Formulaic Dubbing Twister

[ScottP]

I love Goduster’s motorized dubbing brush maker http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?52437-Motorized-dubbing-brush-maker and really appreciate the workmanship that went into it and some of the great effects that can be created.
Unfortunately, I rarely have a need for anything that substantial, meeting most of my requirements just using the split-thread method, letting the bobbin do double-duty as the dubbing twister. When I do need a full blown dubbing loop, I found a cool little gadget that, with a few small modifications, does a great job - a battery powered baby formula mixer.

I cut off the end of the plastic wand and inserted a de-barbed, dulled-down Tiemco 200 hook (broke the eye off) into a pre-drilled hole with a little epoxy

quick demo (just used some rabbit dubbing here; you can use other materials to make some interesting effects)

create loop and insert dubbing

insert hook in the end of the loop

a couple quick blips (not sure of the rpms but it spins pretty quickly) and it’s tight

take your favorite dubbing teaser (a velcro’d popsicle stick works great) and rough it up a bit

wrap the body, tie off and rough it up a little more as needed

The mixer set me back about $6 and 15 minutes to put it together; you can find them at any of those baby superstores.

Regards,
Scott

[Goduster]

Thanks for the Kudo’s, unfortunately I do not do well with splitting thread, or normal dubbing, so I needed an alternative. Also it would take a ton of time for me to do the full body’s like thes in the picture. I must admit you have come up with a pretty slick idea in my opinion.

[Uncle_Jesse]

I learned about dubbing loops watch Leroy Hyatt on the KWSU series, “Fly Tying: The Angler’s Art.” Leroy uses a loop quite a bit for tight (less shaggy) dubbing as well as shaggy. I tie with monofilament a lot and it is very good with mono. I have a couple of homemade manual twisters that work well. The wire tip on the right twister makes adding the dubbing to the hook easier than the short heavier twister on the right. But they both work well.

[anon27828549]

Pretty slick, Scott!

I like thread loops for any shaggy dubbing. I use it for scuds, shaggy thoraxes (w/o hackle), etc. I haven’t felt the need for motorized assist, but do have a very simple homemade twister that I like very much (better than the purchased twister I had used previously). My homemade twister is simply a paper clip trimmed, reshaped, and glued into a bass fishing bullet sinker.