rope dubbing

[freddyg 0]

does anybody have information on rope dubbing? I have found many hits but no information on the "how to". I have found a dvd but before I buy it I wanted to know if you use it and how you like it. thanks freddyg

[Mr. Vegas 0]

check this out freddy

 

http://vimeo.com/3207607

[phg 0]

I used to visit a site that posted a lot of patterns and sponsored a lot of fly swaps. It was a "virtual" something or other, and I don't seem to have the link anymore. It may be gone. These free sites tend to have a short life.

 

Anyway, on that site, back about 8 or 10 years ago, they introduced what they called "rope dubbing." Since learning that technique, it what I use about 90% of the time. Here's how.

 

First, take a bit of the dubbing you want to use, and spin it between your fingers to create a length of yarn out of it. You will need about 2" for a size 12 hook. The strand should be no more than 1/16" thick, maybe less. With practice you'll learn how thick.

 

Next, having prepared your fly to the point where you want to add the dubbing, wind your tying thread to the tail, stopping short 1 or 2 winds. Slip the tip end of your dubbing yarn under the thread and take the last 2 turns over it to secure it in place.

 

Now pull your bobbin down to the table (I let it hang off the front), and add a dab of dubbing wax to the thread for the first 2" below the fly. Then bring the yarn down along side the waxed thread and twist the yarn around the thread in a counter clockwise direction. This will create the dubbing rope. Note, you are only twisting the dubbing, not the thread. Again, practice will show you how tight to twist the dubbing, but I make it fairly tight.

 

Now, holding the lower end of the dubbing rope, wrap the body in closely spaced turns. When you get to the front of the body, simply unwrap any unneeded dubbing from around the thread, and take a couple of turns with the thread over the end of the dubbing yarn to secure it. Clip the excess dubbing and you're done. The left over bit can usually be added to the next bit of yarn your create, so there is minimal waste.

 

I should mention that, while this can be done on a stationary vise, it is a lot easier to do on a rotary vise.

[oatka 0]

 

Same idea, but here's a picture of one a friend of mine made. He added a simple fan motor and a power switch. He hits the switch and in about 2.5 seconds it spins up perfectly and the wire breaks off. Simple simple simple.

[Mr. Vegas 0]

I wonder if I used say a computer fan? I have several of those.. or even a drill

[flytire 0]

check this out freddy

 

http://vimeo.com/3207607

 

i think your confusing a dubbing brush with rope dubbing

 

2 different things

 

rope dubbing

 

http://www.fantasyflies.com/rope_dubbing_flies.php

 

read phg's post on how to do it

[phg 0]

Thanks, Norm, yes, it was Don Ordes that introduced me to this technique. I use dubbing wax with fur dubbings, just because I like how it works up. I use the same technique with peacock herl, but with no wax. The wax is always optional.

[feathers5 0]

I read about rope dubbing and I still don't know what exactly it is. I think the guy wants you to buy the video that explains it.

Bruce

[BrianMyers 0]

phg,

Is that the same technique as a dubbing noodle? Second to last technique here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian

[Mr. Vegas 0]

check this out freddy

 

http://vimeo.com/3207607

 

i think your confusing a dubbing brush with rope dubbing

 

2 different things

 

rope dubbing

 

http://www.fantasyflies.com/rope_dubbing_flies.php

 

read phg's post on how to do it

 

you are right I did... Still learning

[phg 0]

Similar, but still different. The dubbing in the dubbing noodle isn't twisted into a yarn first. That's a pretty good site, though. Each technique produces a different effect.

[buggybob 0]

Rope dubbing is the technique that Polly Rosbourough used on all of his fuzzy nymphs if anyone has read his book. It makes for a very durable fly.

[BrianMyers 0]

Found this on the WayBack Machine

[phg 0]

Alright! The old Virtual Flybox. That's where I learned it. Byard Miller's old site.

[Runarsson 0]

I use the rope dub a lot. Don is a friend of mine and from pictures and explanations in emails I had learned the technique long before I bought the DVD. However, from the DVD I saw how much more moving pictures can give. I thought I "had it" quite good, but already in front of the TV I was sitting "Ahaaa"... "Aaaahhh"... "Oooookey"... and just KNEW that I would do it better the next time I got back into the tying room.

 

This method shouldn't be confused with spinning dubbing in a thread or wire loop. Like 'phg' says, it's all about "wrapping" dubbing around the thread/wire. (The best thing is to not even twisting the thread at all while preparing the rope, which is why Don promotes a slippery core, such as wire or monofilament). It's practically the same thing as you do when you make a 'peacock rope'... tying the tips in, twisting the herls around the thread and then dressing the hook shank. Only difference is that you're wrapping dubbing around the thread instead. The technique is cool and offers some neat advantages. Not only does it become easy to achieve nicely tapered segmented bodies...

 

(a couple of my own)

 

... but it also makes it easy to dub really hard dubbed materials, like 'Glass Web'

 

... and 'H2O Flash'

 

Those two were "extreme" experiments I did right after buying the DVD, when I discovered that I with this technique suddenly could make a rock hard (and segmented) body from my sticky squirrel dubbing (that until then only had given me headache).

 

You can also mix materials in many ways. In the following one (also a "just to try"-one, right after buying the DVD), the noodle is made in three parts with different colors of dubbing, with a saddle hackle wrapped around it. Then, the whole "package" has been wrapped together. The result is a segmented (not so obvious on the picture though) fly in three colors with a body hackle that is close to bullet proof. (Not the cutest I've done, but durable with a capital 'D'.)

 

I highly recommend the DVD. It "has" a lot inside it that will still leave lots of doors open for own creative ideas to take it further. He is also a very good instructor.

 

Here are some pictures from the VFB Rope Dub Swap that Don hosted not too long ago:

http://www.swedneckflyfishing.com/ropedub2010.htm

 

/Nick

 

PS.

PHD: The site you mention was the Virtual FlyBox, or the "VFB". It wasn't a free site. Byard was paying for it. I think it had something to do with the web host that made it shut down suddenly (early 2008). The VFB mailing list quickly returned to life again though and has since then been a Googlegroup.