OK, OK, I'll take the mystery out of my tying thread. I show it to
everyone
that visits my studio and people at shows, so it's no secret.
Many years ago, I obtained some non-descript clothes-line material. It
consisted of a clear outer shell and a fiber core of white, shiny,
probably
gel-spun fibers.
I didn't pay it much heed until I used some of the outer shell for
hook-point protectors on giant marlin flies. I stripped about a foot of
the
shell for the protectors, so I had a foot of the core to inspect closely.
It was not unlike the synthetic cores you'd find in the center of the
flex-braid body materials in the store- the kind tiers chop up and use for
wings-posts and spinner wings. I'd checked those fibers in the past to
use
as tying thread and they just had no strength on an individual strand
basis,
so were useless as tying thread for #32's (Mustads). And since I've been
tying 32's for the last 20 years, I was always searching hi & low for
strong
ultra-fine thread. The nearest I had come up with so far was a few
strands
off a spool of Roman Benechi thread that he had given me at a show. You
couldn't cut this stuff with your sharpest scissors if you didn't have
tension on it. But one fiber was just too weak to tie with, as it didn't
have the strength to even suspend my midge bobbin. And creating a thread
using 3 or 4 strands was hard, as they were difficult to work out of the
main thread, as they weren't linear but for short distances, and then they
needed to be waxed and spun.
But this clothesline core was a different story. I frayed the end of the
12" piece and picked out one fiber, which was almost ivisible, and I was
easily able to pull it from the main core, which was great- it was linear
construction. The single fiber was hard to handle, since it didn't drop
with gravity. It would just float in space and then actually rise. And
if
I let go it would float away. Wow, this stuff was THIN! If I looked away
for a half sec., I couldn't spot it again until the light reflected off of
it just right. And it wasn't all crinkled up, like other super-strands.
Now, was it strong? That was the real test. I took the 12" long strand
and
wound it onto one of my little wooden midge thread-spools just for this
task
(Jeff, the one I showed you). I put it in my midge tying bobbin and
wrapped
a few turns on a small hook in the jaws. It held, and suspended the
bobbin.
Now could I tie with enough tension to wrap down materials and actually
feed
off of the spool? One turn- snap. Oh Ohhh. Back off on the bobbin arm
tension. Snap again. Back off some more. One turn, two turns- snap.
Back
off some more. Oops, too much- bobbin just free-wheeled right off the
thread. Re-spool, tighten a minute tad. It holds. Wrap a few turns,
good,
hang, OK. Wrap some more turns with a little tension applied to the
bobbin-
it held. OK, tie some materials down. It works, by Buggs!!! So I
stripped a 3-foot section and separated single fibers onto spools and had
untra-fine tying thread for size 32's. It takes about two inches of it to
tie a #32 royal coachman, so that first batch lasted a long time. It's so
fine, I've never encountered thread build-up. The fiber is white and
semi-opaque, so I sometimes color it black so I can see the wraps better
on
the hook. Can't use head cement then, because it takes the black dye and
runs it up into the fly materials, creating a black midge effect. So I
usually fiish up the head un-dyed, put a tad of head-cement on, let dry,
then dye black.
I had a hundred hooks that I bought from Marv Nolte years ago (plus a few
from before). I had about 20 left when Deb & I cut that deal in NJ a few
weeks ago. So I've tied quite a few #32's over the years- lots of times
in
shows (individually and in flytying theaters). Quite a few were lost when
they were accidentally dropped- even on hard floors. People are amazed at
the miniature materials I use to tie #32's, then they're really amazed
when
I take my glasses off to tie them- naked eye- no magnification. It's a
blast! But I have an advantage- these tiny fingers of mine- makes it
easy.
LOL
I've never been able to find this brand of clothes-line again. But 3' of
the core- probably a thousand strands (I ain't countin' them)- would be a
lifetime supply of '50/0' thread for lots and lots of production #32
Mustad
tiers. LOL
Dr. Demento (how I earned the name ^ )
P.S. Along with the Mustad #32's, I also have some VMC size (real) #30's,
32's, 34's, and 36's. They are fine-wire hooks (violin wire), not forged,
with a long shank and spade eye, & no barb ( a micro-barb would be nice).
They are nowhere near as strong as the Mustad forged 32, but who's fishing
them, anyway???
