I am going to start blending my own dubbing mixes after years of using preblended.
Which color rabbit skins should I purchase to have an adequate arsenal for blending my own dubbings. I will be tying flies for mainly trout.
Any recommendations on which coffee grinder to buy?
Any recommendations on who to buy skins from? Best color, size, quality?
-Silver Badger
Many go fishing all their lives without
knowing that it is not fish they are after.
Badger,
If you were to go by the primary colors used in the Caucci/Nastasi ‘Spectrablend’ dubbings, then you would need White, Red, Yellow and Blue. Using those colors you will be able to blend any color except black. For dry fly dubbing cut the clump from as close to the hide as you can. Grab the guard hairs and remove them. Place in a coffee grinder, I have 3 and they’re all about the same, and blend with short bursts. The Caucci/Nastasi formulas for blending can be found on the ‘Spectrumized’ dubbing labels or in their book, Fly Tyers Color Guide. Excellent stuff. As far as from who to buy skins, almost any of the well established shops or catalogs.
Allan
Badger,
I would start with a black, white. and and a maybe yellow skin. The rabbit will act a good binder material for many of the synthetics. Then I would go and buy a whole bunch of assorted colors of Aunt Lydia’s yarn for about a dollar a skien.
If you are serious enough to think about buying rabbit skins for blending your dubbing I would forget about the coffee grinders and go with at least an Osterzier type blender. You will start with a large wad of a basic light or dark blend which you can subdivide into smaller wads to which you add other material and colors which you will again subdivide as the wad grows larger.
I have not yet tried my wife?s Cuisinart machine, but I think it might be even better than the blender for large quanities. I?ll have to wait until she is gone for a while before I venture there.
You will soon end up with more dubbing than you and yor friends will ever use. Mixing dubbing is a lot like mixing paint but much more fun and a whole lot less messy.
Jim -
Hope you have better luck when she returns than I did…
Hi Badger,
Lots of good advice so far. I too recommend a osterizer. As far as rabbit skins don’t forget to get Hare’s masks. They come in alot of different colors, all very useful,especially Natural. For regular pelts try to get as many colors as you can,I like to have a variety of Natural colors as well as dyed. You probably won’t need full skins though, 1/4 or 1/2 skins will give you plenty and that would probably be more than you would ever need.Unless you are tying commercially. You might consider doing a search for rabbit skin scraps or cuttings. A lot of furriers have these by the pound , in mixed colors, for VERY reasonable prices.
Also consider buying different types of fur , such as fox, muskrat,beaver, seal, mole, and combine them to get a various textures for different applications.
As posted above add synthetics into the mix.Personally I like to use 40%, at the most, synthetics, when using them. Usually the percentage is 20%-30%, just enough to add some pop or bling to the fly.To be honest most of the time I go all natural.
One last thing,remember to take into account your thread color of the finished fly.
Hope this helps,
Jim
Thanks for all of the great info. I wasn’t planning on doing large batches, so maybe the coffee grinder might still work. I saw a black and decker model for only $13, plus it’s a lot smaller than the blender.
Anyone know where to get scraps from? Or a place that sells 1/4 skins. -Silver Badger
Many go fishing all their lives without
knowing that it is not fish they are after.
Chad,
Have you thought about cutting your own zonker strips …as long as you are going the skin route? If so you might want more than scraps…it’s easy to do.
If you have a Sportsman’s Warehouse around …they have full skins at a reasonable price …also the craft stores.
I have never been to a sportsmans warehouse. They are opening one by me in May. How is there tying selection? How much do they usually sell their skins for? -Chad
sportsman’s warehouse has a pretty impressive selection of materials, though there are things I’ve been unable to find there, like ultrawire…they’ve got the best selection of hooks I’ve seen anywhere.
mgj
I use an old Osterizer for a dubbing blender. It has a little pint jar attachement that is perfect for a batch. I like it much better than the coffee grinders that I have tried.
Jay
For colors, my main colors are olive, natural (which has browns, tans, & grays), & chocolate (dark brown). I mostly use my fingers to blend (my wife would get totally ticked at me using the kitchen appliances for blending dubbing) !!!
If you are using natural colored skins, go to Hobby Lobby or Michael’s…skins are about $4 each, if memory serves me right. And natural skins come in many different hues.
Hi Badger, I’ve been blending and dying for many moons so please don’t go the coffee grinder route until you have at least tried wet blending as I was instructed to do by Eric Leiser years ago. Add a little detergent to the water, blend,drain in a sieve and you’ll end up with a neatly matted falt. Just remember to cut synthetic yarn into short pieces beforehand because the longer fibers of a synthetic will tangle (either wet (or dry).
I know you’ll enjoy the process.