Chuck,
Don't bother- I can send you some of this nightmare thread to play with.
DonO
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Alexander" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 3:16 PM
Subject: Re: [VFB] Mystery of the 50/0 thread revealed- here- on VFB!!
Don.. How do you tie it off without breaking it then??? Is it that
strong???
Also, does this clothesline have either a white, or tan coating??? and
does
it look kinda like phone line??? I may know where to get some here.There
is
an old home owned hardware store here called "Kojak's" (cause the guy is
bald and looks like Telly who owns it LOL).. But, he has been in business
sooo long, he has stuff that places like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc would
never
even be able to order.. We have a saying around here about that store for
hard to find hardware stuff "If Kojak" ain't got it... You probably don't
need it" LOL... I'll check with him and see what he has, Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "DonO" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 12:45 PM
Subject: [VFB] Mystery of the 50/0 thread revealed- here- on VFB!!
> 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???
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