Ronn Lucas

Kudos to your roommate! :headbang: :headbang: Happy Trails! Ronn

What everyone else said!!! He looks wonderful! Brings a whole new meaning to duck decoy! :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: Happy Trails! Ronn

Here are a sampling of the different wing burners I made. I think I have 13 different sizes for mayfly wings alone. I've made tons of tools over the years. Happy Trails! Ronn

How about this for a bodkin. Just an old rooster foot. Heck, with a spur like that, I wouldn't have needed to put a needle in the thing! :hyst: Happy Trails! Ronn

YIKES!!!!! :headbang: :headbang:

Cool!!!! :headbang: :headbang: Happy Trails! Ronn

What's not to like on this one? Looking good! :headbang: :headbang: Happy Trails! Ronn

Very nicely done!!! :headbang: :headbang: Happy Trails! Ronn

Sounds like you're going to have fun. Sorry I won't be able to be there to meet some of you folks. Tie one on for me. Happy Trails! Ronn

You're building it from scratch? I love the bank of drawers on the right side! I wish I could find an affordable cabinet with lots of drawers only 1" high and flat. I have all my fully dressed flies to store and something like that would be perfect. Just lay them on their sides in the drawers. I keep looking on ebay but everything that looks like it would work ends up going for way more than I could justify. Nice looking bench so far. Happy Trails! Ronn

Both. Happy Trails! Ronn

When I change spools, I lay the old one on my bench, keep the same postion of the clutch hub and put the new spool on with the thread coming off in te same direction as the old one. Easy. Happy Trails! Ronn

"...The Norlander, as you know, is pulled until the clutch resets. This is OK, but a bunch of thread (a foot or so) is left for the next fly..." Not so. If the tyer is paying attention when ending the head, simply move the bobbin hand until you feel the clutch slip and go past a couple inches. No hackle pliers, wraping around the bobbin holder or anything like that. The plier bit will leave your bobbin laying on the bench with your pliers so you have two tools tied up. "...the biggest advantages between the two is not having to spool the thread, via drill, to a proprietory spool..." For $45 I can stand to load a spool or two. A spool of thread lasts me a very long time and I can't recall the last time I loaded one. I have three norlander auto bobbins on my bench. 93% of my tying is with black and white thread. I keep two black and one white. I have many colors of thread that I will never use. I may have mentioned it before but it won't hurt to repeat it, the price of the Ekich is too high. I don't care how many machined parts it has. If Norlander can sell his for $35, I can get two for the price of one Ekich with enough left over for a burger & fries! Ekich is not going to flood the market at that rate. If someone wants to spend the $$, fine. Some folks buy the LAW vise too but they have the same problem. Just my opinion though. Happy Trails! Ronn

I'd return the materials and demand a refund including the return postage. In any case, my reccomendation would be to toss the stuff but short of that, here is some info on how I deal with materials. http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/atlantic/materials.html If you have Carpet Beetles (which I bet you do), they can and will chew right through the plastic bags without slowing down. DO NOT introduce them to other materials!!!!!!! If you intend to keep the materials, I would spray them liberally with insect spray and then seal them in a bag with moth crystal that contain Paradichlorobenzene. These are guaranteed to kill the bugs. after a couple weeks in ther bag, I suggest washing with warm soapy water. Micro waving WILL NOT kill the bugs! Freezing will not either. Home freezers will not get cold enough and the waves won't touch tiny bugs. Happy Trails! Ronn

I get in slumps often. I've gone for a couple months at times without tying a thing. Then again, when I'm in a tying mood, I can turn out quite a few flies. Happy Trails! Ronn

I'm curious why you think the LAW vise is "best". Price? Function? Happy Trails! Ronn

I use a Nor Vise that I have mounted to a piece of 1/4" plastic sheet. Of course it is a rotary so there is never a need to look at the far side that a little rotation can't help. One view it will not give me is a eye back look so I can make sure a wing is exactly where I want it. Before you say it, yes, the rotation gives me sort of that look but not quite. My chair is on rollers so I just scoot over and look head on OR take the vise and twist it towards me. I have lightheartedly given Norm grief over this as I have for other shortcomings over the years. Some have been fixed and others, not. This is a not. It is a very small one though and I can easily overlook it. I do routinely pick up and move the vise and it is easy to do. You can take a pedestal vise virtually anywhere to tie but not so with a clamp. I also like the vise a little way into my bench rather than on the edge. Happy Trails! Ronn

Yup. crest from the Peacock. The Peahen has them too but they are typically brown with little if any iridescence to them. Happy Trails! Ronn

I tried the raising birds for feathers bit years ago. I bought the breeding stock (a few breeds of rare pheasants) and a friend in Virginia raised them. We ended up with exactly nothing after all was said & done, not many feathers even let alone skins. He also tried raising JC with equally poor results. What with predation, vandals, disease and other potential losses, I figure to let the experts do the raising. Believe me. as Bud says, the work alone makes home grown feathers much more than store bought and the store bought are very likely to be better! Happy Trails! Ronn

I suppose it could be outdated hardener, it does darken with age. I'm talking the kind of epoxy I use in the dental lab so it is possible it is different but I don't think it is that much different. As someone else mentioned, thorough mixing is a must. Temperature is also a variable with epoxies. I actually warm mine in hot water to accelerate the setting. I'd suggest you do a couple of tests with what you have left to see if you can figure out the problem. The flies are likely a lost cause. Happy Trails! Ronn

Nothin Wrong with worms, I've caught a LOT of fish on em. Happy Wormy Trails! Ronn

Hi troutscout, Say, I'm not a physics whiz but I'd like to know what relevance the word true has to a discussion of rotation as relates to vises. Can you point me to somewhere in "physics 101" where I can study up on that? You know what someone discussing the so called "true" rotary vise means because you are versed in tying. What about someone who doesn't know even what a vise is? True rotary? What would this mean to someone like that? Nothing. Short of a long dissertation on the function of a given vise it seems to me that "in line rotary" does narrow the focus a bit and separates what we are discussing from a simple rotary vise such as the Regal rotary vise. Sometimes we forget that not everyone in the room knows as much as we do so we can easily talk over the less informed's heads. Seems to me that there are plenty of confusing terms in this craft and anything we can do to simplify things is good. Happy Trails! Ronn

Exactly what is "true rotary"? It's a meaningless term that describes absolutely nothing. You have three basic kinds of tying vise other than your hands. Fixed head (non rotary), rotary and in line rotary. The fixed head needs no description here. The rotary would be a vise that rotates the fly/hook but the rotation is not centered with the hook shank. The third, the in line rotary has the vise jaws and the hook shank in the same center of rotation. If all one wants to do is look at the far side of the fly, a pedestal fixed head or rotary vise will do. Simply turn the fixed head to see it or rotate the rotary. Save your money from buying an in line rotary for hackles or something. If one wants to improve his/her tying output and quality and is dedicated to learning to use the in line rotary feature to apply such things as ribbing, hackling, dubbing, flossing and so on, pay the extra cash and buy an in line rotary vise. I use the Nor Vise and wouldn't give it up for a variety of reasons. There are any number of in line rotary vises for less than $100 to over $700. Nor Vise now has a fixed head vise for less than $100 that can actually be converted to an in line rotary down the line. I have heard that the dan vise is also a very good in line vise at less than $100. The bottom line is do not buy an in line rotary vise unless you intend to use the features for more than just looking at the far side of the fly. Happy Trails! Ronn

Depends on the size of the head/fly. For my fishing flies, two whips of maybe four turns on a medium size fly and on a larger, six turns. On my bigger feather wing streamers or bucktails, eight to ten. The same would be true for my free style atlantics. My fishing flies no longer get cement but my flies I give away or tie for display do. Up to four thin coats on display flies. The important thing with whips or hitches is to get every turn laying side by side so the tag of the thread is held with a broad area of turns. This is particularly important if you pull the knot tight while cutting the thread. The thread will be stretched and suck back under the knot. My method is also important for a smooth finished head. Happy Trails! Ronn

Certain parts can skunked. If you get there, recall your comment and let us know what you think then. Happy Very Long & Old Trails! Ronn