Homemade Tying Tools

[Pbass 0]

On 10/28/2019 at 12:15 PM, Mark Knapp said:

I was going through boxes of stuff looking for acetate floss and I came across this spool holder that some body made. It's just some peg board with the fluted 1/4 inch dowels made for wood joinery. It's pretty simple and seems to work.

 

Great Idea and simple. I think I will be making one of these....

[Sandan 0]

33 minutes ago, Pbass said:

Great Idea and simple. I think I will be making one of these....

Look close, behind the vise, there's the two I made. Not as easy as Mark's though. 1x2x12, drilled three offset rows of 12 holes about an 1 1/4" apart. I think I used 3" dowels so each dowel holds two spools. Used some oak scraps I had laying around, sprayed some poly on em let dry, done

[Pbass 0]

6 minutes ago, Sandan said:

Look close, behind the vise, there's the two I made. Not as easy as Mark's though. 1x2x12, drilled three offset rows of 12 holes about an 1 1/4" apart. I think I used 3" dowels so each dowel holds two spools. Used some oak scraps I had laying around, sprayed some poly on em let dry, done

I will have to get some dowels and make one. Looks great! Nice Vise!!

[Sandan 0]

1 hour ago, Pbass said:

I will have to get some dowels and make one. Looks great! Nice Vise!!

Thanks, the vise rocks, it's my vice. Well one of them anyhow.

[DFoster 0]

18 minutes ago, HighMountainTieFlyer said:

. What's the best vice for 150$?

This topic has been covered a lot on other post.  The Renzetti Traveller which is full in line rotary  is always mentioned in the $150 range.  The actual answer is the $150 vise you like the best.  Take a trip to your local fly shop and try out the models from Peak, HMH, Dyna King, Regal, Griffin to name a few.  They all produce a good quality vises in that price range that will last for decades or longer.  

See this thread for starters.  A search of this site for "vises" will keep you busy.  Good luck-

 

[Mars Rover 0]

I’ve never liked to have anything attached to the vise so I made a free-standing bobbin cradle. I can just slide it closer, slide it further away – or out of the way. It’s instantly adjustable for altitude because it’s an old radio or TV antenna! The pedestal base is some old scrap steel machine part with a hunk of leather glued to the bottom. The tip top section of the antenna is solid metal that bent easily into a cradle shape and polished up nicely - it may even be stainless steel.

I also made the whip finishing tool – with a section of plated brass tubular antenna section - and bent spring wire, soldered to an old brass half hitch tool.

[niveker 0]

@Mars Rover

Genius!

[bdngrd 0]

I like that whip finish tool!

[Johnw1986 0]

On 11/18/2020 at 9:56 PM, bdngrd said:

I like that whip finish tool!

Yeah me too!, who makes that?

[Johnw1986 0]

Oh I just read where you made it, very cool!

[Mars Rover 0]

On 11/22/2020 at 9:51 AM, Johnw1986 said:

Oh I just read where you made it, very cool!

Thanks John. Back before the Materelli whip finisher, there was this E-Z Whipper. Never saw one but I copied it from pictures. When you think about it, all you really need is two hooks for the thread, set 90 degrees apart - and it puts the thread loop in the same figure 4 orientation, then whip finishing and releasing the loop is just as fast and easy as it is with a rotating tool. The difference is that this entire tool rotates between your fingers-instead of rotating within the handle. I find that I get a bit more control with these. I had an original Materelli back in the day but I sold it off and went back to these.

 

 

[Mars Rover 0]

I've posted this before but since it's been a couple years or more, I can report that the bullet bobbin eye dropper thingy is still going strong.

It hasn't bitten the dust yet and it's smooth. A bit bulky but I do like it for larger flies - and floss.