I’m going to take a couple fly tying classes in February. The guy teaching the class suggested the following. Does this sound about right?
Vice
Scissors (good ones)
2 bobbins
Black and Tan thread (size 6/0 whatever that is)
Heavier black thread for larger flies
head cement
bodkin
hackle pliers
does this list sound about right?
Am I heading down a hopeless path of destruction and abject poverty with yet another addiction?
Also, any recommendations on what to get in these items? I’m not wanting to spend a fortune, but I also want good gear that is going to last and hold up well. Also, in the unlikely event I just hate tying flies, I can always sell good stuff but cheap stuff just ends up in the trash.
If it was the instructor that suggested these tools specifically, it was probably because the course he teaches would involve tying flies that required these basics. If there is a chance you won’t like tying, stick pretty much with what he has suggested. If it ends up you like tying, then build off of that.
Hi Jeff, The two items you want the most qulity in are your vise and scissors. As you get to know fly tying, they will become your friends. There are many vise and scissor manufacturers out there, but the ones found in most starter kits are fairly good and will do you well till you find what you like. Check Cabela’s and our sponsors for these. Also, it won’t be long before you want a good hair stacker…ModocDan
…welcome to the addiction, Bro…:mrgreen:
Add to that list a whip finisher. ( Matarelli)
The scissors definately should be quality, crappy scissors suck to tie with. (Might want to get a cheap pair for cutting wire and heavy things.)
As for a vice, a lot of people really like a danvise which would be a good vice to start out on. As well as if you don’t like tying and want to sell it then a Danvice is easy to sell again. ( I personally like my Anvil Apex vise, which is not much more $ than the danvise.)
Hackle pliers, I would suggest going down to radio shack and grabbing some mini test clips. They are cheap and hold hackle very well. Mostly though hackle pliers are a matter of personal preference. you might wanna try a few in your hand at the fly shop if you can to see which style you like. I like a rotary hackle plier from Dr.slick. But Im sure others like the test clips, or teardrop style hackle pliers. Quality brands, Dr.slick, anvil, griffin, and many more but you get the idea. I really like Dr.slick myself.
Bobbins, Ceramic is not nessecary. I dont own any ceramic bobbins…yet. But I have gotten a LOT of use out of my regular non ceramic bobbin and it is still not grooved. I would recommend that until you decide you really like tying to just get the non ceramic bobbin.
Head cement, can basically be just Sally Hansens Hard as Nails, Loctite brush on superglue. They work fine.
As far as a bodkin goes, you can make your own out of a piece of dowel with a small hole drilled in it and a sewing needle glued inside. Voila instant bodkin.
Thread is preference as well. I love Uni thread, others danville, others like gudebrod or wapsi and on and on. There are no Bad threads out there, But coming from me I would recommend Uni thread.
As for the heavier thread I would recommend just getting size 3/0. The sizes are clearly labeled on the spools.
Read the beginnig tying section here on FAOL Al Campbell had great advice on tools and vices. Buy from your local dealer, look for mid priced tools. or go to one of the sponsors of faol.
If I was starting out I would buy the BT’s Rotary Tying Station from BT’s who are sponsors here, it comes with a Danvise, and the tools you need. Its all $150.
You are correct, about it being a hopeless path and expensive…so while your instructor has given you a good starting list, I will start a list of other things, that you will not need at the beginning, but you will eventually realize you MUST have these things. Not that they are by any means essential but you will just HAVE to have them (sound like an addiction yet…it is):
HOOKS - you will need lots of these…every size #2 through 28 of every configuration - dry, nymph, scud, etc, etc - at least 100 of each DRY FLY NECKS:Brown, Dun (light, meduim and dark),Grizzley, Ginger,Cream, Black, Furnace HAIR - lots of hair - Deer in every conceivable color in the rainbow, elk, beaver, mink, fox, squirrel (red, gray and fox), calf tail, seal, woodchuck, rabbit, english hare and every other kind of exotic furry creature you can either skin or find at your local flea market. FEATHERS- if it flys it dies and you tie…pheasant, partridge, quail, peacock, jungle cock, ostrich, turkey, goose and every kind of duck know to man THREAD - lots of thread - besides the brown and black, you will need red, dun, olive (in at least 40 different shades), yellow, white, cream, gray, oh and don’t forget the wire and tinsel! Not to mention…chenille (minimun 75 different sizes and colors), CDC, Flashabou, thin skin, Z-lon, synthetic dubbing of every color and shade, midge lace…
When you start to find yourself wanting to stop and pick of every piece of road kill you pass or you salivate everytime you see a women in a fur coat, you have officially joined the ranks of fly tiers.
I am hyperventilating just thinking about all this…ah just skip it and take up smoking crack…it’s cheaper and less addictive.
A point about the electric tester clips…like the ones Chris mentioned…be careful some [especially the cheaper ones] will have sharp edges on the metal clip part that can cut your hackle…need to file those smooth…
I am hyperventilating just thinking about all this…ah just skip it and take up smoking crack…it’s cheaper and less addictive.
I’ve already found this out about fly fishing in general as well as playing guitar. Ever stop to think about how much stuff you need just to make music with a guitar (not to mention how many guitars I own. Wife reads this from time to time, let’s just be polite and say it’s over 6). Or how many fly rods we all own (again see wife comment above).
Now, I"m going to start collecting feathers and hair. My cat and dog are going to love me I can see.
Be careful, just like crack leads to heroin, fly tying leads to fly rod making…then you are really in trouble…it starts out innocently with a cheap rod kit from Hook and Hackel and before you know it you will find yourself hanging out on street corners selling dime bags of BWO’s and EWC to buy yourself a new Z-Axis blank! It will all end when they find you in a dark, dank corner of your basement slumped over your bench from inhaling too much varnish from you next bamboo ‘project rod’.
You might go to our Sponsor page and open up Hook & Hackle web’s site. “Click” on “Fly Tying” and then “Click” on “Fly Tying Kits”. They have a nice looking kit that even has hooks and head cement plus more tools than the instructor requested for about $55 and they give a 20% discount on web orders. I know nothing about this kit or the quality of the vise that comes with it. I was just looking for you to see what is out there. The next item down from this kit is the “Tie A Fly” kits that I mentioned in a previous thread which has everything you will need to tie a particular pattern plus a samply fly tied.
Remember to take your time, don’t try and buy anything pertaining to fly tying until you are sure it is something that you will use. Fly tying is an addiction but a lot of fun. Carry a notebook with you to the classes and make a lot of notes and even draw pictures if needed. Absorb all you can from your instructor and ask questions. Don’t try to tie every pattern you see. Just concentrate on the patterns that work for you and tie at least a dozen at each tying session. Try to improve on each one that that you tie and do not hurry. If you see something, while tying, that just does not look right, stop there and unwind and do it over until it is right. Most of all, have fun with this. Tying in the evenings is a great stress reliever. Put some background music on and concentrate on tying the next great, undiscovered “everyone will have to have one” fly!
Jeff as a teacher of hundreds of first time fly tyers I knew what you were in for with your questions. All kinds of advice some good some bad. First the tying station --that is a $150 item. Why anyone would suggest that for a beginner.
Ok, a vise, I teach on griffin model 2A around $50 ,you can get a decent vise from $10 on up. Cabela’s has a deluxe kit with tools for $40.
You can make a good bodkin with the suggested dowel and neddle.
My first scissor that I still use is a small Fiskars from a sewing department from Walmart. In a fly shop you will pay from $10 on up.
Thread – your instructor said heavier thread that would be a spool of 3/0 size then the smaller 6/0. As the number increases the size gets smaller.
One post got into hooks—Im sure you will be furnished hooks,hackle and other materials needed for the class.
E mail Hook and Hackle for their 2008 catalog tell them to rush it for you feb class. www.hookhack.com As one posted a order by email might be 20% if you order by mail its only 10% off your first order
Jeff,
You can buy inexpensive plastic storage units to protect your materials from the cat & dog. Try to stay focused and not think about the 1,000’s of patterns there are. Fly tying is artistic and not something that most tiers do to make money. The reward is catching fish on flies you tied.
Doug
That BT’s Tying Station will be tough to beat. I use a Danvise & love it…you’ll find that response from most everybody who has one. With the tools & all, that’s a great buy!
Mike
I see nothing wrong with the stuff your instructor told you to get. It really is all you need to start.
Once forgot my traveler vice and tied 5 flies with a vice grip set in my buddys shop vice vice. Not pretty but it worked.
After the first tying session or two you will already know if you want to get something more expensive. Then the $150.00 set with the danvice is very good advice. Your Instructor will undoubtedly let you try on a couple different vices. Then its up to you.
The $500.00 vice and the $2000 bux worth of supplies will follow all in good time.
I tie for the love of tying. Thats what my money goes for and I consider it well spent. It is the best way I know to get by the mid winter blahs while you wait for the ice and snow to go away.
You will love it or hate it. There seems to be no grey area. :mrgreen:
I don’t know that the $500 vise will follow, but the $2,000 worth of supplies certainly will. Ignore all of the prudent stuff that Warren told you and give in to the addiction. Become a true expert on the meaning of the word “olive”. Learn the entire DMC cotton floss color chart by heart. You will have stronger opinions about thread than just about any seamstress or tailor in the biz, and more types of thread. You will end up with opinions as to whether buttons should be sewn back on with GSP (Gel Spun Polyester) or Kevlar thread. You will view pets as walking, dubbing dispensers. You will get a coffee grinder to mix dubbing in. You might, some careless day, make “fuzzy coffee”. You will get into arguments over coastal deer hair, and who’s coast has the best. You will have more beads than an old hippie. You will put out bird feeders to have an excuse to shoot the squirrels that it attracts. You will view bits of feathered, chicken hides as “investments”. You will achieve your Zen-harmonic place in the Universe. You might even go fishing…
One of his concerns is being able to sell it if he doesn’t like it, The danvise tying station would be easily sold on this or other boards if he doesn’t like tying. I have been tying a couple of years and it is the set up I wish I had bought when I began, if I had the money at the time. I have noticed that a large number of the people that start tying go to the danvise with in months of beginning if they truly enjoy it. So why not start there and cut out the cheap vice to begin with, if he can afford it. also the tying station is complete with good tying tools, from an FAOL sponsor, that is why I recomended it.
Thanks everybody the advice and for being co-dependent enablers of yet another addiction. My wife is going to love you guys.
Yes, the instructor said hooks and supplies other than thread are supplied with the class. All tools must be supplied by the students and the above was the list he gave me. From what you all have said, it sounds like a pretty good way to get started and, like everything else, I’ll be adding to it.
It seems like the biggest variance mentioned here is the vice. I guess, from what you all are saying, a vice is kind of a personal choice like a fly rod.
I am one that would rather buy good quality stuff first as it saves money in the long run. Buying cheap ends up with throwing it away and buying the high quality thing later anyway.
So, the ones I’ve seen mentioned most are
Danvice
Anvil Apex
Griffin 2A.
Given that I’d prefer to buy one I can grow with, what would be the best choice?
The best one is the one that fits you best. If you can, try tying on each. May be you can borrow a vise for now and in your class try some of the vises the other folks bring. May be you’ll find your right-fit there. Anyway, it comes down to personal choice.
My wife is going to love you guys.