FLYMPH FORUM

zen leecher wrote:

crazy4oldcars wrote:Found them on Jim's website and called and talked to Ron. He is shipping me a small Wasatch bobbin holder.
I'm running out of excuses, I'm going to have to start tying before long.

Thanks for the recommendations. When the first 4 agree, that would be the way to go!

Kirk

Ron is the person who steered me towards the Wasatch bobbins.

Our good friend Ron was also the one that supplied mine. (Is he on commission? )
Highly recommend them, brilliant wee holder.

I still use nose grease on my metal ferruled glass rods. There are all kinds of reasons not to (nose grease apparently contains "by-products" that will react with metal and cause corrosion),but I have not run into those problems and I always carry my nose with me!

For a stiff over tensioned bobbin holder, you can custom bend the arms as Ray says, add a "rub" of candle wax to the balls on the arms and it does help if you remove the spool labels. The paper spool labels do add to the friction when the spool rotates.

If they are too loose, custom bending the other way helps, but so does looping the thread around one of the arms before threading through the tube.

If cursed with a rough tube that cuts thread they can be polished out with 1200 grit wet and dry sandpaper. If the tube is big enough it can be heated and flared with a tapered nail punch and a tiny glass bead super glued in the tip for the thread to run through can help...... or you can spend $10 on a new ceramic tubed bobbin holder.

In the past, I've used a small patch of "plumber's tape" (that white slick tape used to wrap onto threads to seal a joint) at the end of a spool between the spool and the ball of the bobbin. Just a small patch 1/2" square over each end of the spool really helps give a smooth rotation.
As far as small spools, I just bend the legs of the Bobbin holder. But I really like the Rite Bobbins, and they won't accept anything other than a standard spool. Even the Griffith spools are a bit short, so I cut off the end of a spool and use it as a filler. I suppose one could come up with proper spacers to make the Rite bobbins work with smaller silk spools.

Okay, okay, I admit it, I'm a Wasatch Mini Bobbin Holder Pimp. Did I mention that my wife is on Wasatch Pro-Staff? You should see the stuff she gets.

REE

I use this Mike Conner tip...
http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... ilk#p23417

Roadkill wrote:I use this Mike Conner tip...
http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... ilk#p23417

Now he reminds me. I done spent my $20.

I was thinking of putting a rod thru the spool that the legs could hold. I'd have to counter bore the ends to keep it from popping off.
I use UTC thread and they used clear polystyrene spools until recently. They wouldn't cut very well.

Kirk

chase creek wrote: As far as small spools, I just bend the legs of the Bobbin holder.

I have a couple of midge Matarellis that work like charm but have also adjusted a Tiemco ceramic bobbin holder for these small spools and could not ask for better.

dd

Lawrence Finney offers a "multi spool" bobbin holder that might hold two or three spools of Pearsall silk at the same time.

http://www.finneysflies.com/fly_tying_tools_94.html#

It isn't exactly "give away" cheap though.

Matarelli Midge Bobbin is what I use. I have no complaints. I did not need to read this thread. Now I want to get that bobbin everyone is raving about. Well, in the future that is....

Kirk, you can put your Pearsall's on an empty standard spool, and use a regular bobbin if you like. I do that with most of my YLI silk.

Thanks for the idea Kelly, but I figure the less I handle the silk, the better for the silk. It's going to be interesting anyway.

Kirk

Im a wastach guy too..I see soft hackles now as an escape from production and a slip into finesse. Like drinking a fine micro brew. If im going to sit down and tie soft hackles I want to use a fine tool to lash material to shank