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grandriverbumm

Reusing Hooks

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Hello all,

 

I have about 200 failed ties from the last 7 or so years that I would like to reclaim the hooks on. Obviously I could sit there and cut away the material off of each hook (but I would rather spend that time tying), does anyone have a method for removing the material from a large number of hooks that doesnt degrade the quality of the hook?? I have considered putting them in a pot and burning them with a torch, but not sure how the heat will impact the metal.

 

Regards,

 

Chris

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Agree with troutguy, razor blade (utility knife type) is the way to go. Not a fast process, but 200 shouldn't take too long to reclaim. I haven't had to reclaim many in recent years, but when I did I would lay the fly flat on a board, pin the hook down with my finger at the bend and run the blade from bend to eye along the side of the hook always cutting away from me. That was as easy & fast as I could find.

 

Burning will destroy the tempering as said.sad.png

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Chris, I'd take those flies and put them in a bag and throw them away. Simple as that - painful to do but in the long run - in my opinion - you'll be way ahead.

 

I don't know how much you figure your time is worth but say it's only worth $5.00 and hour to you. Even at $5.00 an hour by the time you do whatever it is you'll do to "clean" the hooks you'll be left with a mess of hooks that need to be sized and sorted. Believe me the hours will soon cover the cost of buying two-hundred hooks.

 

I go through the same thing all the time with "left-over" materials from the top of my tying desk. After awhile you have so much "left-over" trimmings and such that you feel you should sit and tie with that stuff - and sometimes I do - but at some point I just decide to "cut my losses" and stop dealing with "left-overs" and into the trash all that stuff from the top of the tying bench goes - it just gets tossed.

 

Starting fresh every so often is a good thing.

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I just spent a while doing this very thing. I used my ecacto knife. When I started off I was clamping them in my vise but I didn't like how much pressure I was putting on the jaws. I was afraid I could damage them so I got a pair of needle nose vise grips from my tool bag and clamped them onto the bend of the hook and it went pretty quick. Some got a little scratched but no big deal.

 

Take care not to cut yourself though.

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Take some flat pliers and squeeze the fly. You'll hear a crunch and just pull material off with fingers. No need for a knife that could easily slip and cut you up.

 

 

Give it a try. It works .

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Two questions:

1) When you say, "failed tie" ... do you mean they are unfishable or just not perfect?

2) Are you in an area where there might be a donation possibility?

 

If the flies just aren't "perfect" look into some of the fly fishing programs mentioned on sites like this ... I am sure they'll be thrilled with 200 flies for fishing.

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I keep a hook box on my tying desk. Each time I have a fly that is bad or gets tore up I put it in the box. When there are several flies in them I clean them off with

with a sheet rock knife in an Thomson a vice. Then I toss the hooks back in the box. When I am tying and one of the hook can be used I take it out and use it.

Doing a few at a time is not a problem for me.

 

Rick

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I am a newbie with this hobby and since I am not a pro I have screwed up a few flies well let me rephase that I have screwed up several flies...LOL...The ones that I screwed the pooch on I used my exacto knife and stripped away everything which isn't to bad. However if you used super glue forget it...It's not worth an emergency room visit to get sewed up after you have sliced open your hand with the exacto knife for the cost of a hook in my opinion.

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X-acto knife or single edged razor. Hooks are cheap, though, so, unless you weren't doing anything else, or if you just feel like destroying something, it's a lot of effort for little reward.

 

Usually, I cut it off immediately, if it isn't coming out right. There's no point is even adding head cement. As was observed up above, though, if you used any super glue in the construction, you aren't going to get it off. Just throw those in the trash.

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if you used super glue forget it...It's not worth an emergency room visit to get sewed up after you have sliced your open your hand with the exacto knife for the cost of a hook in my opinion.

Agree with add147 here, and I would also place flies tied with lead wire wrapped onto the shank for weight into the "not worth it" category.

 

That being said, I do keep a "reject box" (it's a cigar box with about a 2-inch-thick layer of flies in the bottom), and I do reclaim hooks from it on occasion, usually when I have need of a particular type of hook and don't have time to buy them before I would need the flies, or during the dead of winter when I'm propped in front of the tv.

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as has been said many time here very imperfect flies can catch fish, if you don't want them give them away. If you want the hooks razor blade or utility knife works best. Do a few each night and they will be clean in no time. try to do it all at once and it will take forever

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Not certain what you are getting at with "failed ties"......

 

My opinion is cut the material off with a razor and start anew!!!!!

 

If your "failed ties" have been fished then cut the material off and inspect the hook. If it looks good then by all means tie another fly on it!

 

Make certain you sharpen it and if there are any strange "nicks, cuts, weakness" toss it.

 

Just my 2.5 cents as I don't know if you have fished them or not.

 

From your original post, I can only infer that you have TONS of stuff that might be rusted and such.....if that is the case I agree with Rotary and cull them all. You don't want to lose a fish on compromised gear!!!!

 

Mike :)

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