head cement

What kind of head cement do you use? I just managed to tie my first wooly bugger, actually it was my very first fly too, and I was just wondering what kind of glue do you use? I don’t have any yet, and I am saving it back till I get some glue. Actually since it is my 1st fly, I’ll probably just keep it instead of fish it.

thanks in advance,
hNt

PS Very special thanks to WarrenP, without him I wouldn’t have tied anything yet. He gave me an old vise, some tools and materials, I just can’t get over how helpful everyone here at FAOL is. I can’t wait to get to help someone else out.

Congrats hungNtree. I just started tying myself. Took a class in Jan. I use Dave’s Flexament thinned 50/50 with Dave’s Flexament Thinner. I know some guys use Hard as Nails too.

John

I haven’t used head cement in years. I just use a whip finished head.

I don’t use head cement, although back when I learned how to tie, thirty plus years ago, I used it on everything. To me, the costs (extra tying time, having to clean out hook eyes, added weight to the fly…) outweigh the benefits (not having the head come unraveled). Tie a good whip finish at the end, and it works fine without cement, in my experience.

I like to be able to see clearly the 4th, 5th, 6th etc flies I’m tying, and found it a problem if I was using Flexament … so, instead I use Loon Water Based Head Cement. No odors, and if the flies look bad, it’s because of my inability to tie properly, rather than what I’ve inhaled!!!

You’ll get a lot of answers to this one. Commercial tyers often use clear lacquer from the hardware store. It’s cheap and a quart does a LOT of flies You can buy variouse brands of head cement or you can do what many of us do and use Sally Hanson hard as nails with nylon nail polish which is cheap, can be diluted with readily availble acetone and doesn’t require a trip to a fly shop.

Jason;
Gad to hear your tying. Great pastime while the knee heals.

Pick up a bottle of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails at the dollar store. I also apply a coat to the hook shank before wraping the chenille on it. Make the fly a little more durable.

Let me know when you’re up to fishing again.

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails that I poured into a bottle with a needle spout that I bought at Cabela’s. I need a drop or two even with my whip finishes. :frowning:

Roy

Betty,
I didn’t think any of us inhaled:p.

I use the Wapsi head cement I bought at Bass Pro Shop. I whip finish my flies too but I like using the cement to make them a bit more durable.

my go to the trees befor they fall apart

I rinsed out a Wapsi head cement bottle with acetone, then filled it with Sally’s. I prefer to use my bodkin to place the glue, rather than the rather large brush in the Hard as Nails. Even after cutting the brush down to just a few strands, I can still control it better with my bodkin.

Kirk

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails mostly… sometimes epoxy…

I use water-based polyurethane for fly head cement. It looks, feels and dries just like Loon’s water based head cement.

In the past when I used Sally Hansen’s, I used my bodkin to place the cement/nail polish. Now that I use the poly it is less viscous and I use the eye end of a sewing needle to pick up and hold a small amount of the polyurethane (or Loon’s). I put the sharp end of the needle into a dowel or a pin vise so I don’t stab myself.

Ed

I use the regular square head cement jar that I keep filled with Sally Hansons and apply it with my bodkin. By the way, the flip top from a Heinz ketchup bottle will screw right on the head cement bottle and the bodkin fits right in the small hole to retrieve the head cement. This allows you to open and close the head cement with one hand plus if you knock it over, and you will, it does not spill all over the place.

That little bit of info right there is worth the price of admission!
Thanks Warren, now I’m off to steal the lid from the ketchup!

This is how I like to do it…

Just some different ways to do it…different sized wires give you different sized droplets…and with the corks you can adjust the depth and therefore the amount of liquid picked up.

99 cent or dollar store bottom shelf 2 for a buck nail polish. some with sparkle some clear. Apply with a bodkin and not the brush.Jim

I’ve heard different reasons to use (or not) head cement. Some say the fish can smell it even months later. I do know the smell lingers a long time in my fly boxes so I try to leave them open when I’m filling them and until ready to go fishing the next time.

Others say the flys are much more durable when cement is used and recommend using it on almost every step to secure the materials to the hook.

I?m kind of middle-of-the-road. I whip-finish and use cement on the head and sometimes on certain materials that I feel need it to stop them from moving or increase the durability.

Picked up a ton of Flex-a-ment at a show a couple of years ago so that is what I?m using now. I like the head cement thin so it penetrates the thread deeper, locking them together creating a more durable head. I?ve had my whip finish come loose or slip off the eye (usually just after I tie it on the tippet).

I use a bodkin to apply the cement and use the cap that came with the bottle. I haven?t found one that seals better yet although the catsup top sounds good. I store the bodkin in a plastic 35mm film container filled with steel wool. Just stuff the steel wool in the container and snap the lid back on. When you push the bodkin in it creates a hole that moves most of the cement away from the tip and the steel wool removes the rest.

I do have a bottle of ?Hard-as Nails? that I like better than head cement to use on bodies when needed because it?s thicker. The brush works well because I?m putting it on larger areas but the bodkin would also work.

I use Hard as Nails, found cheaply in the cosmetics aisle of any grocery or drug store.