wr1nkles 0 Report post Posted October 25, 2018 May be a bit late, but better late than never. With your new vice you will see a coil spring around the arm or head of the vice. This is to hold materials in to keep them out of the way while you perform other operations. Keep that idea in mind. Modern dry fly hackle is expensive stuff (though on a per fly basis no more expensive than the old stuff). Each feather can tie two or more flies. Saddle hackle can tie 6 to 12 flies per hackle. However they can only tie this number of flies if you can keep track of the piece that you have left. That's where this little gadget comes in. Get a closed coil spring 4 or 5 inches long 1/4inch to 3/8inch diameter. Take a piece of wood at least 1/2 inch thick, If you like you can put a fancy edge around it. Drill 2 holes 1 inch closer together than the length of the spring the same size as the spring diameter. Push the ends of the spring into the holes. You can incorporate this into your bench top, or make it a stand alone unit as I have. When you cut a length of tinsel enough for 6 flies slip it in the spring, when you finish one fly's hackle put the remaining hackle in the spring. Anything, well almost anything, can be held in this spring until you need it again. What it will save you in materials will pay for the spring many times over. Cheers, C. Thanks for the suggestion! I kind tried to implement that spring hackle holder idea on this bench with the two smaller springs, but didn't really know how big they should be. But now you have me pondering other ways of how to organize partially used materials best... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
