Fly Head Cement prices!?!?!?

[Philly 0]

Since I do a lot of foam flies,  I browse the craft stores for materials.   The only thing I end up buying is the foam.  I've never been impressed by the feathers or marabou that I've found there.  If I find permanent markers or paint pens on sale I'll buy them.  Chenille can be found in various sizes and colors, but for me one skein is several life times of supply.  So I don't buy it.  I've brought UV resin, but the UV lights I have don't cure it very well.  The only threads I buy are the metallic ones and a clear polyester thread, that's become my main tying thread.  

Head cement, when I first started tying I used clear nail polish, but one day I opened one of my boxes and it reeked of nail polish.  Not sure whether smell impacts the effectiveness of the fly, but I stopped using it.  A quick head cement is super glue, just a light coat on the thread when you wrap it.  It may not be as shiny as you want but it does the job and since I'm whip finished challenge, the head doesn't come apart.  I tie several flies that required epoxy bodies, for example, surf candies.  The best I could do with 5 minute epoxy was rotate the fly in the vise, or build a rotating fly dryer, which I did, but often the heads came out lopsided.  I was actually happy when I discovered UV resin.  It made life a lot easier for me. 

The vise I use cost me $80 when I brought it 15 years ago.  It's the second one I've brought of that particular brand, the first one lasted 17 years.  It's full rotary and I've tied flies ranging from size 32 to 6/0 with it.  Nothing fancy but it does the job.

Hooks, that's the one thing I'm willing to spend some money on.  I don't want to hand sharpen a hook.  I want it sharp right out of the box.  I use Eagle Claw, and many of the hooks for my bass and panfish flies come from non-fly fishing sources.  When I was tying trout flies, size 12 to 32,  I had to buy from fly shops or fly catalogs, since I seldom tie anything smaller than a size 6 these days that's no longer an issue.  Though I still buy "special" styles from fly catalogs.

Feathers-  Bugs got into my necks and some were pretty chewed up, the others were just old.  My sister gives me gift cards to a local fly shop for my birthday and Christmas.  I used them to pick up  two Whiting half necks, a grizzly and a cream.  If I need another color, I'll find the permanent marker in my collection that matches it.  I still buy schlappen and saddle hackles if I need them.   I stripped the usable feathers off of the old and the chewed up necks.  Sorted them by color and size,  put them in plastic straws.  Mothballed them and bagged them.   I've been given duck, grouse, quail, Guinea hen, pheasant, parrot and chicken feathers which I can use for trout flies if I need them.  I would suggest you buy one good neck/saddle, and you can always pick up the cheap Chinese necks/saddles.  I don't do much hunting anymore, but all I'd end up with is squirrel which I really don't use.  I don't do roadkill.

To me the most important of the "tools" are the hooks.  

[DWSmith 0]

Good info.

When it comes to bugs in the feathers/fur can you just zipper bag them and stick them in a freezer for a couple of days and that kills all the bugs?

[Philly 0]

 

27 minutes ago, DWSmith said:

When it comes to bugs in the feathers/fur can you just zipper bag them and stick them in a freezer for a couple of days and that kills all the bugs?

I've heard that is an effective way to kill all the bugs.  I normally stored my feathers and furs in plastic containers with mothballs or cedar balls.  Apparently I hadn't renewed them.  In this case the necks were old, the skins oily and it wasn't worth the effort to wash them in a soft detergent.   The only reason I checked them was I spotted what I call "food moths" flying in my tying area.  So I just stripped the useable feathers and tossed the remains in the trash.  Not sure where they came from.  It was the first infestation I've had in all the years I've been tying.  I'll blame it on climate change.  It definitely cleared out some storage space. 

[SilverCreek 0]

2 hours ago, DWSmith said:

Good info.

When it comes to bugs in the feathers/fur can you just zipper bag them and stick them in a freezer for a couple of days and that kills all the bugs?

This won't work IF the bugs have already laid eggs. The freezer will kill the live bugs but the eggs will survive freezing. Then the eggs will hatch some time after you take the materials out of the freezer.

 

[Jaydub 0]

3 hours ago, DWSmith said:

Good info.

When it comes to bugs in the feathers/fur can you just zipper bag them and stick them in a freezer for a couple of days and that kills all the bugs?

1 hour ago, SilverCreek said:

This won't work IF the bugs have already laid eggs. The freezer will kill the live bugs but the eggs will survive freezing. Then the eggs will hatch some time after you take the materials out of the freezer.

 

I have been told the correct process is:

1. Put the materials in the freezer for a period of time (I think one week?)

2. Take them out and leave them at room temperature for long enough for any eggs to hatch (up to 10 days). 

3. Put them back in the freezer for another week. 

Or just moth balls or crystals.

 

 

[Poopdeck 0]

11 hours ago, DWSmith said:

Poopdeck,

As long as it can catch a fish I'm okay with it but I do admire the skills of many flytiers here.  I've asked before if some of the flies shown are really used for fishing or are just for display. They are works of art!

But many of the other flies shown here are the products of ingenuity, creativity, knowledge, and experience and show what works well without breaking the bank.  Show me more!  👍

No doubt, some of these guys are insanely good at tying flies and I frequent this site because I enjoy looking at what they do. I’m not one of them.  I post my flies as a sort of encouragement for others who may or may not feel that their flies compare to the true expertly tied flies churned out by some on a daily basis here. There’s room here for all levels and types of tiers to post and enjoy, even us sometimes misunderstood cheap skates

[Sandan 0]

Only use the stuff on salmon flies for that glossy finish. For trout flies, I just throw a 4 or 5 turn whip finish.  Never had a problem with the head unravelling.

[Gene L 0]

Quote

 

Go to the dollar store and get a bottle of nail varnish, and a bottle of nail polish remover.  A single bottle of varnish lasts a long, long time.  If I were a production fly tyer, I might get the quart of poly, but I don't use that much varnish.  Dollar Store has lots of cheap stuff, and some of it can be helpful in fly tying.

Toluene is what they use for in dry cleaning.  It's also a solvent that works on rubber cement components , but plain polish remover is good for lacquer.