wrapping lead

I’ve only been tying about a year and I weight many of the flies that I produce. I work with spools of round lead and put it on a bobbin without a ceramic insert. I use the ceramic inserts for thread. Recently I have been breaking off the lead often, causing me to put lead on once and then put some more on to get the amount that I want.

Can some of you share ways in which you work with lead. I have tried wrapping a few wraps and then untwisting the bobbin as you might when you tie with thread. I tried to add some photos, but I needed to resize them and I after trying that twice it still didn’t like it so I am just throwing out the question.

Rick

I only have experience with larger lead and lead substitute, but I just wrap it by hand. Using a bobbin doesnt seem necessary since its rarely more than 20 wraps, usually half that. The lead doesnt unwind once you wrap it so there is no need for wrapping over itself like you do to start thread.

Just take the end of the wire, set it on the hook and pinch it around, then hold onto that edge with one hand to keep it from spinning around the shank while you wrap with your other hand. Then slide it along the shank where you want it and secure with super glue/head cement/thread depending on personal preference.

Clay,

I know exactly what you are going through. I, also, put my lead on a material bobbin which has a larger hole. You can transfer your chenille from the cardboard to an empty thread spool and use it on a material bobbin. The reason for doing a bobbin for the lead and the chenille is that you have no waste. If you do either one by hand, you will be throwing away the excess which could be anywhere from 1/2" and longer. Pretty soon, you have thrown away a lot of lead and chenille that you paid for. If you do not tie a lot of flies, it probably makes no difference, but, I hate to throw away material and I hate having all those little pieces of chenille and lead lying on my tying table thinking I will use them some day.:wink: I find that the smaller diameter lead is the one that wants to break off before I am through wrapping. Untwisting it probably does not work because once it is twisted it is weakened. When wrapping this smaller wire I concentrate on wrapping without allowing the bobbin to put a twist in the lead wire. It is a lot like wrapping/palmering a hackle where you concentrate on keeping the hackle from twisting which causes the hackle to be sticking out in all directions instead of all sloping back. When I make sure to wrap the lead and not allow the twist, I have no problems.

Hope this helps…

stick one end in the eye of the hook and wrap the lead around the shank. use a bodkin to pull the end out of the eye and wrap that tag end around the shank

much easier with a rotary vise

I don’t use a bobbin, I just use the spool that it comes on.

I leave it on the spool as I wrap, so I still don’t have any waste. And when I do have waste I usually save the little pieces and tie them onto the shank for patterns that dont need as much weight so it doesn’t get thrown away.

I hand wrap with the lead still attached to the spool. You lose about 1/4" at the beginning of the wrap.

I take about 12 or 15 inches of lead off the spool which is enough to tie several flies before I need another piece. I pinch one end against the hook with my left hand at the rear of the hook and wrap forward. When I have the desired number of wraps I pinch off the excess with my thumbnail. At the starting end I either pinch off the excess or fold it around the shank depending on how much there is. When wrapping I let the lead slip between my fingers so as not to induce a twist in it. After wrapping and pinching I compress the wraps together is there are any gaps - usually not required. The only waste is what is left after the last fly - usually minimal.

After wrapping the lead I cover it with a flat heavy thread (fewer wraps required) and apply head cement. I generally prepare several weighted hooks before a tying session.

A Hint - For smoother lead bodies which facilitate the rest of the tying, lightly flatten it with a rolling pin before using it. Do not over flatten and do not let the lead twist when wrapping.

Jim Cramer

I’m a spool in the hand type also…and I cut it off with a toe nail clipper…as I do all wire.

I like Normand’s suggestion…going to give it a try:cool::cool:.

BTW the toe nail clipper has a concave cutting edge …not the usual convex.

I work off a 1 pound spool. I don’t have a bobbin big enough to hold it. The spool of lead just sits to the right of the vice. I pull off 2-3 feet of slack and hand wrap. The only time I cut lead is at the end of the wrap. Easy enough to wrap down the little tag where you start wrapping.

Use your bobbin for thread. It is more bother than it is worth to try to serve up wire of any kind with it.

For what it is worth, make sure to wash your hands after a tying session.

fishbum

I knew that you guys would come through with some good ideas. Sometimes it just takes one person to say, “hey, I’m having an issue with this technique” and you see that more than one person has similar issues. :cool:

I was using .30 round lead on the bobbin and it was fine for the 6, 8 and 10s, but I wanted to try a little smaller lead and bought a spool of .20 and it is were the problems started. I think it is like when I tied most with 6/0 thread and then switched to 8/0 I broke it often until I developed the touch.

After posting this question I played with the lead today. I found I had more problems if I tried to wrap more than 4 or 5 wraps because of the twist that is induced by the way I wrap. So I wrapped 4 times, and rotated the spool by hand for another 4 wraps. With the lighter wire it is definately more technique specific than the heavier wire.

I find the bobbin saves material for me too. I never throw away any pieces of lead.

Still open to more comments and thanks to all who contributed.

Note: I have already ordered some .25 lead that should be here next week.

I got to ask NOW. How many, when you say LEAD, are actually using lead. I just want to say I use lead substitute…no LEAD here.
To many waters I fish don’t allow it.

Hi Clay;

I feel your pain! I used to do the same thing, breaking the lead all the time.

As my tying skills improved(I’m not saying I’m a great tyer just better), I broke lead wire less and less to the point that I rarely break it any longer. Pay carefull attention to how you are wrapping the lead, I think you’ll find that you are either putting a lot of twist in the lead thus weakening it or too much tension, again weakening the lead. Or, perhaps both! I still use a bobbin but find that a rotary vice allows me to wrap the lead tighter and with little or no twist.

Hope this helps;

Wayneb

.030 lead is big stuff. For me that would be bass/saltwater size.
I wrap most nymphs in .015 and woolies with .020.
Now I admit that there are flies that get 10-12 wraps, but that is generally when I want to weight most of the hook shank so that the fly sinks in a horizontal position.
You can also single wrap then double wrap smaller diameter lead wire to get a larger thorax area.

And yes, I use lead wire because it is the most pliable and my state doesn’t prohibit it.

Please note that mallards would be dying in droves along the Gulf if the threat from fishing lead was that terrible. Not happening.

Not talking the Gulf, but Yellowstone. You don’t see droves of people dropping from plates made in China either;) But it could happen.

I tie on a Peak Vise, need a good video on applying lead with a rotary, off to YouTube :stuck_out_tongue: Edited to add that I had no luck finding this. Any help out there on this technique?

I take about 12 or 15 inches of lead off the spool which is enough to tie several flies before I need another piece. I pinch one end against the hook with my left hand at the rear of the hook and wrap forward. When I have the desired number of wraps I pinch off the excess with my thumbnail. At the starting end I either pinch off the excess or fold it around the shank depending on how much there is. When wrapping I let the lead slip between my fingers so as not to induce a twist in it. After wrapping and pinching I compress the wraps together is there are any gaps - usually not required. The only waste is what is left after the last fly - usually minimal. After wrapping the lead I cover it with a flat heavy thread (fewer wraps required) and apply head cement. I generally prepare several weighted hooks before a tying session.A Hint - For smoother lead bodies which facilitate the rest of the tying, lightly flatten it with a rolling pin before using it. Do not over flatten and do not let the lead twist when wrapping.

Jim Cramer I think you have been watching me!

I only use lead wire and hate wasting it too. If I leave it on the spool and just unwind a few inches before I start I don’t have a problem. Just wind it on, snug up tight and bunch it up with your thumb nail or whatever. In fact, I have difficulty understanding why you would be having so much trouble with .30 wire… not the product maybe?

You just read it too fast, no trouble with the .30, the trouble started when I went to .20.

To wrap lead on with a rotary vise…

Start with a bare hook…no thread base or anything else, just the hook.

Stick the ‘tag end’ through the eye of the hook. This will ‘hold’ the lead wire so it doesn’t spin on the shank, allowing you to wrap it without having to hang onto the tag end.

Hold the lead directly under the hook (I just hold the spool, don’t understand why you’d need or want a bobbin, but to each his own).

Spin the vise, guiding the lead into touching turns as you go…You can do as few as two wraps, or wrap the entire shank, up to you…keep the lead spool under the hook the whole time…

When you have made the number of wraps you want, trim the end of the lead right next to the shank (cutters, scissors, pull and break it, pinch it off…stuff is soft, doesn’t matter how you cut/break it)…no waste at all here…then, pull the lead from the hook eye and hand wrap it until it’s used up, or just cut it (if you cut it, you may ‘waste’ 1/4 inch of lead…wrapping it doens’t waste any).

Now, you can slide the lead to where you want it on the shank then secure it with glue/thread/whatever you want.

Alternate method is to wrap a thread base onto the hook, tie in the tag end of the lead wire, then wrap it as above…got to put in the right place with this method, but again, zero waste.

I use lead wire, not ‘lead substitute’.

Buddy

I wrap mine on from the spool too. Once its on the hook, Instead of cutting it I rotate the lead in a circular motion until it breaks off, which does not create a sharp edge.
Gary