Make your own dubbing?

[Blackotter 0]

How many people make their own dubbing?

 

I have the Tying Caddisflies dvd with Gary Lafontaine and he just trims antron yarn to make dubbing for some of his flies so I was wondering if people did that?

[deeky 0]

Every time I brush the dog.

 

I also got a bad back of crosscut rabbit strips one time. Now, I just reach into the bag and pull out a little fur when I need it. Never even had to cut it from the hide.

 

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi Blackotter,

 

Yes, I make all of my own dubbing - synthetic as well as natural. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

[Inconnu 0]

Gosh about 20 years ago, I started to play with that. I believe the recipe was to chop up whatever you were going to mix, add a little liquid detergent and blend then rinse.

I tried it with alot of stuff and then I came up with some wolf hair that I wanted to use. I worked out at an oil production camp in Northeastern British Columbia at the time. I took the blender, mixed in the wolf and some other stuff and did the old 123 on it. I took the results out and set the blender aside to be washed when I did dishes.

About an hour later I was in the T,V, room when a summer student came in with a milkshake. I didn't clue in until he started wretching and gagging. I looked up and he had a big ball of hair/stuff hanging from his mouth.

Somewhere there is a lesson in this, just was never sure who's it was.

[Guest]

Here is a good article Ralf wrote on the subject a while back: http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/page/march2006/138

[Streamside 0]

I experimented or babbled in making my own dubbing blends . I say that lightly because I only did to satisfy my own curiosity and I didn't have the ambition nor the patience to pursue the project very far. I tried dry mixing using a coffee hand grinder and I also tried the wet method using a Proctor Sillex mini processor. The later ended up being the better of the two methods, but in all honesty I found both to be a pain in the :butt: and take more of my time and patience than they where worth so I quickly nipped that in the :butt: and went back to buying dubbing blocks.

 

 

Proctor Silex Mini Chop is great for blending, dying or bleaching.

 

[Inconnu 0]

I agree, I think that back when the thought was introduced, there was less of a selection than there is now. I don't make my own anymore, though I may blend a couple of different dubbing colours once in awhile.

[Streamside 0]

I agree, I think that back when the thought was introduced, there was less of a selection than there is now. I don't make my own anymore, though I may blend a couple of different dubbing colours once in awhile.

 

 

Same here. Now you can buy just about any dubbing blend texture or color you will ever need.

[stony 0]

I also buy dubbing. I have made a couple of nymphs pulling some fur off of my daughters rabbit.

[Jedicazador 0]

I see this is a few years old but still valuable.

Yes I make my own dubbing, I run a trap line and often have furs that don't make the grade, They get used for fishing, grey fox red fox coyote, mink. Skunk, ground hog, raccoon, possum, beaver, squirrels. I get other critters too like bobcat and river otter but they don't get used for fishing I also raise rabbits for food and keep all the hides to mix in. I figure I have enough raw dubbing materials to start dying them to make batched mixes.

Just got into dubbing brushes and have been experimenting with them. There is a lot to be said of hot melt glue too I love to use it to build bodies it sinks very good and holds everything together so well.

[RogueFlies 0]

I have a zip lock bag of trimmings of rabbit, deer, some flash, marabou and other natural trimmings that I plan on blending in the processor and seeing how it goes

[RickZieger 0]

I use two pet brushes. like carding brushes. to make small amounts f dubbing.

I get some colors not commercially available.

 

Rick

[P-Quad 0]

Oh yeah, I make my own dubbing all of the time. I have a cheaper coffee grinder/blender that works perfect. It's like 25 years old by now. When I lived in ND I had a friend who was a taxidermist, so I have a great selection of fur. I also have an assortment of seal and angora goat in many colors, very blendable. I have about every color of Aunt Lydia's rug and crafty yarn, perfect for making synthetic dubbing blends. I use it all the time to quickly make the blend and color I want. Add some Crystal flash to give it some sparkle, no problem.

 

I wouldn't be without it.

 

Mark

[1hook 0]

Is there a particular yarn that is good used as a base when mixing with naturals? I'm thinking to add color

[P-Quad 0]

I use Aunt Lydia's, but I think they stopped making it. It was kind of like Antron in that it added some sparkle. I would go to the craft store and see what they have that looks similar to Antron, with some sparkle. I'll have to look and see what they have available here.

 

Rule #1 in fly tying materials, if you find something you really like, they will quit making it.

 

Mark