So I have been tying away. I’ve got about a dozen y2k’s, and 3 woolybuggers(still waiting on an ebay auction with all my tying materials) in my box. I’ve noticed something with my thread as I tie. It seems the actual thread spreads out or fans out occasionally. I am using fly tying thread and I have seen it on two different thread colors. Is this something I am doing wrong or is it normal to see?
Thanks for the help.
the quick answer is yes, it is one of the properties of thread, However different brands of threads act differently so try different ones until you find how each brand works.
Eric
Eric is right. It is normal. Watch your bobbin and notice that it will spin and the thread will untwist. That’s usually when it “lays flat”. There are some patterns that it is desirable that this happen.
So it is not a question of me putting too much or too little tension on the bobbin. I am using danvilles thread. The red one seems to fan more then the black.
Nope, its just the amount of twist, determined by the amount of wraps you’re making before allowing the bobbin to untwist itself. Less twist, flatter thread. In my experience, a tightly twisted thread loses tensile strength, so be careful.
For my general tying purposes, Uni-thread can’t be beat. Its all one strand, so it doesn’t flatten out like that. Still, for a smooth, flat body, threads that DO flatten are a must.
as you take thread off the bobbin and put it on the fly it can spin this will fan out the tread or make it unravel, on some flies and sometimes with floss you want this to happen at other times you don’t. (it gives a thinner body etc.) when you see this happening if you let the bobbin go it will spin back to the original configuration. or you can spin it back by rotating the bobbin by hand in the proper direction. (direction depends on which way you wind on the thread)
quick answer its not a tension thing its a technique thing.
Eric
I’m sleep deprived and may ramble a bit. One place where I use this is in tying thread ants, I like a thread that unravels and lays flat makes it easier for me to get smooth bodies. I then Sally Hanson them.
I like uni thread for most of my tying also as it doesn’t tend to to this. I like UTC for the ants as it does this easily. different threads different properties.
Eric
Bedlam,
You’ve had some good answers already, but I’ll add a couple pennies worth here. The Danvillie’s thread you use is a non-bonded thread made up of a bunch of very long continuous fiber (nylon, I believe). The thread will lay nice and flat when wrapped on the hook as long as you remember to untwist it. For every wrap you take around the hook, you put a quarter twist in the thread. After a few wraps the thread will start to twist and take on a corded look. Simply letting your bobbin hang will allow it to untwist.
I use un-bonded thread almost exclusively for tying. I like the flat wraps you can obtain with it, but I can also twist it up for a corded look when I need to. By splitting the flat thread with a bodkin or needle I an insert dubbing into the split, then twist it, getting the appearance of a dubbing loop without the bulk.
You aren’t doing anything wrong, just learning a bit about your materials, which is a good thing.
REE
I had the same question when I first started. Then I watched a youtube video of a North Platte Fly shop tyer who’s thread did the same thing. Then i decided… looks like I’m ok and not screwing it up to badly.
Paul
Think of it like this: twisted rope vs braided rope. Uni thread is bonded. Like a braided rope, it stays together no matter how you twist it. UTC and Danville threads are unbonded. Like a twisted rope, if you let them “unwind” they lay flat. Those separate strands are what you’re seeing.
I like the Uni thread for most of my warmwater ties where thread bulk doesn’t really matter. I have found Danville Flymaster and the 70 denier UTC to be very nice for when thread bulk matters and you’re looking for small heads and “presentation” type flies.
are you left handed?
Answering Bones question — Yes I am.
I have to watch the unwinding I get in just normal wrapping.
Some thread, notably Pearsall’s, is spun counter-clockwise on the spool.
I am right handed. After getting th feedback, I see whats going on. I also learned to turn the vice the opposite way I have wrapped my thread when adding on chenille. I kept unwrapping what I had done. Practice pratice pratice.
Are you using Danville’s flat waxed nylon. If so it will come off the bobbin flat & become twisted as you wrap it. I like to spin the bobbin in the opposite direction to untwist it when I wrap the head. This gives a smoother head.
when you sit down to tye are the jaw tips pointed to your right or to your left?
They point to the right
the reason I ask is that some folks tye what I call goofy footed. I don’t mean that in any derogatory sense but right a handed tyer will start a wrap by bringing the thread under the hook shank and over, coming back over the top towards him as opposed to over the hook and under coming back and up. I know only a few, maybe three, that do it this way.
I’m one of those few right handed tyers that tie ‘backwards’.
When I began doing this, I didn’t have any books, and I didn’t have any other tyers to teach me different.
I just wrapped the thread onto the hook in the direction that felt most natural to me. So I go under, then up and over, bringing the thread and materials towards me over the top of the fly.
The only place this ‘matters’ in the actual operations of tying a fly is with the manual whip finish. Can’t seem to figure out how to do that backwards. Luckily, I have a tool, which works just fine either way.
Worked out well in the end, though. When I bought my rotary vise, I found that I can turn mine just like a reel handle. Didn’t have to learn to crank the vise backwards.
Buddy
Four…