I'm hoping to spin up a few bugs tonight, and I've been making a little list so I can reload a few items I like to use when I go to the Fly Fishing Show Friday.
But something that hit me, was a trick I learned pretty recently. Maybe 5 years ago. When doing flies with smallish heads or beads and hidden whip finishes behind the bead (seated into the dubbing or other material so the finish is not real visible), put super glue on your thread over roughly, the 1-2 inches from the fly towards the bobbin. Now do your whip finish. The glue saturated thread seats nicely, and by the time you snip the thread, it's completely set up and not coming undone.
This can be done with other glues as well - they just don't dry as fast. For example, normal thread cement works - and then you never worry about filling the hooks eye with cement. Thin UV cure products have worked for me doing this as well - things like CCG Hydro.
Maybe the coolest trick using this approach, I saw the guys on the fly fish food blog discuss a while back. Tying a parachute, they saturated the thread with super glue as I noted above, but then just over wrapped the hackle on the post a few times, gave it a couple seconds to set up, and snipped. Served double duty by creating a great durable hackle on the fly but also made what for me at least, is the hardest part of doing a para fly - finishing it neatly.
Any way, that little glue trick was on my mind and I wanted to lay it down for others.
have a super day -
Will
Will one of these days I will learn how to work with super glue. I have the part where my fingers come together nicely.
ReplyDeleteI may be at the show Friday..
Hi Alan, Ill likely be there around 10:30 or 11. If you see a spruce green coat wearing guy with an OU hat on, that's me.
DeleteIll try and take a photo tonight of how I do it with the super glue. My strategy, is to use Loc Tite gel (or any other gel based CA glue), squeeze it only until it barely show's a bead of glue at the tip of the applicator. lightly run that bead up and down the thread. With that approach, your fingers will never touch the thread (if you use a whip finish tool, if you finish by hand, that could be trouble :). Keep well!