Hello John: I thoroughly commiserate on this one. I have a fair collection of antique salmon flies and I notice that the really nice twisted gut eyes were probably done this way. what a hassle! I personally use Mustad 80500bl down eyes in 3/0 and have had descent results....and..a nice looking fly (IMHO) I studied with bill chinn Jr and he knows a thing or 2 about BEAUTIFUL FLIES! So I know what a balanced fly should look like. Try this trick when you tie: 1. FLATTEN YOUR TAILS. AND 2. SHORTEN YOU TAGS. I t hink you will be more pleased with your results. Barring this and returning to your topic, I think you can twist your own gut without the gizmo. But if you are really determined, GET THEN TO DEMO IT. EITHER THEY DO IT OR YOU WALK. Life is too short to screw around with this sort of monkey business. I usually put a nail in the wall (dedicated spot) soak the gut in the proper diameter. and twis with fixable pliers and let the mess hang until dry. this does a great job IMHO. Take a close look at those 80000 series (not in production any more) hooks, I am amazed at the overall design and execution. they are long in the shank and only go to 3/0, but I am h appy. If you ever come accross the old (1920s) Pryce-Tannatt hooks (eyed) you will know you dont need gut eyes. They are gorgeous! the Mustads come as close as any I have seen to this high standard. If you have any further questions, please fire off an email. Best wishes in your craft Dave Potts Oregon
On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 12:53:14 -0400 "John Roth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hello everybody. I've got yet another problem that I'm hoping > somebody can give me a hand with. One of these days, I'm determined > to be an expert and I'll come around giving all the advice I can, > but in the meantime, I thank everybody who replys and who has > replied in the past! > > As I've mentioned in a couple of recent posts, I'm trying my hand at > tying salmon flies. I decided I didn't much care for what a loop > eye hook was doing to the bodies of my flies, so I moved on along to > blind eye hooks with silk gut eyes. These materials just came in > this week, but its all straightforward enough that I don't > anticipate any trouble here at all. I know I can just twist the gut > with a couple sets of vise grips if it came down to it - probably > not pretty, but I guess it would get the job done. > > When the guy at the local fly shop ordered the blind eye hooks and > the silk gut for me, he also ordered a silk gut twister which I > haven't actually bought because I can't for the LIFE of me figure > out what the heck to DO with it. I'm hoping somebody on the list > has some experience using these and can provide me with some idea of > how the thing works. I've talked to a number of people trying to > get an answer, but I've yet to hear one. > > Let me describe this tool. Its got to be the most nicely machined > fly tying tool I've seen. It looks somewhat similar to a dubbing > twister. Its got a small diameter brass handle section of about > four inches. At the top of that is a knurled knob which spins on a > very nice ball bearing (high-end components, so I have to assume its > probably useful or nobody would have gone to all this trouble and > expense). Mounted on top of this knob and fixed so as to rotate > along with the knob are three thin, flexible wires with the ends > curled over so as to form hooks which I'm guessing hold onto the gut > while it's being twisted. > > I contacted the maker of the tool and was promised some assistance, > but I believe the assistance that's on its way is in regard to the > silk gut itself rather than the tool. I can certainly see how three > doubled over strands of gut could be hooked onto the three wires and > twisted, resulting in a six strand gut eye, but honestly I've never > seen more than three individual strands used on one. The maker > mentioned that the tool could be used to twist from one to six > strands together. > > Does anybody have any clue about the tool I'm talking about? I'd be > more than happy to take a picture of it and forward that around if > anyone is willing to brainstorm with me. Its been bugging the heck > out of me since I saw the tool two days ago because I just can't > figure out how it would be used. Any information would as always be > greatly apreciated. Thanks to anybody who replies!! > > John Roth > Baltimore, MD
