can some body help me out iam having trouble making mono eyes i cant get them to come out right. it has me so frustered i was thinking of buying some already done up they come in extra small,small,med, and large but i dont know what to do any help would be nice.thanks davidm
go to the FAOL home page and hit fly tying on the side panel, then when loaded hit the ‘tying tips’ on the side panel, it will load the latest tip, scroll down to the bottom and hit the archive of tying tips and you will load up all the hints and tips from past articles. go through that - there are good tips on eyes etc there.
Hope this helps you some, I got a lot of help from them myself…
Jeanne
[b]Making mono-eyes
[/b] [LEFT]1. Cut a 1/2? ~ 3/4? monofilament (mono) of the appropriate diameter. The finished eye?ball? will be approximately twice the diameter of the mono.
2. Hold the mono in the center with hemostats or needle-nose pliers.
3. Heat one end of the mono with a cigarette lighter until it melts into a ball.
4. Blow gently on the melted ball to cool and harden it.
5. If it ignites blow it out! It is best to start over with another piece of mono as the ignited one is usually unusable and/or too short to use.
6. Do the same to the other end. This is the end that you will mess up! [/LEFT]
Hi Davidm;
I too have struggled with making my own mono eyes!
I tried numerous sizes and types of mono but my eyes always turned out droopy and much smaller than desired.
I think I’m going to try the mono & seed beeds to make eyes instead.
If you figure out how to make them satisfactorly, please let me know how ya do it!
Wayneb
David,
It’s like many other tasks. It takes practice to get good at it. Luckiy, mono is cheap.
Tips:
Don’t ever try to make just one set. Make a lot at a time. Repetition breeds consistency. Spend an evening making a few hundred of them, you’ll get good quick.
If you don’t want the eye to droop, keep it up right as it melts. Or, if you have a rotary vise, affix the mono in the jaw and keep it turning as you heat it. That will keep it centered.
Once you figure out how long a piece of mono to start with so the eyes come out to the correct length and size, write it down. This will take some trial and error, as we all do this differently. Once you get it right, precut the mono to length before you begin making the eyes.
An alcohol lamp is better than a lighter for this. More control, more even heat. Burns cleaner.
Sometimes the eyes will not turn out right. Just throw the bad ones away.
If you are goint to paint the eyes, remember that most paint will add some size and adjust accordingly.
For some reason, cheap mono seems to work better for this than the good stuff.
If you need big eyes, start with big line. You’ll only get about double the diameter, maybe a bit more, with this technique (the factory made ones are molded). If you start with 50 pound line, you can always make them smaller…
Good Luck!
Buddy
Buddy made the most important point IMO&E… Cheap line works much better than quality line.
Buddy’s…“An alcohol lamp is better than a lighter for this. More control, more even heat. Burns cleaner”…may be a key also…I’ve not been happy with cig. lighters…have found that BBQ lighters may be a little cleaner but also poor control.
I always keep a cup of water on my bench so I can dunk the eyes after burning. Helps set them. Spirit River mono eyes are not expensive. Black or silver # 11 seed beads and fifty lb test mono makes good eyes. Have fun.