Mounting flies in shadow boxes.

[Hopper John 0]

Does anyone have a good methode of mounting flies in a shadow box? I've tried pins, didn't work very well. I've tried glueing a post to the back of the box and sticking the hook through the post. It didn't work too bad except the large flies had to be glued at the hook to keep them from tipping over. And the all thoes posts made the box look crowded. All suggestions would be welcome.

 

Thanks

John

[Bruce Derington 0]

depends on the size fly your working with. the classic guys are using small cones (for the posts or stand offs) then they poke small hole in matting and run a very thin wire through cone and around hook. Some use silicone and set the fly into it, some use small plastic dowels drill small hole on matting and in the dowel, insert tip of hook into small hole then dowel into matting hole then glue

[flytire 0]

small corks used to work, dont see a reason they wouldnt work now

[TxEngr 0]

Take a look at Bugle Beads which are a clear glass bead available at the craft store. Using a drill or punch slightly smaller than your bead, make holes in locations you've previously marked for the hook eye and the bend of the hook.. Then slide the bugle bead into the holes with one end flush with the backing. Now using very fine tippit material (5x-7x) hook the bend of the hook and the eye and slide the tippit through the hole in the beads. Pull tight on the tippit which pulls the fly into position. Once everything looks good, temporarily tape the tippit on the back of the backing material and apply a small drop of superglue to firmly affix the tippit to the bugle bead. Leave the tape just to keep the tippit out of the way. Now finish the mounting. The beads are clear and barely visible. The fine tippit doesn't show up at all. Here's an example of a fly mounted this way.

 

TxEngr