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Lead Foil

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I ran across a fly on You Tube that has peaked my interest but I do not know where to get the lead foil he uses. Where can I get this stuff or what can I use the is equivalent to it?

 

I have include to link below on the You Tube video

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGSjZMJ-9cA

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Back when dentists used film for their dental x-rays you could get small squares of lead foil from them. I still have a few stashed in a drawer some where that I got decades ago. I know my dentist uses a digital machine and I assume that most do now days. You might ask your dentist about what became of the old lead foil based film cassettes.

 

Steve

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If you buy this from fly tying suppliers it usually comes in a small sheet. To get the best value out of it cut it length ways not width ways. The amount you end up discarding from each strip, the little bit that is left over, which just isn't long enough to use on another fly, will be the same. However, you will get three flies out of the longer strip compared to one out of the shorter strip. Effectively cutting your wast by a third.

 

The other good tip I have for using this stuff is to cut it using a craft knife and steel rule. With care you can cut the entire sheet into strips without cutting the backing paper. That way your lead foil is ready to go and can be kept, ready cut, in your kit.

 

I also have a question. Why do we need it to be self adhesive? Some people use dental x-ray foil (I find it to be too thin). Wine bottle foil, from the days when quality wine had lead foil seals, was also used. Many of us use lead wire that isn't self adhesive. Three things occur to me from this.

  • As we do not need the adhesive to stick the lead to the hook, why not wind wind (or lay) it on the hook with the adhesive to the outside? If you are building a profiled under body it can sometimes be difficult to get the thread to lie as you want it to over the led. With the adhesive on the outside the thread sticks where you place it.
  • If it could be sourced lead sheet without the self adhesive backing would be as useful and maybe cheaper.
  • On some sheets of lead I have used the adhesive is as thick as the lead itself. As I have discussed elsewhere it isn't weight that sinks a fly! Its density. While we often say "adding weight" that isn't really what we mean. With enough buoyant materials included in the fly you can float even a tungsten bead. If half the volume you are adding is adhesive, not lead, then we are not increasing the density by all that much. The lead foils that have this thick adhesive on are best avoided. The good news it that the ones I have bought that are like this all had brown backing paper. Now I avoid the ones with brown backing paper and only buy the ones with white plastic backing.

There is more to using lead than just winding it on. That should see you right for a start. As always challenge what you are doing, there is often a better way.

Cheers,

C.

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Just sometimes all the time my mind spends wandering while tying up orders of flies, it does come up with the odd useful idea.

Cheers,

C.

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A rotary cutter and cutting board creates a smooth cut, because the blade rotates over the item instead of being pulled through the item. It is great for cutting foam.

 

RTY-2DX-Action.jpg

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Silver you are right, I just won't pay that much for cutting lead. Though I have a sewing machine arriving in the next few weeks and I may have to get one for cutting out patterns. it'll probably end up doin for the fly tying kit as well.

 

Cheers,

C.

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Fortunately, I did not have to pay full price for my rotary cutter and cutting pad. Our city had a Fiskars factory and each year, they had a "blowout" sale. I think I paid $5 for a rotary cutter, $1 each for spare blades, and $2 for a cutting pad.

 

In the USA, we have Michaels, Joannes, and Hobby Hobby stores that carry rotary cutters and boards. These stores have 40-50% off coupons that bring the cost down a bit.

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That's a big difference to here. The last one I priced, about 6 or 7 years ago in a wholesaler's, was in the teens of pounds, over $20, and the spare blades three times in pounds what you paid in dollars. Considering my craft knife with 50 spare blades cost £1.50 I think I'll stick with it.

Cheers,

C.

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