Acrylic pegs for show box

[day5 0]

I have some acrylic pegs for a shadow box that I'm doing for my dad how do I use them how do I attach the hooks????? any one have a pic that I can see???? 0ther wise Ill just use corks

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Oh God no! Please stay away from cork. Acrylic pegs look better by far.

 

First things first, the matt and the backing for the matt. Choose you matt, preferably acid free archival mattboard. A bit more expensive but worth the cost in the long run. Then back this up with at least 3/8" foam core. My preference. Glue together with a spay adhesive like Super 77 as you will never have to worry about them separating. Then carefully plot out where you wish to place the flies. Actually lay them on the matt as this will help to give you a better understanding of propper or eye catching placement vs. going with specific measurements. This will allow you to find a nice balance without sacrifing it to hard measurements. Be flexible. Once in the place you want them, use a very fine mechanical or very sharp reular pencil to mark, on the "underside" of the hook where the barb point meets the hook. Make sure you remember which fly goes where. Possibly a digital photograph. Then, very carefully use a drill with a bit one size smaller than the acrylic rod and drill out the holes. This is important, remember the old saying "you cut more wood off but not put it back"? Same concept. We are usually talking about 1/64" to 1/32" in drill bit diameters. Not enough to ruin the matt board, but again, make sure the bit is smaller in diameter than the rod! Make sure you drill through the entire matt board and foam core. Cut your rods to length you want. The next steps do not have to be taken in the order I specify, but it does make things easier. Mix up some clear drying 5 minute epoxy. You will use a tiny drop of this to connect the fly to the rod. let dry, preferably overnight. Then place rod, with fly on it, through the hole and add more epoxy on the back side and let dry. Viola! However, if you wish to add text under the fly, I would suggest adding the text prior to attaching the fly and rod to the matt. Questions, please PM me.

 

Steelie

[day5 0]

got it ill play with some plain hooks and card board first. I was going to lay out the flies on a piece of card bard to plot them out mark there spot and then transfer the spots to the backing. the drill bit makes sense

[day5 0]

I tested the eopxy that works I need to come up with a system so I do not waste a ton of epoxy maybe a styrofoam jig or something. Im waithing on a few flies to get finished at this point.

[Guest]

I lay out the fly arrangement on the back side of the board. Remember that you have to think backwards when laying it out. I then mark where the rod is to be and poke a pilot hole through with a dubbing needle. Then flip the board over and use an awl to poke a hole through to a size slightly smaller than the acrylic rod.

 

I mount the rods in the board and level the hole with a dubbing needle. Then I mount the flies with a drop of clear epoxy in the rod. After the epoxy has hardened I will eyeball the mounted flies again to make sure they're level. Then I superglue the rods to the backing on the rear of the board.

 

Ths method has worked very well for me, I can mount a half dozen flies in a frame in a half hour. Here is a set I mounted last month using this method.

 

[day5 0]

thanks that looks easy enough..... thanks for the ideas I will be posting pic of my " dads" fly box when I get it done.. I should have it done by the end of the month....

[CapeBSalar 0]

Awesome looking set of flies Paul!!!

[WYKnot 0]

I second the notion, beautiful flies and mount.

[Mr. McGinty 0]

Where did you find the acrylic pegs? I built a shadow box but hadn't figured out away to mount the flies. The acrylic pegs sound better than the wooden pegs or dowels I was thinking about using.

[Guest]

Do an ebay search for "acrylic rods". I bought 4, 1/8" dia. x 3 ft. long for $4 a couple of months ago.

[Mr. McGinty 0]

I've bought everything else on E-bay, I don't know why I didn't think of looking on there

Thanks

[halcyon 0]

There is a much simplier method that my son developed for some fly plates our club did. After 10+ years every fly and post is still attached as originally installed. This method will work with metal, acrylic, and my preferred post material, white styrene cheaply purchased at model building hobby shops.

 

Simply purchase a bottle of Sobo brand fabric glue from a craft store.

 

Decide where you want the flies (you can just lay them out and then mount them one at a time without moving the rest.

 

Cut your posts to the length you desire.

 

dip the tip of a post into the sobo so you have a small drop on the end of the post.

 

Place the glue containing end of the post on the matt where you want it to go and hold it for about 10 seconds.

 

Place a drop of sobo on the other end of the post

 

Place the fly in the position you desire with the body of the fly against the post and hold for about 10 seconds.

 

Do the rest of the flies the same way.

 

by gluing the post to the body of the fly you completely hide the post. Since these flies most likely are not to be taken off to fish the fact that there is glue on the back side of the fly does not matter.

 

here is a quick poor quality shot of one such mounted fly plate done in 1995.

 

 

Regards,

[Guest]

I think your method will work great for small flies, but I doubt if it will work with a large full dressed salmon fly.

[halcyon 0]

Troutbum,

 

Here is a real radical idea, possibly you should try it before you offer uninformed opinions about it.

 

Regards,