tying rubber hopper legs

[rathbone 53 0]

I need help tying (knotting) rubber legs for foam grasshopper patterns. Specifically , the club sandwich. If any one has any tips I would be much obliged. ie. How many strands of rubber? How do you get the knot to stay? What kind of knot do you use?

 

Thanks very much,

Steve

[Pujic 0]

Hey Steve,

 

Take a look at this pattern:

http://shop.flyfishing.about.com/fly_archive/details/328.htm

 

The hind legs look like 3 strands of brown rubber hackle with a standard overhand knot tied in the middle, and then the section after the joint or knot (the one not tied to the body) has 2 of the 3 rubber hackle strands trimmed. That's what creates that tapered look.

 

Just make sure the knot it tight and it really shouldn't move after that. If you want to be extra sure, add a drop of zap-a-gap or head cement to the knot and you're good to go.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Nick

[Rob Knisely 0]

Yes, three strands. To tighten the knot, apply even "prolonged" tension. Basically, pull both ends to tighten the knot, then hold it there for a moment as the rubber material stretchs and tightens throughout the knot. You can practice on a rubber band to see what happens to save your leg material... the rubber strands turn a very pale color. You want to tighten it almost to breaking. It should hold without cement, but you can add that if you like.

 

Try to tie the knot in the opposite direction for the leg on the opposing side. Hard to explain, but say, if you hold the Foot portion in your left hand and bring the other end up and in front, then loop it behind/pull through, pull tight... for the other side, bring the other end up and behind, loop around the front and pull through. This gives you more symmetrical legs for a balanced tie.

 

You'll notice one strand sits lower when the three are tied in. Clip off the the top two. To do this, pull the two strands, and clip to a scissor-blade width from the knot. As long as your knot is tight enough, this produces a small "clip area" at the joint.

 

Do the stretch clip when trimming the front legs, too. As long as the thread wraps are tight, you're good to go.

 

Fun pattern!

 

 

 

[rathbone 53 0]

thanks to both Nick and Rob. That was a big help. Now it's on to mastering parachutes?!?!

 

Steve

[Joe Hard 0]

The legs are first treated with head cement and dried on that pattern, it holds the strands of rubber together. Make sure you let the cement dry well. this helps when it comes time to knot them.