For me, purpose number 1 of dubbing wax is to give traction to the fingers when spinning the dubbing around the thread. This is done by waxing my fingers and not the tying thread and saliva works just as well most of the time. Angora goat, seal fur and deer hair are a couple instances when using wax is better but, to be honest, anymore I dub via the Nor-Vise spun-dubbing technique when using coarse materials and no longer need to worry about the hassle.
Purpose number 2 comes into play when I use LaFontaine's "touch dubbing" technique and this is the only time I will wax the thread. Most of the time the thread at the shops is already waxed, it's just not as tacky as dubbing wax. As for brands of dubbing wax, there are a few obvious waxes out there, and some that aren't so obvious...like the wax ring from the plumbing supply store. There's probably enough wax in one of those rings for this entire list for the next century. Then there is the cross country ski wax with differing degrees of tackiness for different types of snow (made almost obsolete by fish-scale skis). Both the ski wax and the crapper ring work well but how much wax does one really need? DJ ...and blending your own dubbing is easy and allows you to come up with blends that are unavailable commercially; the ultimate in versatility. All you need is a couple blending cards and some yarn, fur or hair. To reproduce a certain blend, keep track of how many inches of yarn (and how small the pieces were chopped into) or square inches of fur were used. --- Ken Shipley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm a novice tier. Working on my third winter now > and > have probably started into my second thousand flies. > > So, I kind of know what I'm doing, but not really. > > My question is, what's the primary purpose of > dubbing > wax? I'd always assumed that it was mainly used as > an > adhesive. Helps stick the fur to the thread. When > I > first got started, I needed all the help I could > get. > But, as I got better at spinning the fur or > synthetic, > I have no problem putting dubbing on bare thread. > > Granted, I don't blend my own dubbing. I buy the > premixed stuff off the wall at the fly shop. So, if > I > need a super fine blend for a BWO, I get that. If I > need a courser mix for GRHEs, I can find that too. > Sguard#39;m not cleaning gaurd hairs out of a hare's > mask. Wax might be more critical if I did. > > Maybe I'm wrong about the primary purpose. I would > think that a fly tied with waxed thread, and the > attendant waxed dubbing, would be more waterproof > and > would float better than an unwaxed version. Maybe > that's the primary purpose. If that's the case, > though, wouldn't using something like Mucilin be > more > effective? I've been sitting at the bench most > nights > now and trying this. Haven't had a chance to put > the > flies on the water yet. > > Anyone have any thoughts on this? > > Thanks, > --ken > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up > now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com ===== http://www.geocities.com/salmn8r/caddisforkids.html http://www.geocities.com/salmn8r/furledstinger.html Please e-mail direct for scheduling and pricing information of fly tying presentations and seminars for your club or group. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
