Cheap and easy wing tool

[Gilly 0]

This is what I made and use to keep the wings perfect for tying. It's 2 pieces of plastic from a package my daughters Barbie came in. It's thin enough to hold the feathers without crushing them and strong enough to hold them while tying so the only movement is straight down to the hook shank. I still use the pinch and pull method but with this 2 cent wing tool, the wings don't move in my fat fingers when they're being tied. It took me alot of screwed up twisted wings before I thought that I could make an aid that would work perfectly each time.

 

The wiing aid is only 2"X1" with a small clip. I had this up as a thread on a pattern post but figured I should put it here for others to see. Try it, it takes some of the frustration out of wings.

[flyfishingmark 0]

Neat idea...your wings are beautiful! So do you fold the plastic and then clip the top open edge with your clamp thingy? Or are there two separate pieces that you clamp together?

Thanks for sharing this help!

~Mark~

[Gilly 0]

The one in the photo is 2 seperate pieces.

[picketpin 0]

Great idea Gilly thanks for sharing

 

mike

[Brewer 0]

nice, i need all the help i can get

[Guest]

I made one similar to this but superglued the plastic pieces to the clamp. I use it to hold the side of a marabou feather and then cut the side of the feather from the stem. While still having the feathers in the clamp, I insert the unclamped part of the feathers into a dubbing loop. After enough twists on the dubbing loop to securely hold the feathers I release the clamp and continue twisting the dubbing loop and then wrap the dubbing loop around the hook shank.

 

Dave

[sharpster68 0]

If your tying flies and you dont have a holder while glue dries get a foam cup or use wax paper the glue wont stick to the wax paper.