Black Widow

[DevinKaradeema 0]

I need to give you all props for tying realistics!! this took 6 hours and a dictionary of swear words and i learned a great lesson.... do not over heat the bodkin, your legs will fall off :wallbash:

 

 

 

[arkle 0]

Nice patten. To save your angst, get a cauterizer with replaceable batteries, then fit some slightly run down ones in it or 2 new & 1 nearly flat battery. That won't get to hot, whilst it will still work fine. It'll save loads of messing around with lighters, all you need do is push a button & practice on a few legs first before you start tying so that you can get the time & distance bang on.

[DrVette 0]

The heated legs take some time to learn...I am STILL trying to get it down my-self. I do a lot of beatles with those legs and still get about half of them with 5 or 5 1/2 legs. I do find using a candle helps get better consistency in the heating...i also use a thicker wig pin and barely pass it over the flame to pick up less heat. Since it is thicker it retains more heat and if you get in a rush it doesn't cool completely between passes making the next one just a little too hot. When i remember i dunk it in a shot glass of water before each pass to help even it out...like i said, WHEN i remember.

Keep at it. You will start to get the feel of that critical moment when it starts to bend toward the pin.

[rockworm 0]

Very nice spider. I hope your wife wasn't sending you one of those subliminal messages!

 

Because I have also lost a few legs to the hot needle, I am now in the process of building my own cauterizing tool specifically for bending legs. The first prototype works well. But I want to improve it by incorporating a variable resistor to regulate the heat and a shield so I can focus the heat on a smaller area.

 

Anyone out there know where I can obtain a small ceramic cone, more or less the size and shape of the front one or two inches of a ball point pen? (The tapered tube part; not the retractable ball point bit)? I'd be happy to trade a few inches of nichrome wire for such a thing.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

looks good here

[DrVette 0]

Anyone out there know where I can obtain a small ceramic cone, more or less the size and shape of the front one or two inches of a ball point pen? (The tapered tube part; not the retractable ball point bit)? I'd be happy to trade a few inches of nichrome wire for such a thing.

I don't know if it is exactly what you are looking for but Dremil Tools make tips very similar to what you describe. Try your local hardware store's Dremill rack? They are grinding tips with a metal rod through them to act as heat sink... :dunno:

 

If it works out for you how would you feel about making a second one i could buy from you?

[British mike 0]

As you all know I tie a few realistics and have never used a hot bodkin /needle. I use the finest pair of tweezers with the points filed down and heat in a candle. I find with the heated tweezers I can bend the joints to exactly the angle I want for the particular pattern.

Hope this helps

 

Mike

[rockworm 0]

Anyone out there know where I can obtain a small ceramic cone, more or less the size and shape of the front one or two inches of a ball point pen? (The tapered tube part; not the retractable ball point bit)? I'd be happy to trade a few inches of nichrome wire for such a thing.

I don't know if it is exactly what you are looking for but Dremil Tools make tips very similar to what you describe. Try your local hardware store's Dremill rack? They are grinding tips with a metal rod through them to act as heat sink... :dunno:

 

If it works out for you how would you feel about making a second one i could buy from you?

 

Thanks for the suggestion, DrVette. I know the Dremel attachments you mention. Unfortunately, it has to be hollow, something like the tip of an eydropper- which might work, if I can find a glass one of the right size. Or maybe I can find some ceramic beads with the right shape. I think a tube of asbestos would also work. If I keep looking I will find something that will work.

[Flytyer14 0]

I don't see a pic?

[Andrés T 0]

I use a cheap pencil soldering iron JBC. Expensive ones allow you to regulate temperature.

 

www.jbctools.com

 

Hope to be of any help.

 

Andrés T.