I was tying some of the fly of the week last night and had a heck of a time with the floss. It kept separating and really became a headache. Is there a secret or does anyone else have this problem? I have used floss before on the body of some attractor type flies and didn’t experience this.
It may be messy to some, but I wet my fingers with a little spit. Not a lot: much like when you’re separating pages stacked together. I use this with some unruly feathers too.
Prior to tying flies, I normally trim my finger nails, then buff my fingertips and edges off the nails, with a sponge sanding pad (sandpaper that is coated onto a sponge, available at most hardware stores, fine grit. Then I apply “Oil of Olay” to my finger tips, this will soft the skin, and the oils in the lotion mask the human scent.
“The Importance of a Good Manicure!”
Steven, there’s been a lot of info about how fish navigate, how they smell, etc. This is directed especially toward the scent of sun-screens. I’m curious how long the scent of Oil of Olay lasts? Certainly it’s not natural based. I bet your procedure would certainly help rod builders. I know DH has a problem this time of year with dry skin and the threads.
Thanks for your input.
After a discussion with some fellow tyers a couple of weeks ago, I learned that there are different varieties of floss as to their make. Most are made with 4 strands of material but single strand floss does exist though it is very hard to find. They tell me that the single strand is much easier to work with. I am currently searching for some. You should look to if that is a viable solution for you. I’ll try to report back if I find it.
UNI-Floss is a single strand 600 denier floss that comes in 34 different colours. Should be widely available in most shops (even mine 
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Good ideas! Thanks. I usually prep the hands before I plan to dub but hadn’t thought about it helping here. It seems also that one of the problems was that it was wrapped around the bend of the scud hook I was using and this caused it to want to separate and spread out more than normal perhaps.
Also, I think the single strand stuff might help as well. I looked for floss at our local Bass Pro Shop and couldn’t find any at all yesterday. I will probably check the sponsors and see if I can find some. Thanks again.
This is good and includes a tutorial.
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=4987
Try using only 1 or 2 strands at a time.
Stroke all of the floss fiber so they are aligned in a straight line.
Wrap in close touching to slightly overlapping turn.
Clean up fingers as others have mentioned.
Use white thread when using light colored floss. Preserves the color of the floss.
All the above suggestions - and try putting the single strand variety in a bobbin so your fingers don’t have to touch it after you tie it in.
Joe
The simple solution is to use Fly Tyers Finger Treatment, it does work. Try this:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/view … hp?t=14220
don’t know if you play guitar, but the calluses that leaves on your fingers are a devil when tying with floss…just my .o2 cents
Make sure youe under body is smooth. Use a short piece of floss, no more than 10 inches. Be sure your hands are clean. Don’t use the rotary function of your vise. Stroke the floss repeatedly while wrapping, at least once every 45 degrees. wrap slowly and watch while you wrap. If the body becomes uneven, unnwrap to an even part and then continue forward. I think Don Bastion has a good tutorial on his DVD.
Lou, I am just curious why I shouldn’t use the rotary feature for floss.
The repeatative stroking is what keeps the floss even. It’s not practical to do this concurrently with rotating the fly.
“…It’s not practical to do this concurrently with rotating the fly.” I appreciate the help Lou. I guess I have been flossing wrong for all these years. :shock: I use my rotary function for applying my underbodies too. Even ribs, hackle, dubbing are easy. Almost too easy! :lol:
I use the rotary function as much as I can, but not for a floss body. Try the technique I’ve explained. If you don’t like it, don’t use it.
lou,
How do you manage to not get the floss to fray if you are stroking it repetatively ? The individual filaments in the floss will break quite easily after being handled as you suggest.
The comment from Ronn was rather amusing, considering he is/was a dentist i am sure he has done a lot of flossing.
I would imagine this is where the sanding off of finger prints and wetting the fingers with saliva comes into play. I would imagine those steps would cut down on friction significantly. Of course, that’s just my best guess… 8)