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ghart91

Dubbing organization

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Give me your ideas. How do you store and organize your dubbing? I have a plastic bin but after a while it is a mess. Im looking for a way to organize and store my hundred and growing collection of dubbing.

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There are so many ways. It is up to you to decide on the one that will work for you.

 

The plastic boxes with compartments, that have a hole in the bottom or top of each compartment are good. If you buy them empty and fill them yourself you can create a good collection. If you buy them full usually they only contain 1/4 to 1/3 of the dubbing you buy in packets (I know I have had the job of filling them). You can buy stands that hold several of these boxes, though I do find them expensive. You can also buy compartmented boxes, and drill your own holes in them.

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If you have lots of packets you can get a board, and some self adhesive Velcro. Put strips of the hard side on the board and small pieces of the soft side on the bags. This is good if you want your collection on the wall.

 

Various flies can be used to hold dubbing. The books used for collections of business cards, or the loose leaves used to store transparencies in loose leaf binders. If you can find them now we have almost all gone digital.

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I make / mix a lot of dubbing and I make it in quantity. I want enough to do at least 100 flies at a time. These are the boxes I use to store my mixes. 24 small boxes inside a large one.

 

The insulating plastic sheets that are used for roof lights, the ones with two pieces connected by ribs have lots of space in them. These can be cut down to size and dubbing pushed into the spaces inside. If you get a sheet and a plastic box, that is convenient to store, you can cut the sheet into pieces that will fit the box perfectly. Make this set up a lot bigger than your existing collection of dubbing, your collection will expand!

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For a travelling kit plastic drinking straws can be used. I use the ones that are about 1/4 inch diameter and cut them into 3 pieces. Not a lot of dubbing goes into each section, but enough for a trip. All that is needed to keep these together is a rubber band.

 

Whatever you use get some self adhesive labels so you can write on it what is in the packet. Nothing worse than picking up a pack and thinking "what the hell is this". Well there is, that's getting to the end of a mix and thinking "now what did I put in that mix".

 

The thing is to develop a practical system that works for you. You do not want to have to spend ages rummaging for a pack of dubbing. There are certainly more options than I have listed here. Let us know what you settle on.

 

Cheers,

C.

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Before I start tying I make dubbing brush out of all my dubbing. The brushes are conveniently stored in a box.

 

This saves lots of time, espeacially if one has to tie lots of flies. The brush is made with 0.06 mm wire, so the lfies come out much stronger.

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I keep my main stash in dubbing dispensers tucked away on a shelf. I fill clear plastic coin holders (Quarter size, with screw caps) with my most used dubbing to keep on the tying desk. They are easy to label, and you can see what's in them. I use a wood thread rack (Wal-Mart) to hold them. The holders fit perfectly between the pegs used to hold thread spools. When I run low, I just refill from the stash.

Helps keep the desk from cluttering up with dubbing dispensers.

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Dollar Tree has small, individual, plastic cups with lids. Usually, they are 6 to a pack ... for one dollar.

I use a punch to cut a hole in the top of each one and put my dubbing in them.

I'd take a picture, but I don't have them with me in the hotel. If this thread is still active next week, I'll take one then.

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dubbing_tower01.jpg

 

This was on http://www.azbythefly.com/. I saw this idea and loved it, especially because they sell those circular containers at any craft store for $1. Screw a dowel rod into some sort of base (I just use a square piece of wood), and pile the containers are. A lot cheaper than buying a pre-made one, and works just as well too.

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Some great stuff here. For smaller amounts you can use pill dispensers with hole drilled in the bottom like the dubbing dispenser boxes. You can get those for around a dollar or less at drug stores

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I took a page from the manufacturer's playbook, when you buy a complete set of dubbing, and found an old Plano compartment box (Left) and drilled holes in the bottom.

 

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Most of mine is kept in the original bags in a plastic drawer organizer. I just wish the drawers were a slightly bigger.

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