I have lusted for one of those since they first came out but I always wondered if they really worked which kept me from buying one. Your post has me reconsidering…
What type of head cement do you use with the DK bottle? I have found that my favorite; Griff’s Thin is fine for years but after a while starts to thicken and once I start thinning it with lacquer thinner or “fly shop” head cement thinner; it doesn’t stay “nice and runny” the way I like it too.
I don’t know if Griffin uses a different thinner in their product initially or what but it reminds me of the old “Pharmacist’s Formula” head cement that stayed runny for years but once it started to thicken; thinning it down became a frequent chore.
Flyfishfairwx…you are welcome…I’ll point this out …I guess I mentioned it in another thread…I’m using stiff wire [from the hobby shop] of various diameters …the thinner the wire the smaller the droplet and the better control…the blunt end of the wire gives a better droplet than the tapered point of a needle…though if you don’t want to mess with getting the wire a needle certainly will work…also the wire’s length can be customized.
Also mentioned in the other thread…I got this idea from Henry Hoffman…full disclosure:grin:
If he is using what I think he is; it is called “piano wire”. It is steel and comes in various diameters measured in thousandths; like tippet. It is usually sold in lengths of around 36" but shorter lengths are available in some shops. If you have a hobby shop that sells model trains; they usually have it stored in long cardboard tubes where they keep other materials for building model railroad layouts.
BTW - the stuff is HARD so don’t use you best wire cutters to cut it; you can ruin them. I like a Dremel cut-off wheel myself to cut the stuff.
I use the regular head cement square bottle filled with Sally Hanson and replace the metal lid with the plastic flip open top from a H***Z ketchup bottle. With one hand I can flip the top open and insert my bodkin through the small hole in the cap to get a drop of head cement and then flip the top closed. If the bottle gets knocked over, while the flip top lid is open, very little will spill through the small hole before I can set the bottle back up.
This is just what I have been using and have been happy with…
Great idea! I just discovered that Log Cabin syrup caps work too. I hope to find out what else will work by going through the pantry before the wife discovers what I’m up to. I’ve got a feeling there are other caps out there that will work with the jars too.
SweetStreamS
WarrenP.
You not only, tie some of the best looking “Tarpon Buggers” I’ve yet to see, your “Ketchup-Catsup bottle cap”, idea is very ingenious!
About the neatest “new idea”, I’ve heard, since DShock discovered “you CAN use soap, while taking a bath”!
I’m going to give your hint a try, as soon as “someone that need not know”, turns their back. (then I can deny why there’s a piece of foil on the bottle). Question, though… does the ketchup-catsup, build up on the thread, when applied? Is adding a tomato substance to a fly, considered “baiting”?
Just, curious.
I have been using the Dyna-King cement reserviour for years. It works great! I find I never have to thin the HC as it creates an airtight seal. Be sure to apply a clean coat of vaseline to the threads and a little on the derin shaft from time to time to prevent the glue from binding on the threads or affixing the derin to the holder.
Please do not let anyone else know that I use the Catsup, Ketchup, tomato fish attractant on my flies.
I cannot take any credit for that hint. I am always searching the web for fly tying ideas and always watching out for new things to try and I remember that I saw that somewhere and I really liked it and have been using it ever since.
It may have been in the Fly Tying Tips section here on FAOL.
Warren…I believe it was in one of the fly fishing/tying magazines when it used to have a hints section…which ever one that was…
I used to do that …in fact, I’ve got a jar full of lids…but I found I had a tendency to forget and leave the lid open…even the small hole lets it evaporate…it’s my bad…guys it’s a good method…little bit of an issue finding lids and jars that fit…
Warren;
Noticing your “signature line”… reminds me of MANY years ago, when I went into a men’s room wearing my suit. I’d “had a few” and by golly… if I didn’t undo my vest, pull out my neck tie and then wet my pants…
(Please don’t spread this around, it’s only between you and I, okay?)
Bamboozle,
I use the Rumpf brand from my local shop…what’s left of it…The shop I mean…seem’s he’s more into Bow’s and hunting clothes since he’s taken over this shop…So I now do all my local buying at Old Trail Tackle shop…His selection is much better anyway…
And that squeeze bottle thingy posted a while back…there ok for a while…but eventually they either plug up so bad you can’t remove the needle or worse the needle carodes and skank’s up the works…I’ve had three!! :roll:
If the dang DK bottle was’nt so expensive, I’d like to try one for Flexament…I just keep a supply of ball bearings and keep the oxegen displaced as best I can in the glass bottles it comes in…and thin as needed.:mad:
The Rumpf head cement sealed the deal! That is the head cement that evaporates the most for me so if the DK bottle keeps it thin…
THANKS!
Now I have an excuse to something else I don’t need!!
SERIOUSLY; I get so depressed walking into fly shops these days and walking out with nothing 'cause I already have way too much junk. Now I have something to get excited about.
Well, with NO THANKS to Tyronefly… because HE FORCED ME TO… I ordered the DK cement bottle today. Called the fly shop I always use and he didn’t have one, because he said “Can’t sell 'em, guys think they’re too expensive!”. So, since everyone sells the thing for $39.95, I went to my old standby “online shop” and got one shipped PPD.
So, my own cement, will go in that unit and another version of my cement will go into my “Heinz Cement Jar”, (courtesy of WarrenP’s suggestion).
I figured, that if I can justify a few hundred for a vice, $25.00 for scissors, $400.00 for a rod and $275.00 for a reel… something to keep the cement fresh enough to use, isn’t really, “expensive”!?!
PS: Warren… the bride WAS NOT AT ALL AMUSED, when she found the tin-foil and rubber band “cap”, on the new bottle of ketchup-catsup, in the pantry today! Of course, when I told her “WarrenP, MADE ME do it, dear!” she just mumbled… “Yeah, THAT figures, from HIM!” (she, often, but not right now… reads over my shoulder here!?).
