Spinning deer hair, what's the trick?
Ernie Harrison
You are doing it right. The hair spins as you tighten the thread.
Ernie
Frank Chu...@worldspy.net wrote in message <88juks$8kg$1...@news.netmar.com>...
>
>I have consulted several fly tying books on spinning deer hair, and I
*think*
>I'm doing it right...place the hair on the near side of the hook shank, at
a
>slight angle, take 2 or 3 loose wraps, then pull, allowing the tips to
spring
>out of my fingers as the tension is applied. It all sounds so simple, the
>only trouble is the damned hair wants to spin around the hook shank before
it
>begins to flare. OK you experts, what am I doing wrong here?
>
>Frank Church
>Elkhart, IN
>USAF RETIRED
>
>
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Frank
off by half seemed to do the trick.
ArnSaga
only trouble is the damned hair wants to spin around the hook shank before it
begins to flare. OK you experts, what am I doing wrong here? >>
You might not be using the kind of hair that would make the task easier. Hair
from winter coat, northern states, Whitetail, from the sides, usually is up to
2" long, fairly uniform in diameter, thick in both density on the hide and in
diameter of individual hairs, often crinkly, and flares like mad. Or buy cow
Elk hair, labeled Bass Hair, for a coarser spinning hair. Caribou or Reindeer
hair is softer, smaller hair, for easy flaring, Goddard Caddises for example.
Mule Deer is tougher than Whitetail and flares well under lots of pressure.
Antelope flares the most of all. If you wanted dark, solid tips, from shorter
hairs with flaring bases so you could tie Muddler collars and heads with one
clump of hair, take hair from higher on the back of a Whitetail.
I usually follow Chris Helm's technique for spinning. Ideally use a slippery
super thread like Dynacord or other GSP (gel spun polyethylene I believe). But
floss will work.
Attach the thread.
Work 1/4" forward with 5 wraps or more, wrap back a couple to the middle of the
thread.
Do what you're already doing with the deer hair, about a common pencil
thickness at a time.
Put the thread wraps on top of each other. Don't be afraid to put a little
pressure on.
Begin to tighten as you pull up. The hair should (ah, there's the magic weasel
word) flare and spin.
Pack, put down next thread base, drop of glue back into spun hair, cut some
more, and so on.
You can spin on bare hooks. That's how I started. I spin small Goddard Caddis
that way since the thread base is tough to do. Of course, you can, with
practice, just flare a body without spinning. That is how to start a body over
a tail tie in point.
After blowing through a lot of sacrificial hair, a lot of entertaining failures
to go into the TU chapter raffle pile, I can often make a fairly decent mouse,
Caddis, Bass bug, hopper, Dahlberg diver, Pike fly, or Shad imitation.
Chris Helm's two videos are the best explanations I've seen.
Good tying.
GKT
ArnSaga
backed
off by half seemed to do the trick.
>>
Once you learn to handle the pencil sized bunch, you can get better density and
therefore durability and potentially appearance, by using more hair in each
bunch and packing tightly.
GKT
Ron A. Zajac
Frank, Chu...@worldspy.net wrote:
I have consulted several fly tying books on spinning deer hair, and I *think*
I'm doing it right...place the hair on the near side of the hook shank, at a
slight angle, take 2 or 3 loose wraps, then pull, allowing the tips to spring
out of my fingers as the tension is applied. It all sounds so simple, the
only trouble is the damned hair wants to spin around the hook shank before it
begins to flare. OK you experts, what am I doing wrong here?
Frank,
despite what others say, I have actually found it beneficial to make
the hair flare before it spins. The way you do that is quite
simple. After making two loose wraps around hair and hook, you hold
the stack of hair firmly in place on the hook shank while pulling the thread.
The hair will begin to flare, and you let go of the stack while still pulling
the thread. Experience will tell you when the hair is flared enough
to let it spin. When you use this method properly, you will not get
that aggravating "thick stack of hair orbiting 'round the hook shank" effect.
John Brkich
thread base before you do EXACTLY what you are doing now the hair will
act in the manner you want
Regards from Montreal
John Brkich
Ron A. Zajac
John Brkich wrote:
A layer of thread around the hook's shank will aid in "stacking" deer
hair, but hampers spinning (equal distribution of hair around the shank).
Meroli
Mr. Gink
_______ Keep the head of the hook BARE. No thread where you wish to
spin. Use small amount of Mule Deer or Elk. It is hollow hair. Take a
3/4 wrap while hair is set across top of hook at 45* and pull up and
around letting hollow hairs FLAIR and spin around hook. Take two/three
wraps only. Next, draw hair back towards bend weaving your thread to
the front of spun hair. Pack back with finger tips and take two or
three more wraps in front to hold that bunch back. Take another small
clump and repeat until you have spun on what you need. Finish head off.
When it comes time to trim your spun flies or muddler heads and/or
bodies, go outside in good light and do it standing up. There is a
reason for this. You will trim much better flies outside in natural
light then sitting down at the fly tying bench. We can thank BUBBA for
this lesson he taught me on the Snake River here.
(Yep, its his real nick-name)
Hope this helps gentlemen ~
George Gehrke
--
Ron A. Zajac
"Mr. Gink" wrote:
>
> _______ Keep the head of the hook BARE. No thread where you wish to
> spin. Use small amount of Mule Deer or Elk. It is hollow hair. Take a
> 3/4 wrap while hair is set across top of hook at 45* and pull up and
> around letting hollow hairs FLAIR and spin around hook.
>
> George Gehrke
>
> --
George,
if I understand your meaning of "3/4" turn, then this method does not work
very well. It does work, but not nearly as well as the more standard method
I mentioned earlier. I know this partly because of logic, and partly
because I immediately ran to my vise/vice to see if how your idea works.
Meroli
Mr. Gink
Okay Meroli, just make the first wrap a full turn and then spin it
around into the second wrap. My error, perhaps in that explaining it
with just 'words' has something to be desired. One day, we will be able
to post pictures with the words.
--
Mr.G
http://www.gink.com/ Updates
WebSite Comments : gi...@tds.net
http://www.gink.com/chat Flyfishing Conversations 6:00 PM PST till after
midnight.
ArnSaga
hair, but hampers spinning (equal distribution of hair around the shank). >>
A layer of polyester thread can hamper spinning. A single layer of floss
doesn't impede it much. The best instructional videos I've seen on spinning
hair are Chris Helm's and he always lays down a layer of thread just ahead of
the packed hair. Now, if we're talking about putting down a layer the length
of the hook before putting on any hair, that's wrong. I stack hair around the
tail tie in, then wrap forward 1/8-1/4" and wrap back to the middle of that
thread. Then spin. Seems to help with durability too.
Worked pretty well this morning. But I'm going to go try Mr. G's style now.
And another video (the fellow who owns BTs and works for Whiting farms but
whose name I'm too lazy to go look up) shows mostly bare shank spinning.
Though he's tying production flys and not trying to be as pretty with them as
is Helm. Part of the entertainment of tying flys is trying new techniques.
Good tying.
GKT
Mr. Gink
_________ Please take a full loop before drawing down and turning the
hair over and around the shank. I miswrote a little previously. I
think you're smart enough to know how to do it GT.
Larry Medina
(so's his wife Gretchen!) He no longer works for Whiting Farms, but
remains a friend of theirs and does some "stringer work" on occasion.
His book and videos are excellent for anyone who wants to learn about
tying hair and/or hairwing flies.
Larry Medina #:)#
ArnSaga
The fella you're speaking of is Al Beatty...good tyer and a GREAT guy
(so's his wife Gretchen!) >>
<< His book and videos are excellent for anyone who wants to learn about
tying hair and/or hairwing flies. >>
<< www.btsflyfishing.com >>
I agree that Al is an excellent instructor and his videos are first rate. I've
bought a fair amount from BTs and think well of him for that as well. (No other
connection with him.)
GKT
Buster Wolfe
I have one of his video, and - when I'm not shying away from deer hair in
general - I have found it is the easiest way to spin deer hair. Because when
you "pack the hair" you are actually condensing the thread wraps in packing
the hair.
Kevin C.
hair. What you want to do is shorten the thread from the bobbin to about a
1/2". Then use a quick tug and pull the thread straight down toward your
tying table. That seems to work the best for me, and my son likes to tye
Muddlers all the time. Hope it works out.