I saw Kelly Galloup using this deer hair comb that is clamped to the table and he just ran the hair through it before he spun and stacked it. Anyone have a recomendation for a good comb for deer hair. I have bought 3 cheap ones already, broke one and the other two just suck. I looked at those cutsie wood handle ones that cost close to $20 but it just looked too small.
Check out the video at 6:48, I want that thing. Where do I get it?
This is all I use. Costs about a buck at the pet store or vet’s office. :mrgreen: I didn’t have time just now to watch the video but I will later. If there’s something that works better, I’m all for it.
The flea comb (or mustache comb, which is what Chris Helms uses in his video) are all I use. I think I’ve turned a corner and am heading back to low tech/low cost.
Coughlin
I use a mustache bursh and combe have both lol bursh works better on deflufing and also used on dubbing gives it a nice buggie look. It is nicer to ribbing too.
Ghost
I use a mustache comb… realy strong and the teeth are a little longer than a flee comb… sits rite in my hari stacker too so it dont git lost… i use it for deer, buffalo, mink, and all sorts of furs and hairs…
You guys are better than Google any day, thanks for a shove in the right direction.
I go away for a few hours and this thread really took off. Thanks for all of the wonderful advice. I’m not very good at spinning and stacking and will say so publically, but brushing out the underfur with a lousy brush, life is just too short to struggle with cheap tools. I broke one “unbreakable” brush, then I actually bought an aluminum flee comb (too tight of teeth and then they look at you at the drug store like you have lice - the things we do to tie flies), then bought some more "unbreakable combs only to have them be too flimsie to brush through thick hair. The mustache comb that I tried was a cheap on and it just bent when trying to go through even a pencil sized clump. I think that this contraption will be great.
What I thought was inovative about this whole thread was the ‘mounted’ aspect of the comb Kelly is using in the video.
I use an old fine tooth hair comb, works just fine, but takes two hands to use it.
Mounting the comb (whichever one you want to use) to the bench would make it a more efficient operation. I think I’ll skip any kind of premade special ‘comb clamp’…I’m sure I either have something around that will work or can cobble something up pretty easily (maybe just drill a couple of holes in the comb and screw it to the dege of the bench?).
More money to funnel back to the Kentucky revenue system Coughlin? Works for me!!!
I use a small plastic mustache comb as well. Does anyone have problems with the fine flea combs on elk hair? I found that the coarser hair is too big for those real fine combs.
Oh jeeze and a mounted comb? Never seen that, but it does have obvious advantages.
Normand, thanks for the offer, I send you a pm and if you have a paypal account can send you some money today. If not, snail mail still works for this old guy.
Bass bug, The video that I linked was just a quick shot of the comb in a relatively short video. When he ties flies with more hair or spun hair, that mounted comb looks like the cat’s a$$ to me. I have seen him use that live at a show and a light bulb went on and it just looked very efficient. Maybe Chris Helms came up with it first, I don’t know, but both of them use that mounted comb when working with hair. Here is a video where he ties a fly with more hair, a Zoo Cougar, look at how slick it is employed. http://www.theweeklyfly.com/index.php/TheWeeklyFly/2009/08/03/kelly-galloup-s-zoo-cougar-37-59
I watched the above link again, and he starts to talk about deer hair about 19 minutes into it. What I really enjoy about his tying is that he teaches while tying instead of just tying one pattern, he teaches the techniques so you can apply that to several patterns. 23:05 is the best view of the comb and when he really starts to use it.
Anyone know of any Chris Helm videos on line where he uses his comb?
That’s what I was thinking. Either that or screw a block of wood or angle bracket into my bench and attach the comb to that. Heck of a lot cheaper than a $15-20 “custom” clamp.
If I attached a comb to my bench the first thing I would do is impale myself on it. I just grab the fur and use my fingers to pull out the underfur, works for me. Am I missing somthing?