I know this has been asked several times before, but i was unable to find it in the archives…i have some spools of ultra thread that i bought at gander when they got rid of their fly tying stuff (really unhappy about that) and i need to know the conversion.
There is this from Parnelli. The other thing is it probably doesn’t matter;if it breaks too much, don’t use it for that application. In the past whatever thread was in the sewing case was what was used. If you’re tying for fishing use what you’ve got. I won’t tell the thread police where you live.
mcsteff
I thought that the local Gander had discontinued tying stuff. I was wrong, they had moved it back into one of the aisles. Look around, your Gander may still have tying material.
The Gander mountain in Bowling Green Ky has tons of fly tying stuff. That really surprised me since in the past they haven’t had anything much. So I commented to one of the clerks that I was glad to see so much stuff and he told me they had gotten it all from another store. I can’t swear to it, but I really believe he said it was a store in Texas. I’m sorry raiderhunter, that’s bad news for you
As can be seen, the 140 is roughly equivalent to Unithread 6/0, and thus about twice as heavy as Danville’s 6/0 and Unithread 8/0 (the Danville’s 6/0 and Unithread 8/0 are roughly equivalent.)
I use Unithread 6/0 for all #10 flies and larger, but only tie down to #4s or so, but once in a great while down to #2s, so your 140 should be good for those. Part of the time I also use it on #12s, but part of the time use Unithread 8/0 or Danville’s 6/0 on #12s.
The 210 might be good for deer hair spinning, and for large body flies.
Uni is mostly Polyester thread, while Danville ans Waspi have mostly Nylon thread. 6/0 Polyester is 140 denier, while 6/0 Nylon is 70 denier.
Polyester does not stretch when tension is applied to the thread, Nylon wil stretch. Nobody every really explaind about this 3/0, 6/0, 8/0 stuff. It was just presumed that the higher the aught the smaller the size of the thread, and along with the size dimenising so does the breaking strength of the thread.
All threads are not created equal, there are various methods of construction of thread that depends on the material being used. Then there is the sealing of the thread (most thread is sealed with a wax or oil lubricant to stop chaffing of the surface, and to allow the thread to move smoothly through the materia) for sewing or weaving purposes.
“If you do not understand how something came to be what it is, there is most likely way back long time ago a horse’s *** being somehow connected to the current problem.” ~Parnelli
210 denier is 210 denier and 140 denier is 140 denier. That is all you can be sure of.
Why the flyfishing world has to complicate something the garment industry has been using successfully forever is beyond me. Compare denier to denier, throw in breaking strength info if you can find it and compare threads that way, not by aught sizes.
Relating denier to aught sizes is a load, the same load that fly tying thread makers have been perpetuating since the fly tying industry began. How else do you explain different manufacturers calling the same aught size a different denier? They just won’t give up the, “my 6/0 thread is thinner than your 6/0 thread” game and fly tyers fall for it all day long!
The sooner the hobby and industry gives up the aught designations the better off we’ll all be.
Until that time all you can do is guess and pretend what you bought is 6/0 and 3/0 and if it works for you, size really doesn’t matter!