FLYMPH FORUM

grifs thin or black duck traditional head cement (pharmacist formula replacement)

IT SOUNDS LIKE EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE BOTTLE OF EACH, WATER BASED VS. LACQUER BASED, LYING IN WAIT ON THE TYING BENCH. THE WATER BASED PRODUCTS ARE NICE BUT I'VE NOTICED THAT AFTER A SHORT DRYING TIME, THEY DRY A LITTLE "HAZY". THE STD. "SMELLY" ONES (I LIKE THAT DESCRIPTION) DO A GREAT JOB PENETRATING THE THREAD WRAPS AND DRY WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF GLOSS. DRAWBACK? YOU LOOSE A FEW BRAIN CELLS IN THE PROCESS. IS IT WORTH IT? I SINK THO...
NEARLY BRAINLESS IN THE DEN,
DOUGSDEN

http://www.offthehookflyshop.com/frvonschece.html

This stuff is by far my favorite head cement. It's solvent based. The thing that I love about this stuff is that it doesn't change the way the fly looks in any way. Water penetrates the cement so the colors of dubbing and thread will change the way you would expect them it too, but it will still hold everything together quite nicely. I wouldn't say it's the most durable stuff out there, but it's great to work with and does the job. I have used numerous other cements and I won't use anything else.

Of course if you wanted certain affects the other stuff can be good too. But this is what I use on 95% of my patterns.

The one knock I would have is that the built in brush allows too much of the cement to escape when you apply it, so you tend to waste a lot of it. The bottle won't dry up on you either as long as leave the cap on unlike many other brands.

The body of this pattern has this cement on it. You probably wouldn't have ever guessed it was applied.

thanks for sugestions everyone, now i definetly have a lot more to think about for the next time i but head cement

For commercial ties I use salleys. For most of my wets I’ve taken to using Minwax Polycrylic. It’s water soluble seals nicely with no smell and non flamable. I quite like it. Not a high gloss finish but rather a nice sealant that penetrates well.

I prefer Griffin thin cement for most of my tying. I also use Salley Hansens. For A shiny head I use Wapsi Gloss coat.


carlp

well, i don't know if anyone else does this but i just apply a little dubbing wax to the tying thread and then two small whip finishes or half hitches. out of curiosity does anyone else do this?

I'm a super glue guy.....Sally sits next to the bench as well, but I find the quick drying of super glue to be perfect for production tying

Gentlemen,
There was, years ago, a warning of not to use super glue types on flies. I know many use it. The reason was that that particular type of glue was not totally waterproof. In fact if I remember correctly, this type of glue took on or was softened in water after exposures. It suggested using epoxy for gluing objects onto flies like eyes, etc. I'm not sure if this is still the case or not. Anyone have more insight.

Mark

Soft-hackle wrote:The reason was that that particular type of glue was not totally waterproof. In fact if I remember correctly, this type of glue took on or was softened in water after exposures.

I've heard this from a number of sources, and while it may have some basis in fact, I've used it in numerous applications for years and to date I've never seen it breakdown, become cloudy or dissolve. That said I wouldn't use it where you would "build up" several coats (lacquer and epoxy are far better suited for this task), or use it to attach something to a fly without some other form of support (i.e. thread or epoxy).

My $0.02,

Aaron