BEGINNER NEEDS HELP

[mikentn 0]

:help: WHILE TYING SOMETIMES MY BOBBIN SPINS. OFTEN

TIMES MY THREAD WILL BREAK SOON AFTER. AM I

DOING SOMETHING WRONG OR WHAT.......?

[Ephemerella 0]

Nothing wrong.

 

That being said, what you have discovered as a new tyer is that some manipulation of the thread can be performed by letting it spin, or untwist when hanging freely. As you observed, it makes the thread more fragile. However, it also can be used to make the thread flatter! That is, a flat or oval cross section. That is good when less bulk is desired but wide coverage is, such as tying smaller flies, or tying in tricky materials such as golden pheasant crest.

 

Conversely, spinning the bobbin the other way tightens the thread making more of a round cross section.

 

My guess is you are using Danville 6/0 (probably the most common thread), which is spun nylon, and exhibits these properties more than others.

 

If this bothers you, a few options. First, get a wooden clothes pin and put it on your vise stem. When the bobbin is hanging, say, when you are preparing more materials, swing the clothes pin in the way and the bobbin will rest against it. Second, spin the bobbin back. Third, ignore it. After a few years it won't bother as much. Think of it like rabbits next to the runways at an airport. Fourth, change brands of thread. Uni-thread is fused polyester, which does not untwist as much, being fused after being twisted...or at least it behaves that way. But of course you lose the ability to change thread shape by twisting. So this is not something I would do / have done.

 

As far as thread breakage, what is likely happening is the thread is rubbing against the hook point when you are tying in tailing or a tag, and the thread hangs right over the sharp edge of the hook point. The best advice is to be careful. Do not catch the thread on the hook point when wrapping thread. Try leaving less distance between the end of your bobbin and the hook shank, say no more than an inch.

 

Another cause of breakage is too little (!!) tension on the bobbin, where you are constantly winding it in and out of the bobbin, rubbing it against the inside of the bobbin tube and your fingers, slowly damaging the fibers of the thread until it frays and breaks.

 

Speaking of fingers, are yours rough? Many folks who work outdoors, or even just spend a day outdoors in the winter find their skin is dried, rough, and when touching fly-tying materials, like sand paper. If you don't believe me, take some rayon floss, clamp it in your vise or tie it on a hook, and rub your fingers on it. It will fray! Thread will too!. Use hand cream, but be sure it has fully absorbed and the excess completely removed before tying, maybe even washed off, or your materials will be dirty, and smell of the perfume used in this stuff.

 

Also, be sure to use a ceramic bobbin, or one with a ceramic "donut" at the tip. These cost more, say about $10 instead of a metal tube bobbin for $4, but well worth it. The metal edge may have a tiny burr which catches the thread, first fraying it, then...twanggg...breaking it.

 

So, try some of these. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. A little work and you'll have these solved.

 

-Ephemerella

 

[mb82 0]

Funny thing about the Ceramic Bobbin. I still use the bobbin that my kit came with 12+ years ago, it is not ceramic and I don't get thread breakages. I have had the suggestion a few times in the past month and I just don't see the need.

 

I think tension is a big problem with the spinning factor. When I overtension my bobbin I always have spinning, try opening up your bobbin just a little by stretching it before you put your spool on.

[greifs 0]

Being new, I also had this problem. My problem was that I would pull out a length of thread from the bobbin and wind the thread onto the hook. My bobbin was always at different lengths from the hook. My bobbin was too tight so it didn't gradually come out on each turn but kept the same spot of thread at the end of the bobbin. With the thread (Danville Flat waxed Nyon) unwound, It breaks a little easier. I think I just repeated what Ephemerella and mb82 said, but it's not often I get to jump in with a possible solution.