Fly Tying Bench - hdsmokey

[Guest]

I have two major flaws. The first is that I am very cheap, so much so that my Wife refers to me as a little bird, cheap cheap cheap. The second is that I have a slight case of ADD and tend to wander off after the newness of something wears off. As a result, when I start a new venture, I try to go with what I can find laying around. Then if I find that I like whatever it is, I can then start to work in better things. Fly tying is mt newest venture. I soon found out that, if I wanted to give it an honest effort, I was going to need a tying station. I looked around the Net to see what I could get. That is when my cheap side darned near had a heart attack. It was all too clear that I was going to have to make one myself from whatever I could find laying around. I had an old particle-board drawing board in the basement, part of another failed ADD project. I then looked at all the stations here and picked out the features that I liked and sat down and sketched out the rough idea. I wanted to be able to sit in my easy-chair and watch TV as I tyed and the best platform for that was an old folding chair that often doubles as a TV tray for meals. Now, all I had to do was combine the two, and still be able to move the station out of the way. Here is the result. Down the right side I drilled holes to hold all of the tools that I now have and a place for the magnifier-lamp. On the left side I drilled a spot close to the front for my vise. Farther back there is a place for my head cement, nail polish I said I was cheap, and some colored markers. Across the very back are some rods to hold my threads. I had heard folks saying to use aluminum rods because wood dowels would break too easy. Well I could get bamboo chop-sticks at the local Chinese take-out for free. Did I say something about being cheap? Infront of the spools is a line of used pill bottles with snap down lids, waste not want not, to hold small items. Then in front of the bottles is a row of small bulldog clips to hold flys as they dry. Don't ask where they came from. Again, from reading the remarks of others, I remembered that it would be a good idea to attach a magnetic strip somewhere. The entire inside areas of both sides have a 1/2" tape to hold hooks and such. I found the tape at the Goodwill store for .97 cents. I know that it was an expense, but, I have to be extravagant sometime. BTW the dowels that I used to hold the top layer up came from a clothes-dryer wrack that I also got at the Goodwill for another Buck. So, for just a few bucks and a little time, I now have a workable fly tying station. If it all works out and this fly tying thing is more than just another ADD project, I can make a better one later. I hope that you enjoyed my effort and look forward to hearing what you all think. PS. As it stands there is still room to add places for more tools and such as they become available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Noeproblem 0]

At my house we have a saying that I think you will appreciate "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!"

I am a firm believer in recycling and that has helped me save LOTS of money. I appreciate you being resourceful

 

Yes, I would like to have a real nice tying station and all of the other fancy gear but lack of funds and just the desire to save money have taught me that just because it's pretty doesn't make me tie the flies any better.

 

So from one cheap guy to another - I say Well Done!

 

Besides, the extra money I save will allow me to buy a better vise or maybe Santa will be nice to me... probably not

 

Merry Christmas!

 

NoeprobleminTN