Jump to content
Fly Tying
Sign in to follow this  
Bimini15

Homemade dubbing recipes?

Recommended Posts

I have an old coffee grinder that I am going to use for dubbing making. So far I have mixed bits of poly rope. I am curious to see what others have mixed and for what purposes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bimini, tried the paracord introduced by Utyer on this forum here: http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=86195&hl=paracord. It made a bunch and tan with sparkle worked well.

I have added sparkle to other dubbing as well, but to be honest I normally don't mix up enough at one time for the grinder to be worth pulling out.

Barry Ord Clarke had a three part blog on creating multiple shades of hares mask dubbing.

Happy mixing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure what 'sparkle' is in question nut I endorse the idea.

 

I use small doses of very short chopped sections of fine flash materials - Antron, Angelna, etc-- with all my DIY fur dubbing mixes. Makes all the difference to me at least and the trout seem to agree.

 

Rocco

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've added small amounts of angel hair to rabbit dubbing and found it can make a difference to dry flies especially. That small glint of light in the body.

I use a lot of dog fur for dubbings. Tea and coffee makes some dull brown shades. Olive can be made with other spices. I prefer using two felting brushes or pet brushes to mix fibres together. Keep thinking of a grinder but I'm not sure I'd make enough use of it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure what 'sparkle' is in question nut I endorse the idea.

 

 

Rocco

sparkle Adorno that I bought at Walmart

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have made hundreds of dubbing blends for many years, but I have never really kept track of recipes. When I do it, I usually make more than enough to last me years.

 

I have used three methods: Kitchen blender, coffee grinder, and a jar with water. Shake the jar to blend the dubbing. Blend with short pulses with the blender, or coffee grinder, not more than 2 to 5 seconds with the grinder. and maybe 10 to 15 seconds with a blender. Shaking the jar takes longer. WARNING: If you do this, NEVER, EVER use the household blender, or strainers, get your own. The old coffee grinder is YOURS, no one is going to want fuzz in their coffee, or other food.

 

When wet blending, I pour the blend out into a tea strainer, lined with a paper towel. Squeeze out the mix, and let it dry overnight. When wet blending, you know just what your final product will look like in the water.

 

I use a LOT of yarns, and I shred them with a "tatting" brush before chopping into 1/4 to 12" pieces. I make a big batch of a 50/50 blend of two colors, and then save about a third of that. Then I blend smaller batches with additional colors.

 

The picture is not even my full collection, and yes some it is store bought. Since I quite working in the tackle industry, I haven't bought any dubbing for my own flies.

 

I find that flash materials will get chopped to a fine power in a coffee grinder if you over do it. I is a good idea to take a file, and dull the blades. These grinders are made to chop nuts, into powder, and that't not what you want for dubbing.

 

The way I do yarn is to take about 2 or 3 feet and fold it several times until I have several sections about 6" long. Then I cut the loops, and shred these strands from both ends, and chop into small pieces. You are turning the yarn back into "roving," which itself usable as dubbing. The Fly Right dubbing is made from blended roving. You can even find yarns that are not twisted into strands, and simply cut and use that in 3 to 4" sections.

 

I usually start by blending 2 base colors. Tan, and olive for instance. Equal length pieces shredded and cut up. Blend that into a 50/50 olive tan. Then I take some of that and add more tan or olive.

 

I do have a tutorial, but I can't attach it here.

 

 

 

 

 

post-12074-0-26134900-1528598993_thumb.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Marc Fauvet put this up again on his The Limp Cobra Blog site. It is probably the best dubbing tutorial ever compiled. It was put together by Dennis Shaw on Dennis’ site UK Fly Dressing Forum back in August 2009 and since disappeared...

 

https://thelimpcobra.com/2013/01/08/fly-tying-a-complete-dubbing-techniques-tutorial/

 

 

Bookmark it !

 

Every fly that I have tied over the last eight years or so, has a recipe that has gone into a spiral notebook. The dubbing blends are therein contained...

 

 

PT/TB

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not a recipe but I have seen Cheech Pierce on Youtube blend craft fur and sculpin wool to make sculpin heads. I would link the video on Youtube but I have it blocked at work. I think it was the Sculpito that I saw. Good way to save on material and it looked like it would stick like dubbing. Might be worth a shot, you could flash up your craft fur as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...