flytyer48

I am checking a dressing I have. Does anyone have the details of a Golden Cobbler? A variant of the Golden Dabbler.

I am a believer in not making life complicated. We have ten fingers and only two will make a whip finish, furthermore, a whip finish is neater and can be "steered" to smooth out the head profile. Surely, we like to think of ourselves as craftsmen?

I have paid between £5 and £15 for the three vices I have used over 35 years of tying. They have satisfied my growing skills over the years; I may only be an average tyer but the flies catch fish! However, a year ago I was given a present of an Anvil Apex and I feel that it has definitely improved my tying. I hope the trout agree! I am now dropping hints about a Porsche improving my driving but the hints are falling on deaf ears!

My advice is stay away from MEK. If I remember rightly from my Health & Safety auditing days that is a material which defats the skin and breathing it in over a tying bench and having fumes in your lungs. Why not use clear nail varnish. The only problem is the questionong looks when you buy it. "I only use it for glue" - yeah right!

Thanks guys, this is really going somewhere. What is this "rosin" stuff? Any idea where I can get it? I'm UK based Flytyer48

Is there anyone with a thirst for detail like me? After topping up my block of tying wax with some beeswax I thought that it would be a good idea to make my own recipe for wax exactly as I like it. Sad idea! Melting beeswax in a baine-marie and adding silicone oil just did not end up with the same consistency of proprietry wax with beeswax added. The silicone oil did not amalgamate with the wax and the remnant wax was still harder than my main piece of shop + beeswax.My question is : does anyone know what else is in tying wax other than beeswax? Is there a resin of some sort? Flytyer48

Go to a carp fishing site or "carpy" tackle shop and ask for shock beads. They come in all sizes; about 1mm to 5mm and between