Sent this earlier and it boubced, trying again,
Tony
Joyce,
Hope you don't mind, I thought I would throw this in.
I tie in the hackle vertically a few degrees off center, leaving about
1/8" to 1/4" of bare stem above the tie in point. The bare stem is
important, it keeps the hackle from twisting when starting the wrap . I
start my wrap with the bare stem making the first turn. The bare stem
wrap goes "up" and then the second wrap comes down over the first "up"
wrap locking it in place. The rest of the wraps are done with swinging
the hackle pliers down under each wrap, over the shank and back down
under the wrap using a slight lifting motion. This is all done in one
wrap. I use the swivel head hackle pliers to do this and it is real
simple. Doing this lifts the hackle stem up against the last wrap
tightening the wraps on the post. It also keeps from trapping the hackle
barbs.
I tie the hackle off at the post but do the whip finish behind the eye.
To do this, drop the bobbin so that the thread is behind the post. Wrap
the hackle. When the hackle is wrapped, pull the tag end of the hackle
towards you, lift the bobbin and bring the thread around the post by
wiggling it through the barbs on the tag end. Wrap the thread around the
base of the post a few times trapping the tag end of the hackle. With
two or three finger tips cupped in front of the hook eye, slide them
back pulling the barbs out of the way for the whip finish. Bring the
thread fwd to the hook eye and whip finish in the normal way. This is
how I thought myself to tie parachutes, it is the only way I have ever
done it.
As I said in a past post, I find it hard to write it up but can show how
it is done in a few minuets.
Tony
Joyce's crafts and flies wrote:
If you have a rotary vise, after you've tied in the parachute hackle,
simply flip the hook so that it is now pointing up and down with the
parachute post towards your right, then simply spin the vise and,
starting at the top, wind the hackle down towards the hook in several
turns, then tie off on the post (learned this trick from Al and
Gretchen Beatty). Works a charm. Joyce
