I started to get supplies for tying and my wife, who is a quilter, asked what kind of thread is used. From what I can tell most thread is Polyester. She asked if silk would be OK. I’m thinking it would be if the diameter matches the recipe. She has quite a bit in lots of colors and if it’s good for tying she will share it.
Many of the traditional soft hackle flies are tied with silk thread. The silk changes color when waxed and becomes translucent when wet, producing an effect that is hard (impossible?) to duplicate with polyester thread. I suspect you could use silk thread for most patterns.
It’s nice to share.:rolleyes:
One may use silk for a lot of flies, at one time it was just about the only thread material in use for fly-dressing, but most people nowadays use various modern synthetic threads.
Should be of help to you;
http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/ssthread/index.html
TL
MC
Silk is still very popular for many fly patterns,
the most popular brand is Pearsall, although there are others available.
There are colour charts for Pearsall and others
on my web site. See below.
The Pearsall colours may seem limited but they are the ones most commonly quoted in fly recipes, they are also stocked by material suppliers.
Hi Donat,
Silk has a long history in tying and was used for lots of classic patterns. However, it does have some disadvantages compared to more modern threads. It is not as strong per diameter, thus is normally used in larger diameters, so adds bulk to some patterns, and it is also fairly expensive.
As was pointed out, however, it produces colors and translucency that no modern material matches.
The two most commonly used modern materials are nylon and polyester. Both are stonger than silk and are avialable in smaller diameters. That factor is a major advantage because it holds bulk down on the pattern.
Tying thread for most trout flies is very small diameter compared to sewing thread.
Regards,
Gandolf
As people often ask about it, here is some more info on Silk;
http://chestofbooks.com/reference/Dictionary-of-Dry-Goods/Silk.html
http://chestofbooks.com/reference/Dictionary-of-Dry-Goods/Satin.html
You can get the complete book as a PDF file here;
http://www.archive.org/details/completedictiona00coleiala
TL
MC