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jdowney

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Everything posted by jdowney

  1. Wow. Give that a shot with the available tech from centuries ago and you'll find out why it's vastly preferable to build up rather than down. It's not "preferable" to build up ... just easier. I'm not going to hijack the thread any further. Wrong place to have this discussion. And yet you, the moderator, started the discussion, participated in it repeatedly, and now shut it down after the "last" word - for I'm sure these of mine will be gone in mere minutes. You can't make a reply like that one and still retain the respect that makes it possible to be an effective moderator. You need to learn some wisdom sonny. Now delete this post with no hard feelings from me - the lecture was for you, no one else.
  2. Wow. Give that a shot with the available tech from centuries ago and you'll find out why it's vastly preferable to build up rather than down.
  3. I'm gonna have to steal that one We have a bit of software at work called CSS, that is used for displaying instrument telemetry - IF you can get the darn thing configured right.... your version of it works perfectly both for that and my eyes.
  4. Its not a problem. Observing that they are different products is all. The thicker stuff would be my choice for a heavy base as its less likely to be permanently squashed.
  5. The stuff from HF is a bit thicker than the shelf liner stuff. I bought several rolls for lining tool box drawers at work.
  6. From context, I'm guessing he's in England, so I doubt glare from the sun outside is much of a problem Don't take the "distracting" comment too literally, it was intended to be a humorous compliment rather than remarking on a real risk.
  7. Nice to have a large computer screen right there too, sure beats the old days of propping a book open. Only trouble with your set up is the view out the window - too distracting!
  8. Oh, now I get it. Neat feature! That's what I get for reading while at work - extra dense
  9. I've mostly fished trout, so I don't have a lot to compare to. Most fun fishing I ever did was for pickerel in Maine, we were in canoes in a bog and they hit deer hair poppers hard and fought like crazy. Sounds like I should go find some bluegill!
  10. Yep, I agree with both the choice and the "begrudgingly". I've noticed that as a fly tier, I want to tie fun, interesting, sexy flies. I've never found the wooly bugger to be any of those, but it sure catches fish and probably works more often than any other single fly. But then I'm not as good at fishing as tying, so maybe that's my lack of skill talking.
  11. I have a heck of a time posting pictures too. Nice job building a vise, that's not a job everyone can tackle. Out of curiosity, why weld on a bearing?
  12. Sure, I'll take a picture for you when I get home tonight. As I recall there's a brown, ginger, & maybe a black one. I've hardly used them since the late 1980's, they are old necks.
  13. I remember there was a run on genetic saddle hackle a few years ago, it was all the rage to weave those long feathers into girls' hair or something. I just tried to use some of my old Indian hackle for a nymph, not having a decent hen feather for it. Horrible. Time to toss all of them and buy hen necks for the wets and keep going with the new saddles for the dries.
  14. I hope I can still tie that well when I'm 74! Heck, since I'm kinda relearning the skill, I'm not sure I can tie that well now. Hat's off to you!
  15. For years I used a J. Dorin bobbin that was a bit unconventional, it had a hole on the side of the tube just a bit up from the end. Easy to thread. I had a bobbin threader I got somewhere, but I can't find it now. I was going to dig it out for tying nail knots, that was a good idea back on page 3!
  16. OOOOOOOkaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy !!! That REALLY bugs me. At 59 ... I've had WAAAAYYYY too many things "dawn on me" way after I wish they had !!! Thanks for reminding me of that fact, Bryon. It bugs me that I had to be reminded, too !!! Wow, a two-fer...I'm on FIRE! :-D Right there with ya, Mike. Nothing makes the experience of learning a new thing bittersweet like realizing you should have learned it years ago. I guess that's--marginally-- better than never figuring it out at all. But then you never realize what you're missing or how much easier it could've been for x or xx (for some here maybe xxx) years. Then a bit later it dawns on me that I knew this twenty years ago. Now that one sounds a bit familiar.
  17. You maybe correct. However, people who make lots of money can also spend foolishly more then they can afford. Success/salary really has no bearing on being a fool with money. i bet these guys would slobber over themselves waiting four years for a matching vise to go with their high end knife. I bet norvise, CAE, or HMH TRV don't make a matching knife. Actually it does have a bearing on it - the target buyers for these kinds of products indulge in expensive products that they could well do without because the success or salary allows them to do so. How do you know that they would spend foolishly (in your opinion) if their success did not make them feel free to do so? Personally, I would never buy that vise. If I wanted one, I would learn to make one.
  18. Feathercraft is in St. Louis, they do retail and mail order. I've bought from them online, they seem like a good outfit. There's Thompson vises on ebay for $20-$40. Pick up one of those, some good scissors (I like Anvil's myself) and a couple cheap bobbins. I still whip finish by hand for some reason.
  19. I remember hackles like that. I used to buy Asian capes instead, but it was the same quality of feather. When I was learning to tie in the 1980's you could find some nice Metz capes, but they were well out of my range. There was another outfit that I cant' remember the name of now but I would see around the fly shops. I bought materials at the local hardware store usually, and it was all Universal Vise stuff. If I took the bus a couple towns over I could go to a real fly shop.
  20. I hope he's around still, reading this thread. Even the negative feedback here is good to read. Maybe that's the perspective that comes from being 48 rather than 19. I've tried a lot of different things to make a living, sometimes following the play it safe and earn lots advice, and sometimes following the go with what you love to do advice. There is a grain of truth in all of it, and dammit if that grass isn't still greener over there (I'm currently in one of the play it safe jobs, mostly hating it). I can also well believe that a younger guy could go from beginner to intermediate, almost expert in a few months. I took a long break from tying a couple times, being far from fishing holes most of the time out here in the desert, and each time it was harder to relearn the skill. The last time it was like being an 8 year old novice all over again! But then I no longer have young eyes and young coordination, and I tend to be having a beer while tying, just making matters worse! I have learned that to sell anything you make, the best bet is to find a niche (or bumble into one). Don't compete with those kids in Asia, you can't. Find the demand that they can't fill. Vastly easier said than done, but try stuff and don't take it too hard if it doesn't work out. Some of the best lessons in life are the failures, though they are not remotely satisfying they are useful knowledge. Eventually, something you try will pan out. Other than that collection of tired old chestnuts, I have no advice for selling flies - last time I sold them I couldn't drive yet and the pinnacle of "investment" was a $30 Thompson vise - had to borrow that kind of money from dad back then, but he was a good sport. I still have that vise too, nostalgic old fart that I am.
  21. Thanks guys. The thin stuff for closets is what I used - too far to a proper lumber yard, so I picked up what Home Depot had. It was a bit expensive for what you get, but then I didn't have to spend time driving to Albuquerque, resawing the boards, and then planing them to 1/4" or 3/8". Its getting so the time is worth more to me than saving $20. This stuff is a little under 1/4", and it isn't quite dry enough for working, so I let it sit a week. I have a small can of cedar oil too in case it ever smells less than cedaricious in there - I've had the can for years but I think Home Depot sells that too. I used to get bug problems storing stuff in ziplocs. I think it was cheap capes too - back in the day that was all I bought. The worst was capes off my own chickens and turkey quills I saved - but those weren't stored with the rest of my materials so I just pitched them. Too bad about the quills, those were nice. Should have remembered the borax, I forgot that was a good insecticide at the time.
  22. I knocked this out in a couple hours, fun project and smells good too. Don't know if it will keep the bugs away from my feathers, but figure its worth a shot. Cedar is a bit of a pain to work, but it came out ok for quick and dirty work.
  23. Can anyone order from McMaster-Carr? I thought they only sold to commercial businesses. I buy from them all the time. Its Grainger that is (or used to be?) funny about dealing with businesses only.
  24. Man, are vises every fun! I still have my Thompson A that my dad bought me in 1980 at Eddie's Flies in Bangor, Me. Cost $28 new, doesn't seem like much now, but it was an impossible sum to me then. Here's a nice collection of vintage vises: http://www.tackletreasures.com/fly-tying-vises Most do appear to be variations on jewelers vises. The vise is kind of the symbol of tying flies, there is an amazing array of examples to collect and appreciate, especially in the last 20 years or so.
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