Sizing hackle

[Scud 0]

I read an article from Ak Best about your tying bench. In the article he says he has his hackle all sizes by size and color in seperate containers. I'm curious if he sits down with a neck and sizes every feather one by one? That would take a long time.

 

I know it would be faster to tie with in the long run but that would take a few hours for 1 neck. Is there anyone our there that does this or knows how he does it? Thanks for the info. Jeremy

[rstout 0]

Jeremy,

 

I have ziplock bags of hackle that I have sized and separated. I do not do a whole saddle or neck but a couple dozen feathers of each color at a time. When I have used all of that size or get down to the last few, I size some more. It makes tying faster and it doesn't really take that long to separate them.

[rockworm 0]

It can be a bit awkward to size hackle on the skin. Especially the smaller sizes on a cape. So I will pluck a few dozen feathers from the right area and, using a hackle gauge, separate them by size and store them in ZipLoc snack bags. I keep these in a larger ZipLoc with the cape they came from. (I rarely pluck an entire cape at one sitting- too boring.) But I do think it is more time-effective to size a good quantity all at once than to go hunting for the right size every time I need a couple of feathers.

[Scud 0]

Thanks rstout and Rockworm. I think I'll start sizing them while watching tv with the family. Good idea.

[flytire 0]

it would make sense for commercial tyers like ak best to take the time to size up hackles because he ties dozens at a time (or used to), but for the rest of us non commercial tyers it doesnt seem necessary. at least for me. i dont need to make money tying flies nor do i sit and tie dozens of dry flies at a time.

[Stippled Popper 0]

OOPS!!!.

[Stippled Popper 0]

I read an article from Ak Best about your tying bench. In the article he says he has his hackle all sizes by size and color in seperate containers. I'm curious if he sits down with a neck and sizes every feather one by one? That would take a long time.

 

I know it would be faster to tie with in the long run but that would take a few hours for 1 neck. Is there anyone our there that does this or knows how he does it? Thanks for the info. Jeremy

 

What you say is pretty much what I remember him having written in his book on production fly tying. However, I'll bet that given his depth of experience,

he could do the task in significantly less time.

[flytyer166 0]

if you are a commercial tyer, sizing a whole saddle at a time is not unreasonable. i have not seen anybody actually size and package certain sizes on a neck, because the feathers are in size order. if you dont tie commercially, a few dozen at a time is fine. i tie commercially so i normally find myself sizing two or more whole saddles when i get my hands on them. my two cents

[Scud 0]

I wish I could find a saddle right now to buy.