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Fly Tying
DWSmith

It depends upon how you look at it.

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Friday I got my marching orders from SWMBO, "Get your fly tying stuff off of the dining table!"  So be it.

We live out in the country and only have company on Sundays, holidays, and birthdays and they're always family (by blood or by marriage) members.  My stuff was portable so I could easily move everything off the dining table on those days but no more. It was a blessing.

I thought about moving my fly tying to the basement but I have more time for that activity during the winter and sitting in the unfinished basement during the winter without a well-heated room doesn't sound too pleasant so I rearranged my closet sized office (on the main floor) and have room on my desk to set things up.  I had to move my computer from my desk to the top of a little night stand I store my office supplies in.

Now I have the chore of bringing everything back upstairs from the basement which wouldn't be a big deal but I'm somewhat handicapped. It will be worth it!

I dismissed the idea of buying a fly tying station but my birthday is next month and I'm rethinking buying one since I now have a permanent location.

At first I was annoyed at being banished from the dining table but now I'm very pleased.  Like I said in the subject line, it depends upon how you look at it.

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I followed the same routine when I first started tying.  Dining room table, everything broken down and stored when I was done.  Got tired of that, so moved to the basement, using a small table in my work area.  Same problem as you: not heated in the winter, got too cold. So ended up buying a small desk that fit into the room we use as an office.  At first the desk draws held everything I had, and the small plastic bins fit perfectly in the draws.  Of course, that didn't last for long.  With kids slowly moving out, a little extra space became available in the closet.  I got bigger plastic bins and plastic, stacked drawers stored in the closet to  keep things organized as the material I needed somehow grew and grew.  And here I am.  

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I started out using a desk that I used for school work when I was in grade school and high school.  It was in my bedroom and it was bit tight.  I used that for almost 20 years.  After my mom passed in 2009.  I cleaned out the front room, which was her bedroom,  on the second floor.  I took over her dressing table after I removed the mirror as my tying desk.  There were two chest of drawers that I reserved for tying materials.  Added a couple of plastic storage drawers,  a small bookcase for my tying books, a rod rack, two small tables to hold odds and ends.  This is what it looks like.

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What you can't see is another desk next to the rod rack, a small table behind the trash can, and a converted entertainment center used for more storage against the wall opposite the windows.  Ya'll want to rent some space?  Before you ask I'm not married.

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My tying room is painted pink and has flowered wallpaper and I advised someone if she is thinking about moving back it would be on the couch 😁. But I didn't repaint or make permanent changes just in case I have to put a wood stove in the shed.

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My "tying station" was home made.  I made it fit in a 90" closet.  

Clean desk 2_16.JPG

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I’m in the basement. Half is finished half is not. I’m in the unfinished side or what my wife calls the scary side. I love it. It’s secluded, quiet, contains every piece of fishing gear I own minus my boat. If it’s cold I wear a sweat shirt. I also have a space heater but it’s rarely so cold that it’s needed. 

basement.jpeg

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My first tying setup was a folding TV tray table that I would set up in my living room, on which I’d put a portable fly tying station that I had made.  It actually worked fine, as far as tying goes, but had to be set up and taken down each time.  And there was very little room for materials storage.  I used an old wader box to keep most of my materials in.  Of course, this eventually becomes insufficient.

At some point, I decided a roll top desk was the best way to go for me. The pic below is what it looked like when it was still  relatively neat, LOL.  Of course, storage eventually becomes a problem as your collection of materials grows.  I find I spend about half my tying time trying to come up with better ways to organize my stuff.

 

 

 

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Another minor complication is that we have cats.

I got up one morning and had a heck of a time finding my one and only bobbin holder and the spool of thread that had been on it.  Tinker, a.k.a., Stinker, goes around the house at night and runs tests on gravity.  She scoots items off of counters and table tops to makes sure they fall.  Then she bats them around on the floor.  So, while my stuff was on the dining table or in the basement I needed to put everything away after use.  Now I just close my office door when I'm not there.  I have since ordered and received to more bobbin holders just in case.

Gadabout mentioned making a fly tying station.  The thought of buying a pre-made one just goes against my grain.  I think I'll have to make my own.  There are some really nice DIY stations shown on this site.  Plus, how does a commercial manufacturer of stations know which products and tools I use and design a station that will fit everyone's needs?  Round bottles of head cement vs. square bottles, extremely fine tipped scissors vs. broader tipped scissors, skinny tubes of dubbing wax vs. fat tubes, the variations go on and on. There's no big hurry for me and I can make several attempts at making modules of my own at almost no expense other than a bit of time.

Anyway, I got my stuff lugged back up from the basement yesterday afternoon and after rearranging my office Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning I have it set up the way I want it.  I think things are going to work out very well.  I'm still glad I got banished from the dining table!  :D (Pictures to follow?)

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