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Wax for Silk Thread?

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Is this wax usable for waxing silk thread, for soft hackle flies ("North Country Spiders"), like a partridge and orange? I am a little confused by the manufacturer refering to it as a dubbing wax.

https://www.semperfli.net/semperfli-prepared-fly-tyers-wax.html

If not, what is the proper wax used to prepare silk thread?

Thanks.

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Samsonboi reading your posts I gather you’ve been tying for at least 20 yrs.  Lets see some of those flies of yours !

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1 hour ago, samsonboi said:

Most dubbing was is good quality Paraffin wax or beeswax. That is just fine for silk.

Most wax used in tying was cobbler's wax, a mixture of pine resin,  bee's wax and oil.  Straight beeswax or paraffin is too slippery, and doesn't color the silk if you're interested in tying, for example, a Greenwell's Glory.

You can either make your own wax (it's simple to do, but messy) or use prepared wax, such as those referenced in the OP and by Mogup.  Veniard's makes a good  prepared wax as well.

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Landon

We’re talking about what wax is best for tying soft hackle flies. A very old and traditional set of patterns that are still very productive today.

92F57186-2D76-403E-A907-470258001678.jpeg

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18 minutes ago, Landon P said:

What is the wax used for? 

Most tying thread you buy today is already pre-waxed, and is therefore slightly sticky, although you may not notice it.  Silk needs to be waxed to not slide around the hook.  It only takes about two turns of a well waxed thread to start it on the hook, and it's not going anywhere once it's started.  It can also eliminate the need for head cement -- once the wax melts into the thread, you can't pull apart a whip finish if you tried. (Although being a belts-and-braces guy myself, I still use head cement.)

Additionally, it changes the color of the thread slightly, which some people find important.  

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Hi you make your on wax you will need a white candle & violin rosin  cut a piece of white candle and break off a piece or rosin melt them in a sauce pen then let the liquid start to thicken and roll it into small pieces this is a form of cobblers wax but heat it up outside in an old saucepan  as you won't be very popular with the wife it does dis colour the thread a little but that's ok as it turns the thread the wright colour for north country spiders coat the thread well as when your applying a find dusting of dubbing so you can see the colour of thread which shines through  the light dusting of dubbing  check out Rodger Fogg's  Book North Country Spiders hope this helps

Kind regards Steve 😉  

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I use a vintage tin of Thompson fly tying wax, which is mostly pine resin and wax. It smells quite nice but it’s impossible to get it off your fingers so that’s why I recommended beeswax.

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Overtons works just fine for silk or any other type of thread. I have dark cobblers wax that I use for Greenwells Glory type flies, but for just about everything else, it's Overtons. It's now available just about everywhere and one tube will last more than a lifetime. 

Regards,

                  Mark

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