These were all good techniques- in their day, and were required because of unwanted traits in the stems of the hackles that were available at that time.
Remember that with Whiting hackles we're playing a new game. He has spent considerable effort developing feathers that do what tyers need, not what the birds need. Cutting preparation steps was a must for professional tiers and was a chief concern for Tom early on. The stems now are considerably thinner, stronger, and more supple. This allows the barbs on the hook side to reverse direction easily and point away from the hook, whether tying in at the tip or the butt. And he also reversed the direction of the oval cross-section on the stem so that it lies down easily without twisting. A slight bit of 'turbine twist' is seen on the back-side feathers, but it is very minimal and can be fixed with a pinch-twist in the opposite direction once the fly is finished. This is also much easier if you 'prep' the hackle by reverse combing it, like I wrote before. Then the feathers end up perpendicular to the shank much more easily. This 'prep' takes about six seconds per hackle. The thread-base you tie under the hackles also plays a big role in how the hackle wraps will react. Again, Whiting is developing feathers with tiers and fishing in mind. That's why I think it's so important to get feathers and flies into the hands of the best experts and biggest critics out there - you guys. That's why I send out and give out samples, asking nothing in return but comments- especially the critical ones. Tom relies on input to makes adjustments in his bird's feathers- and that input can only come from tiers and fishers. Pro-Team members are a go-between and a catalyst, generating feedback to Tom in order to make the birds even better. So everyone benefits. That is why I send samples to beginners and experts alike, as each will have different comments based on their experience level. (How would you like to be one of his roosters? You get inspected with a microscope, and if your feathers aren't up to snuff, you're catfood!) This is why I came up with the idea of the co-op swap. When Hoffman was developing saddles for tying, they were more rare than hen's teeth. I remember buying them- grizzly only- in small clumps of 10 feathers about 5" long, if we could find them at all. But now Tom's breeding program also has mass-production as it's goal, but with all of the associated problems of mass production. But at least you can get his feathers by walking into just about any fly shop. With you guys combining your buying power, you'll have a hackle collection that we could not have even dreamed of 20 years ago. OK, enough of me... DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Di Somma" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 2:37 PM Subject: Re: [VFB] Hackle Folding > Mark" > > I was taught to hold the stem between your thunb and first finger with the > feather laying in your palm. You then position the tip of the feather toward > your palm and hold it down with your pinky. With your other hand you stroke > the barbs toward each other, squeezing them between your thumb and first > finger. This may have to be done several times in order to get them to be > creased enough to stay in that position. > > I find it tooooo much trouble and too much like work to do it that way, so I > just pull off the barbules from one side of the feather. Same result, maybe > better ( I believe sparcer is better ) without the frustration of trying to > manuver this little feather in one hane and and bending it towards itself > with the other. > > Alan Di Somma > Phoenix,Az. > > http://www.azod.com > http://www.azflycasters.org/ > http://www.wmonline.com/attract/lakes.htm > http://www.wmonline.com/attract/streams.htm > > "Deep Thoughts" > As seen on Cleveland Oh. billboards. > > You think it's HOT here?.-God > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mark Klemick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 12:58 PM > Subject: [VFB] Hackle Folding > > > : Hello All, > : > : The brief description on the Whiting web-site describing how the > : grizzly pattern generates was really quite interesting, thanks for > : mentioning it, DonO. > : > : Also on the site in the 'Tips and Tricks' section by Al Beatty, he > : mentions a nifty hackle folding technique that I tried out. I'm > : assuming that the goal is to bend all barbs 90 degrees toward each > : other so they're all pointing in the same direction, so that no barbs > : get trapped underneath when rotating the hackle around hook or post. > : > : > : You cut a slot in a foam block and then press the stem down into the > : slot. It didn't work so well for me, so maybe someone could offer > : suggestions. Basically, the barbs just sprang right back to their > : original shape after being pulled out of the block. > : > : Are you supposed to leave them in there for a while? Does it only > : work with larger feathers? (I was trying to do some size 16 grizzly > : saddle.) > : > : Thanks in advance for any ideas, > : > : Mark > : > : > : ps - heh heh heh - the spell checker just suggested that 'DonO' > : should be changed to 'Dodo', but I vetoed THAT recommendation :-) > : > : __________________________________________________ > : Do you Yahoo!? > : Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > : http://mailplus.yahoo.com >
