floss bodies?

[m_grieb 0]

i tried my hand at some floss bodied wets last night. how do you keep the fibers of the floss together when you wrap the floss? and also, how do you keep the floss from fraying when you are wrapping? maybe these are stupid questions...

 

 

thanks

Matt

[Piker20 0]

Soft soft fingers. I use a pair of latex gloves. Some guys use silk gloves. Any little rough spot on your finger soon frays it. Use an emery board and file off your fingers.

[m_grieb 0]

i thought someone would say that. thanks for the input.

 

Matt

[TheCream 0]

Another trick I like to do is to use the rotary function of the vise as your friend. My hands are usually rough but I can start the floss, then hold the floss spool with say 6-8" of floss off of it and wind it on by rotating the vise. That keeps my hands from really contacting it as I wrap it on.

[flytire 0]

http://www.classicflytying.com/?showtopic=4987

 

http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/flosswork/

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=60402

[rockworm 0]

And yet another technique: wet the floss and keep your fingers damp. The floss will glide through even rough fingers when lubricated with water. I use the wet method for tying fishing flies and use silk gloves (and dry floss) for tying display flies.

[Crackaig 0]

Try using your floss on a bobbin holder.

Cheers,

C.

[Christopher K 0]

Try using your floss on a bobbin holder.

Cheers,

C.

Just not a metal one!

 

You can do that but it's very hard to get a smooth body. Doing it by hand with gloves and a good smooth underbody is the way to go.

[flyDology 0]

I use pure silk floss instead of rayon. Does not fray as easily and forms smoother bodies. Burnish with a wood burnishing tool to make body even smoother. Keep fingers soft with lotion prior to tying. and all of the above.

[hairwing 0]

Here's a tip I learned moons ago from Helen Shaw's book "Fly Tying"....move your hand farther from the hook as you wrap if you want the floss to flatten and move it closer to the hook to tighten up the wraps as you rotate the floss around the shank of the hook.

To prevent fraying try not to slide your finger along the floss as you wrap.

Put a tip or tag (oval tinsel) at the beginning of the floss body to prevent it from slipping off the end of the hook when you fish it.

Taper the floss body like a cigar ....skinny..bigger.. than skinny again. Lumps can be smoothed out by rubbing the floss with something like the barrel of your bobbin. Try to manage the bulk of the floss you are tying with. Gauge your flies from streamer bodies, which would use maybe four strands of the spool to cover a lot of area, to small wets using only a single strand. Tapering a floss body seems like a lost art.

Good floss work takes practice and patience ...but is it really worth it? My guess is no... unless you are tying some midges like the Miracle Nymph. The white floss of the Miracle Nymph allows the black thread of the under body to create a halo effect. I like flies that have a halo.

[williamhj 0]

+1 for wetting it.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

SILK gloves and floss then burnish with agate or glass rod

[m_grieb 0]

what do you mean by "burnish"?

 

Matt

[flytire 0]

what do you mean by "burnish"?

 

Matt

 

bur·nish (bûrnsh)

tr.v. bur·nished, bur·nish·ing, bur·nish·es

1. To make smooth or glossy by or as if by rubbing; polish.

2. To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.

n.

A smooth glossy finish or appearance; luster.

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/uploads/Wet%20Fly%20tiffs%20023.jpg

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

you take a tool made of either agate or glass and rub the floss after its been applied to the body it smooths out the bumps and shines the floss I also burnish the underbody on my presentation flies to be sure I have a very smooth underbody