THREADS ? ? ?

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

Would ya'll indulge me this;

Would like to get a supply of tying thread. Not large Not askin' about colo(u)rs.
Your thoughts about whose threads and why ya like it.
You know Danvill, Uni, Ultra, Coats & Clarke or whatever;
or waxed vs. unwaxed ?
single strand/multi-strand ?
Why do YOU choose what you do if you have different for different things that works here also.
We can jack our jaws about flosses and other weird stuff later...

just askin'

hank
Gotta let Rascal run for awhile now, sez his eyeteeth are floatin'

[kacbo]

http://frontrangeanglers.com/newsletter ... thread.htm

My choice: waxed, multi strand, nylon (Danville). It's nylon thread so it's more springy than polyester thread, that was important to me when I start to tie flies (doesn't break without a annunciation). It's not completely flat, but it can be twisted or untwisted to get more rounder cross section. Since 6/0 works for me, I use it for all trout flies.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

If I'm not using Pearsall's silk, then I have two favorite threads. Like kacbo, I like Danville 70 denier (6/0) waxed thread. It lays very flat when untwisted, it's easily split for split thread dubbing, and it has very little bulk. I use it for everything from size 3/0 steelhead flies to size 20 trout flies. When I'm tying smaller than size 20 I opt for Gordon Griffiths Sheer that is a14/0, I believe.

After 40+ years of tying, I do love my Danville's.
REE

[DNicolson]

Hi Hank,
I use silk a lot for spiders, flymphs and most of my medium to small trout flies.
I also use UniThread and many other threads from the USA. I find that there is no single thread for all uses.
Not all my silk is Pearsall, I like YLI silk, it has a fantastic range of colours.
I like Wapsi UTC Thread, it can be untwisted and a very flat body can be made.

[willowhead]

Totally right, there is no one thread for everything.........i use more Danville 6/0 than anything else. It just flattens the BEST! i love the Bennichi 12/0 for some things.....the sheer 14/0 is nice.......little Trout flies demand less bulk so you have to go down in size. You'll get used to using finner denier if you tye enough flies. i've never been a big fan of Uni.....although their 8/0 is probably the most widely used Trout fly thread on the planet. They have many other products (besides thread), that i LOVE.

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

My trip to SLC has been postponed till next week, so I'm indulging in askin' a few of these questions to see what I might
want to procure on this excursion up North ....

I'm aware that there are more than one type of thread and no one thread does all. I was curious as to what is favored
and why. I feel that I can get an idea of what's what in this manner, ‘specially the whys.
Nice statements likes lays flattest, holds, wax well, that sort of thing...

I garnered quite a bit of information in this manner;
* Get one hook and get used to it
* count the turns, helps with consistency
* Keep It Simple Stupid (not from here but a 9th grade teacher back in '67?)
Then later in life everyone wants Overly full answers. Memos reaching into the 20's of pages (didn't they use to be 1/2 a page?).
So, I ask my questions so I can wander through the fertile minds that respond and stop an smell a rose of info (to me they ALL are), every so often.

Thank you ALL for your time to consider this question and kind enough to respond.
Please don't stop now ...

hank

[letumgo]

I use many different threads for many different reasons. I tend to use Pearsall's Gossamer silk on roughly half of the wingless wets/soft hackle flies I tye. Initially I chose to use Pearsall's because it was a traditional material for these flies. Gossamer silk can be a difficult thread to work with due to slippage, it's thickness can lead to a lot of bulk at the heads and the need for a special bobbin adds expense. Once I learned to work with Gossamer's, it lead me to improve my techniques (tight wraps are important, wax can reduce slippage, counting wraps helped minimized bulk). Now I love tying with Gossamer.

The bulk of my other flies are tyed with UNI-Thread. I've used lots of the medium thickness 6/0 thread, and find it easy to work with (lays flat, forms nice heads, good strength). In the past year, I have started using the thinner 8/0 version of UNI-Thread, for flies smaller than size 14. Many years ago, I used to have trouble breaking the 8/0 version, and had basically given up on the stuff. As my skills improved, thread breakage became a minor issue (still happens, but usually with I draw the thread across the hook point at full tension = careless).

I have other thread in even smaller thicknesses (10/0, 14/0, and ultra thin 17/0), but would not recommend them for someone learning to tye. The thinner the thread, the easier it is to break. A sure recipe for frustration...

I use Woolly Nylon to form white underbodies on flies. UNI makes a product called UNI-Stretch with is very similar (slightly thinner diameter). Woolly Nylon wraps very smoothly (assuming you remember to counter spin the bobbin every ten to twelve wraps). The white color ensures light is reflected back thru whatever material is wrapped over it. It is also very easy to color with a marker.

[Roadkill]

hankaye

Here is a thread reference for tying.
http://www.swtu.org/pdfs/fly_tying/Threads.pdf

Generally ignore the stated thread size in X/0 and compare the denier. Danville 6/0, Beneccchi 12/0, Uni 8/0 and Gordon Griffith 14/0 are all about the same size at 70-72 denier. Try several threads and see what you like, many of us have several around the tying bench for particular uses. For some flies you may even want to get into Kevlar or Gel Spun.

[hankaye]

Roadkill, Howdy;

Thanks for the link.

Help me to NOT buy some really thin stuff that would snap on me.....
don't need the fustration at this point in my budding fly tying career ...

That's gonna help.

Come on folks don't think you'd be giving up trade secrets ('cept for w-h ).

hank

[willowhead]

hank, be EXTREMELY careful if you happen to buy Kevlar or Gel Spun and they don't warn you. You can cut yourself to the bone with that stuff.
and just in case you aint never been told........."there are no secrets in show biz"
"Oh By The Way" (Terrance Blanchard), you better get past the "budding" stage, or your growth is gonna get stunted .....then i'll have to nickname you "Bonsai"