storing materails

[weissev 0]

hi all since i started tying about 4 yrs. ago whan i'm out and i see something for tying i would get it so after a while i got a little bit of stuff gathered.some i use a lot some i don't. how do you store your materails and keep track of what you have thanks for any help

 

 

ernie

[Steeldrifter 0]

The stuff i dont use very often i like to keep in a sealed tupperware contanier and label whats in it. My materials i use alot i keep in a 2 sided large "fishing" kit so i can not only get to it easy but i can take it with me on trips.

 

SD

[Guest]

I have 3 boxes, all about the same size as a shoe box. One has stuff I use alot in it. One has stuff that I use sometimes. And one has stuff I very rarely use, but might use. Hope this helps you. Tight lines and good tyin!-redneck

[SDHflyfisher 0]

i just turned our old computer desk into my tying desk so i have plenty of room

 

when traveling i put what i use the most into a tackle box

[Jayhawk Jeff 0]

I use 2 short carts of plastic drawers that I got at office depot and have the materials sorted by type and the drawers labeled. I also use a thread rack that I got at the sewing store. Some of the drawer labels are: hackle, feathers, hair, fur, chenille&yarn, foam, synthetics. Then I get a loaded kit in "The Bag" for travel reasons

[Parahopper 0]

I also use the plastic drawer method, but augment it with a peg board behind the table. I use ziplock bags and clip them to pegs with metal clamps. I use this mainly for feathers, and the drawers for fur. Additionally, I have about six cigar boxes with smaller materials (thread in one, tinsel/lead/wire, hooks, bead heads and body materials such as quills, etc., and one for those must have tools and gadgets that never quite make it in to every day tying. Now, if I can only get organized...

 

Para

[Guest]

I got a plastic 7 drawer thing at Wally World for about $15.

[Guest]

I didn't think that the Royal Family shopped at Wal-Mart

[Guest]

We don`t! LOL! j/p! Tight lines and good tyin!-redneck

[Guest]

I have shoe boxes, plastic drawers and part of an old card catalog from the local library.

Regards less of what I use, I have found the best way for me to keep my material organized is to keep specific types of materials together.

 

Example, I keep all my Chenille together, all my Marabou together, all my egg pattern material together. Any material I have 6 or more colors of gets it own space. Other limited material goes in to a drawer/box labeled simply as body material, tailing material etc. All hackle is kept separate dry fly, wet fly and saddle hackle has its own separate drawer. Material I use the most often stays on the desk, all other material gets stored under the desk. Any thing on a spool goes in to a plastic container that has individual squares for each spool.

 

The hardest part for me to organize were my hooks. I used to keep them in the container they came in. This was a bad system, I would not be able to find my 9671 size 12, I would go out and buy more. Turns out I had them all along. I now use a plastic container that has 12 individual spaces with a flip top lid. Took a sharpie and labeled the hook number and size. Now I know exactly what I have and know when to actually replace something. I only got this organized a few months ago, and let me tell you it was the best thing I ever did. I am sure I will modify as I get more material, at least I have something to build on.

 

I trip to a craft store is valuable for a fly tier, not only can you get material. You can find neat things to store your material and hook in.

[Guest]

Queen Mum has always looked for a bargain, just take a look at dad for proof.

[Guest]

i am using a computer desk.... it has two very large and deep filing cabinet drawers...... I have it full of files and in them there are my materials.... each one labelled so i can read it without pulling it out and so i don't have to peek inside.

 

steve

[Guest]

I use the plastic file cabinet, the flip top pill containers for hooks, a shoebox, 3 Plano boxes, and the entire surface of my tying tables! I thought about taking a picture of this mess, but it might lower y'all's already tremendously high regard for me.

[Guest]

Ok, will put my .02 here lol.

 

First, hook organization. Get the Umpqua hook boxes. Rounded bottoms and you can label the lid where everything is. But you can easily get by the Plano type boxes (3600, 3700). Make a paper label for top of box and tape it in.

 

Onto materials. This is one thing I can't stress well enough. Always, and I mean ALWAYS keep them in the zip lock bags if you can. Even in the tupperware/rubbermaid bins. What happens, they don't truly seal air tight. So bugs, like small moths, can get in and eat away at pelts/hides. Learned this the hard way like 20 years ago when I started. Second, if you get skins/capes from friends who hunt, ALWAYS, I mean ALWAYS keep them in their own ziplocks and make sure they are sealed. Most non professionally worked materials can contain bugs. One pelt mixing in can damage them all.

 

Here's what you can do, and what I will do once I have my new house with my own den. Have a pegboard above an open desk. Have all your bagged materials hanging on hooks out in front of you. Then, have racks (you can buy very cheap spool racks at craft stores like micheals, jo ann fabrics, etc for a mear fraction of the cost you'll pay for a fly tyers rack) for all your tinsels/threads. This way, all area accessible, and easily seen. Right now, looks nice the setup of my roll top. But is cumbersome when it comes to searching for stuff in drawers or in the open slots overhead. But is nice when company comes over and you can shut the desk up. But if you can, buy smaller rubbermaids. Just big enough to sort all the different materials if possible. That way you can label each and grab what you need. But, if you don't have enough to fill smaller ones, get one bigger one and make a file system on bottom. Take corrugated (cardboard for those laymen lol, I used to work at a corrugated box factory before I worked for UPS), and make slots about half of the rubbermaid height. They'll make small cubicles for certain items. Then take another corrugated box, and make it to sit on top of it with handles. That way you can pickup the big box on top with handles (which has similar filing system in it) to get to the bottom. LOL Hope that wasn't too much for you to think about. I had to do this when I first moved out of parents house around 19.

[Steeldrifter 0]

never really thought about the ziplock bags SH69 but that is a good idea....most of my hackle is average price stuff but i have a few i wouldn't want anything to happen too. think i will do that just to be on the safe side.

 

SD