dubbing poly yarn
Steven E Haun
Dear colleagues,
Any suggestions on cutting poly yarn to allow it to be dubbed for a dry fly
body??
Steve Haun
Ken Lam
I wrap wrap the yarn around two fingers and cut the two ends. Then I
whip it a few times in the coffee grinder. Careful not to grind it too
long or some of it melts together.
--
The views expressed are my own and does not represent those of my
employer.
Al Beatty
Steven E Haun wrote:
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> Any suggestions on cutting poly yarn to allow it to be dubbed for a dry fly
> body??
>
> Steve Haun
Hi Steve,
Regarding poly yarn: It does not make very good dubbing, the poly vibers
are much to heavy for dubbing. However putting a great looking body on a
fly with it goes like this: remove a few fibers of poly from a single
ply strand - they should be about 6" for most situations. Tie the poly
fibers on the hook by the end, parallel the fibers, and wrap like floss.
This makes a very smooth body.
Regarding synthetic yarn: this type of yarn makes good dubbing. I'm not
to sure this isn't how some synthetic dubbing is manufactured. Anyway,
start by cutting the yarn (all 4 twisted strands) into peices from 1/4"
to 3/4" in length. Staggering the lengths of peices seems to make better
dubbing. Put the cut pieces in a blender and give them a buzz - the
fluff up into really nice dubbing. NOTE: if you want a really neat
dubbing, so the same with silk or synthetic 4 strand floss. I use this
type of dubbing on steelhead flies.
Anyway, experiment with the yarns you use, you'll find a lot of different
textures. Use the ones you like.
--
Tight Lines
Al Beatty
BT's Fly Fishing Products
Bozeman, MT (97 catalog)
http://www.flyshop.com/Expo/Specialty/BTsPdcts/index.html
Joel Anderson
Steven E Haun wrote:
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> Any suggestions on cutting poly yarn to allow it to be dubbed for a dry fly
> body??
>
> Steve Haun
Hey Steve.
I dont think you'd have much luck, even if you chopped it up and threw it into a coffee grinder. My suggestion
would be to but prepackaged poly dubbing. "Superfine" works great, especially for smaller flies.
Hope this helps,
Joel
ljm...@ibm.net
> To: Steven E Haun <seh...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Xref: news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net rec.outdoors.fishing.fly.tying:2459
************************
Steve (and Joel)
Been doing this for years, no problem at all!
It's a three step process, for greatest success. The end product can be used
for dubbing on it's own...sort of difficult to bind to thread unless you
employ the split-thread method (see www.flyfield.com, Tying Tips by Davy
Wotton). I usually blend the end product with natural furs for a mottled
effect that adds sparkle and texture to the dubbing.
STEP ONE
This depends on the diameter of the yarn...if it's small yarn, say 3/16" or
less, you can skip this step.
Start with a 1-2 foot length of yarn and untwist the strands and pull a
plastic hair comb through the yarn. You usually have to "comb" a 6" section,
cut it off and then comb another, etc.
STEP TWO
Cut the combed yarn (uncombed if fine enough and you skipped step one) into
3/4" lengths and toss in a blender....DON'T OVERLOAD IT!! For this step, you
use a regular full-size blender on a high speed for short "bursts". Remove the
blender jar occasionally and clear any yarn that might get tangled around the
blades.
STEP THREE
Take SMALL CLUMPS of this material and place it in a coffee grinder....hold it
upside down while running to minimize the material twisting around the blades.
IF the material gets twisted around the blades, MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG THE
GRINDER BEFORE CLEARING THE BLADES!!!!!
That's it! Make sure you bag your material and write a number on the bag-
keep a list of all the numbers somewhere with some details about the material,
like brand, color, dye lot, trade name and then bag your remaining "backstock"
with the same number on it.
I keep samples of the materials I blend and mix in small bags in a binder held
in baseball card album pages and the data related to the materials in a
database, including percentages of added in materials, etc.(50% #2, 25% Tan
Possum, 25% brown mink underfur) ....nothing makes you madder than coming up
with a winning mix and not being able to duplicate it!!
BTW...I got my blender at a thrift shop for $3...your mileage may vary...)
Larry Medina #:)#