I was watching LeRoy Hyatt on video, tie a LeTorte Hopper, and as he stripped a slip for the wing from a turkey tail feather, he offhandedly mentioned that he had sprayed it with a “fixative”. What is that he likely used? My wife had a thought that it would be spray on fabric adhesive that one can get at a fabric store. Is this anywhere in the ball park? I assume that the goal is for the feather barbs to stay together to form the folded wing structure.
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Bugsy,
Thank you very much.
Sag:
In addition to the Krylon product; IF you have an art supply store nearby, pay a visit.
Besides the spray fixatives; there are also liquid types that come in a bottle which you can apply with a brush or dip your feathers in. I like the liquid better myself since I can just use it at the bench rather than trying to find a place to spray the stuff in a can.
I also have used the following products with good or better results:
[ul]
*Dave’s Flexament
*Thinned Pliobond, (makes BULLETPROOF but slightly heavier wings)
*Vinyl Cement, (the old standby)
*Nu-Skin, that liquid bandage stuff that comes in a small bottle, it works really well[/ul]
Have fun!
What will thin Pliobond?
All of the nasty stuff:
Toluene, TCE (trichloroethylene) or MEK (Methyl ethyl ketone) work best.
I get mine at the hardware store. I never tried lacquer thinner but I bet it would work too.
I have always used Dave’s Flexament, with perfect results. I can use it at my desk and coat as many feathers that I want to in a short time with just a small brush. No mixing or over spray. If you do by chance need to thin it you just use Dave’s Flexament thinner. Just my two cents. John
I tie the wing on the Letort Hopper the way Ed Shenk does. Cut a feather section from the quill twice the width of the finished wing, fold this in half, tie it in place, cut the end of the wing to a point, apply Dave’s Flexament or other flexible cement to end of wing, Let this set up for a minute and then finish your Letort Hopper. I usually apply a little more cement to the wing when the fly is finished. I personally have never found the artist fixative sprays to be all that durable. This is a great fly and the only hopper imitation that I carry.
Jim
Jim,
I do the same thing you do except I coat the feather with head cement or Sally Hanson before folding it. Seems to hold it together real well and dries pretty quick.
3m has a product called (super77) which is a spray fixative in an aerosol can that would work perfectly for the job at hand
Hunter’s (the original in New Boston, NH) fly shop used to sell a spray can of fixative called Tuffilm by Grumbacher. Looking on the net it still comes in several flavors. My can sat idle for several years before expiring. If you go with any of the sprays you should only use them outside.
All the hopper recipes that I had seen simply called for head cement or fleximent etc. When LeRoy employed a different tactic, I wondered. Not being the artistic type I had no clue about art fixatives. Learn something every day. In the interest of simplicity, I think I will stick with the stuff already on my desk.
Thank you everyone for your help.
Sag:
Head cement drying some what hard; will not really keep the feather fibers from splitting which is the usual reason tyers coat quill slips. You need something that dries flexible to allow the wing to move yet keep the fibers together IF what you are after is a durable fly.
Any art type fixative like the Krylon stuff or Tuffilm; Pliobond, Flexament, Liquid Bandage or vinyl cement will stay pliable when dry. I think you’ll be disappointed with the results you’ll get with head cement or any other type of lacquer. Unless you put it on thick, (which will weigh down the fly) the feather WILL split.
Just my experience…
i’m not sure if it would work or not as i have not tried it but softex could work
One important thing about the Grumbacher tuffilm and probably the Krylon. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation. The fumes are nasty. I take it outside to use it.
Plain lacquer thinner works fine. Quart size cans are available at hardware stores for a few bucks. Pliobond or any other brand of “Contact Cement”
is totally waterproof. and will stay rubbery,