Wing Burners, Anyone?

[Randyflycaster 0]

I'm curious to hear opinions about using wing burners to create mayfly wings.

 

Are burners an important tool?

 

Thanks,

Randy

 

[BattenkillBum 0]

I have a few sets of them, they never see the light of day.

[Stevester 0]

Same for me. I have a couple of them and they have been used maybe a half a dozen times in maybe 15 years.

 

Steve

[add147 0]

I've seen them but I don't have any nor have I ever used any...Of course I've only been tying since last spring...Seems like a lot of hassle to use but what do I know...

[JoeBillingsley 0]

Definitely not an important tool, but they do create beautiful wings. Are they any more effective than any other wings? I doubt it.

 

Joe

[utyer 0]

Back in the distant past, I acquired a set of wing burners from a sales rep who was closing out his samples. I doubt if I could find them now. I at one time made some stone fly wing burners for making nymph wing pads. Those too are in the storage of forgotten tools drawer.

 

Of course these days, ANY drawer could be the forgotten tools drawer. I put thing away, and forget where I put them all the time. The only time I really clean my bench is when I can't find something I know was there before. As long as I have a bobbin, and scissors.

[Hatchet Jack 0]

Wing burners an important tool?

 

No, they're not.

Fun to play around with at first.

(Use a clothes pin on your nose )

Then go out and cast a few flies with burnt wings.

You might hear them flutter by, as they twist the socks

out of your 7X.........

[Crackaig 0]

Everyone has summed up the general consensus. Occasionally useful, but not by any means essential or important. Sometimes though they can be useful. I find them most useful for caddis fly wings, not only with feathers. You can experiment with other materials as well.

 

First don't buy wing burners until you know exactly what you want. To try them out make some. Take 2 pop sickle sticks and tape them together at one end with some strong tape, I use electrician's insulating tape. Then shape the other end into the shape you want to try with sandpaper. Then you can experiment with the shape you want, until you get what you are after.

 

Once you have the shape you are after you can try to buy a wing burner this shape, you may have to buy something near and adjust it yourself. Or you can do what a friend of mine does. He buys those really cheap sets of tweezers. You will get 8 or 10 for not very much at all. He saws or grinds the ends off, where they are shaped. Then fixes the two halves of the pop sickle wing burner inside them with epoxy. A way to make the temporary burners permanent.

 

Materials you use in the burners fall into two categories. Those that burn, and those that melt. For those that burn a small brush, like a toothbrush, is handy to get id of the burn residue from around the burnt edges. Burn the material, then give it a quick brush before removing them from the burner. Those that melt present a different problem. These you will need to trim roughly to shape after inserting into the burner. The way I do it is to trim a scissor blade thickness out from the burner. This will give you a small melted ridge around the wings.

 

One further problem you might meet. Often the two pieces will stick together. Sometimes this is strong enough to deform the wing when you pull them apart. To prevent this you can insert a piece of thin paper between them, cigarette papers are ideal for this.

 

I doubt you will find a continuing use for wing burners, but have a play.

 

Cheers,

C.

[flytire 0]

no they are no longer an important tool

[mikechell 0]

I think wing burners are one of those production tying tools. If you're cranking out a few hundred ... or a few thousand ... flies for sale, you want consistency in them. A wing burner allows for the exact same profile every time.

I never used a "wing burner", but I used to make my own arrows. A fletching burner makes perfectly even "feathers" or flights at the nock.

[Randyflycaster 0]

Folks,

Thanks for all the great info.

Randy

[rotaryflytyingdotcom 0]

Randyflycaster, Like Mikechell said - if you want consistency you can't beat a wing burner. The only way they make sense is to do a LOT of wings at once. Just sit there and burn a bunch and put them away for future use. Remember like Hatchet mentioned they stink when you burn them. That's one good reason to do a lot at once - take them outside and burn away til you're done. (put them in boxes by size)