Paul, Joyce and Mark, Thank you. I did the fold because the feather was "accepting" of it and I wondered about it. Now I have a new technique to try. I appreciate the help.
Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Marriner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 8:32 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Folding Hackle > Mike, the method given by Joyce is the one favoured by professional > tiers; any other is too slow. Exceptions aside, feathers for folding > fall into three categories, each generally for a specific purpose. > 1. Long cock neck hackles for palmering: here you get a pleasing taper > from rear to front. Folding gives a slight slant to the fibres and helps > prevent fibres being tied down while winding. Heavily used in > feather-wing salmon fly tying. > 2. Small cock neck or saddle tied in at the head to serve as a rearward > slanting collar or for pulling down into a throat. > 3. Hen saddle; because these are all web they fold easily. Add to this > the fact that they are inexpensive makes them the choice of most > commercial Atlantic salmon tiers for collars and throats on wet flies. > > To amplify what Joyce wrote: > Step 1: Stroke the fibres rearward from where you want to begin winding > into a vertical position. > Step 2: With the shiny side facing you, tie in on the side of the shank > directly "forward" (towards the tip) of first vertical fibres: after the > first two wraps ease the feather rearward slightly to pull a small > portion of the tip from under the wraps. Now finish tying off using the > Type 3 "kink lock" in How to Choose... > Step 3: With the butt of the feather in your left hand (scissors in your > right), position the feather with the shiny side up and the butt > pointing at you. Now run the back edge of your scissors down the left, > and then the right, side of the stem (often just the right side is > enough). The fibres will fold downward on each side. How radically will > depend on whether or not you are in a webby area. Don't be afraid to > repeat. Remember, the goal is not to have the fibres pointing vertically > downward (although you see that in a lot of book photos), merely to have > convinced them to orient in the direction you want when wound and > stroked. > Step 4: Proceed as per Joyce. > > Notes: > 1. Some hackle stems are twisted and will not fold well regardless. > 2. Sometimes fibres will shoot off at an angle after Step 1. If they > bother you snip them out early. > 3. I don't find the hackle pliers and fingers technique convenient for > very long hackles. Better to mount a bulldog clip (a la A.K. Best's > third hand but with more holding power) on your bench if you want to go > that route. The clip is mighty handy for other uses as well. > 4. Some well-known tiers moisten their fingers while folding with the > pliers route. There are also numerous combinations of holding and > stroking techniques. > 5. Folding via the clip (or hackle pliers) method is a great way to get > a bunch of hackle fibres for a throat. > > Cheers, > Paul > http://www.galesendpress.com > -- > Paul Marriner > Outdoor Writing & Photography. Owner: Gale's End Press. Member: OWAA & > OWC. > Author of Stillwater Fly Fishing: Tools & Tactics, How to Choose & Use > Fly-tying Thread, Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, Miramichi River Journal, > Ausable River Journal, and Atlantic Salmon.
