some slipperyness. My mix is not real tacky but gives the desired color change effect. The more resin you use the tackier the mixture. I bought empty lip balm tubes from ebay to store it in and they worked great! There’s an article on making your own dubbing wax on global fly fisher that explains the process.
As a kid I was taught to tie sans bobbin. A piece of thread was cut for each fly and waxed on a huge chunk of unrefined beeswax. That smell is one to bring me back to a simpler time, fast!
I had seen reference to people making their own cobbler’s wax because it was hard to find the stuff these days. This is the only place I’ve seen it for sale.
Perhaps if the candle wasn’t tacky enough, resin could be added. I’ve used bee’s wax and have found it works well enough.
Anyway, where do people find bee’s wax, resin, and lamp black to make their own? Are these common or hard to find?
I don’t know about NZ, but it was very hard to find in the UK. I sent some Lamp black to Tango because it is so easy for me to get and very cheap. the shipping charge is what was ripe.
It is used by a cement manufacture locally to tint mortar. If you have anything like that close by, check with them. If you can’t find any, let me know.
The other is at Ken Sawada’s, but the price seems pretty high. It doesn’t take much at all to make the silk turn almost black. You have to go very light to get that olive color on primrose or any other yellow silk. I bought a piece from Joe Fox at Dette Trout Flies last year. I took a quick look at his site before posting this and didn’t see any listed.
I hope this won’t be considered a shameless plug. I use pine pitch in the cobblers wax which gives the color on silk thread. What Pryce-Tannatt says about white wax isn’t true of mine. I make it similar to the wax in Leisenring’s book (Keene’s) but I use better quality ingredients. It’s perfect for flymphs. Bill
In my internet searches, I’ve found that cobblers wax is still used by bagpipers to wax some of the cord in the pipes (water proof, for reasons we’ll leave to the imagination I think!) So, just pop down to your local bagpipe shop and you’re all set! Avoid the wax that is made with coal tar; it’s apparently in some brands that pipers use, and I’ve seen references say it’s useless for fly tying.
Actually, in New Zealand, rather than waxing yellow silk to turn it olive, they sell flies tied with olive thread for the body as “Greenwell’s Glory”! Just seems wrong to me! ha!
Seriously though, for me at least, I enjoy tying flies and I have a fondness for these old fashion patterns. I enjoy tying on fancy bits, like toppings, and tips and tags, and eyes, and do it just because it pleases me to fish such flies. Same with waxing silk to get a different colour, it just satisfies something in me to do it.
For me, the most enjoyable method is not necessarily the most efficient. Tinkering, and playing around with antiquated techniques, are fun to me. For others, fun is derived by finding the most efficient, up to date, approach. To each their own.
But, to more directly answer your question, the shade of olive you get this way is simply impossible to duplicate. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
You and me both! Seriously though, I have never seen a thread color that even comes close to the correct color for a Greenwell’s Glory, except for Primrose silk well waxed with cobblers wax.
I prefer tying the old patterns as they were originally dressed. That’s why I try to follow the patterns of Pritt, Skues, Fogg and Wooley, to name a few. The flies still work very well and are seeing a resurgence in popularity.
—sagefisher—
