Richardson's silk thread

[gentleshepherd]

I purchased a bunch of Richardsons's silk thread last evening at an auction for $8.00. All of the thread is unused on Wooden spools.

My question is this, is it as good as the other silk threads meantioned on this forum and many others.

I tried doing some research and am not having any success.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[letumgo]

gentlesheapard - I have never heard of this type of silk thread, but would expect it to work just fine. Have you tried tying with it yet? Have you compared it with Pearsalls, or any other brand of silk thread? Silk tends to take colors very well, so in that aspect, I would expect it to be very similar to Pearsalls. I would love to hear more, once you've played with it and can offer your own opinion.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

From what I've been able to find Ricardson's made crocheting silk thread. Since that type of needle work is not in my area of expertise I have no idea how it compares. I have noticed a post or two on the classic rod forum about using Richardson's silks as rod wrapping thread also.

Like Ray, I'd really like to hear how you like tying with it once you have a chance to try it.

[letumgo]

Ron - I wonder if it is more like Pearsalls Napels (thicker) silk thread. Should still work fine, but need to be careful with the number of thread wraps.

[Mataura mayfly]

Possibly all you might have to watch is the strength of the thread. I have played with some vintage silk that will take less tension than a Snipe hackle to break, individual fibers seem to break away from the main thread as the silk was wrapped-leaving a "hairy" weak body where a smooth finish was the desire.
Not saying this will be the case with the material you have bought- just something to be aware of.

The shades of colouration may not be exact to Pearsall silks, but do NOT let that worry you, if it is insect/buggy/trout fly in colour then use it as you would any other thread. You may find it is a woven thread made of three or more strands, may even be "button hole" twist size, again do not let that worry you as it can be separated to form smaller bodies or left whole to give bulk.

I say use it, have fun with it, do not get too hung up on exact matches to other well hyped brands and be sure to share the results with us here.

[gentleshepherd]

Thank you all for the quick responses. I will give it a try this week once my schedule settles down. I'll post up some pics of the ties as well!

[letumgo]

Cool. I look forward to seeing the photos and the flies. Can you include a photo of the spools of silk?

[gentleshepherd]

Yes I will!

[Mike Connor]

May be of interest;

http://info.fabrics.net/vintage-thread-chart/

http://www.belding.michlibrary.org/our- ... urers.html

If what you have is silk it will work as well as any other silk, the only proviso here is that old silk will often have deteriorated very considerably making it weak. You can split embroidery or crochet thread quite easily. At one time a large number of flies were dressed by using hanks of split silk. The same effect can be obtained by splitting floss silk. Bodies of such silk tend to "pink" especially if the silk is old and has not been stored properly. The individual strands break and stick out. This was also a major problem with silk flylines at one time, and made them impossible to cast through rod rings. Paper acid, light itself, and a number of other things can cause silk to deteriorate quite rapidly making it useless for most things. You can still usually use such stuff as silk dubbing if you really want to.

May also be of interest;

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=17026.0

[Smuggler]

Mike, your wealth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me.
Again, great links.