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Sockeye guy

Head cement question

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I was planning on tying up some salmon flies this weekend but my cement is no where to be found. I dont have any place within 50 miles that sells head cement so i was wondering how nail polish like "hard as nails" would work. Any thoughts?

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Hundreds (if not thousands,) of tiers use Sally Hansens Hard As Nails. I use it as well as several other CHEAP brands. It works just fine.

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IMHO, Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails is better than most fly tying head cements for glossy heads on larger flies. Use several coats.

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I saw your post about this on another site & responded with my input. Go with the Sally Hansen's, it's great for this purpose! :D

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As A.K. Best suggests, I use Lacquer; to be specific, "DEFT" Clear Gloss Woodfinish. It is a lacquer that I also use on my woodwork. I have used it for a couple of decades, and see no reason to switch to anything else.

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How long does it take to dry ? I have just tried Wapsi head cement which dries white, in fact they sent me a new bottle it also dries white, one thing good is the squeeze bottle with needle tip, now if I just had something to put in it.Any help for me ??? Thanks my friend, milo

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How long does it take to dry ? I have just tried Wapsi head cement which dries white, in fact they sent me a new bottle it also dries white, one thing good is the squeeze bottle with needle tip, now if I just had something to put in it.Any help for me ??? Thanks my friend, milo

 

Milo

 

Sally Hansens can take a little while to dry if your fly has a large head and you want a really nice finish - touch dry in 10mins or so depending on how thick a coating you put on...

 

If you dilute it with Acetone (NEVER use nail varnish remover or thinners - SH goes cloudy) it will dry much quicker.

 

When I am trying streamer patterns I put several coats of really thin SH which soaks in and then a single coat of 50% diluted and when that is fully dry, a coat of undiluted SH which gives a nice smooth coat:)

 

On my usual "fishing" patterns, I rarely varnish the head - just one or two 4-turn whip finishes is usually sufficient:)

 

Darrell

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How long does it take to dry ? I have just tried Wapsi head cement which dries white, in fact they sent me a new bottle it also dries white, one thing good is the squeeze bottle with needle tip, now if I just had something to put in it.Any help for me ??? Thanks my friend, milo

 

Milo

 

Sally Hansens can take a little while to dry if your fly has a large head and you want a really nice finish - touch dry in 10mins or so depending on how thick a coating you put on...

 

If you dilute it with Acetone (NEVER use nail varnish remover or thinners - SH goes cloudy) it will dry much quicker.

 

When I am trying streamer patterns I put several coats of really thin SH which soaks in and then a single coat of 50% diluted and when that is fully dry, a coat of undiluted SH which gives a nice smooth coat:)

 

On my usual "fishing" patterns, I rarely varnish the head - just one or two 4-turn whip finishes is usually sufficient:)

 

Darrell

Thanks Darrell,are you saying you can thin with acetone, not sure if I do that, but just a thought ! milo

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If you are asking about drying time for the lacquer, it depends upon how thick it is, but typically less that 15 minutes for 'dry-to-touch'. It is thinned with regular Lacquer Thinner.

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If you are asking about drying time for the lacquer, it depends upon how thick it is, but typically less that 15 minutes for 'dry-to-touch'. It is thinned with regular Lacquer Thinner.

Thanks, I got Sally yesterday, it does great, some later on I'm going to try lacquer. many thanks, milo

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Believe it or not I use Gorilla Super Glue. It dries fast (it is super glue after all), penetrates the thread very well, and leaves a shiny head. A bottle (.71 oz.) lasts forever and it is relatively inexpensive. I apply mine with a guitar string (high e) inserted into a 1/8 inch brass tube and glued into a lure to prevent rolling and/or loss...

GlueandApplictor001.jpg

Murray

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