OPPS - forgot Mart. Thanks to you too of course. Mike
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Bliss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 9:09 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Folding Hackle > Paul, Joyce and Mark, > > Thank you. I did the fold because the feather was "accepting" of it and I > wondered about it. Now I have a new technique to try. I appreciate the > help. > > Mike > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Paul Marriner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 8:32 AM > Subject: Re: [VFB] Folding Hackle > > > > Mike, the method given by Joyce is the one favoured by professional > > tiers; any other is too slow. Exceptions aside, feathers for folding > > fall into three categories, each generally for a specific purpose. > > 1. Long cock neck hackles for palmering: here you get a pleasing taper > > from rear to front. Folding gives a slight slant to the fibres and helps > > prevent fibres being tied down while winding. Heavily used in > > feather-wing salmon fly tying. > > 2. Small cock neck or saddle tied in at the head to serve as a rearward > > slanting collar or for pulling down into a throat. > > 3. Hen saddle; because these are all web they fold easily. Add to this > > the fact that they are inexpensive makes them the choice of most > > commercial Atlantic salmon tiers for collars and throats on wet flies. > > > > To amplify what Joyce wrote: > > Step 1: Stroke the fibres rearward from where you want to begin winding > > into a vertical position. > > Step 2: With the shiny side facing you, tie in on the side of the shank > > directly "forward" (towards the tip) of first vertical fibres: after the > > first two wraps ease the feather rearward slightly to pull a small > > portion of the tip from under the wraps. Now finish tying off using the > > Type 3 "kink lock" in How to Choose... > > Step 3: With the butt of the feather in your left hand (scissors in your > > right), position the feather with the shiny side up and the butt > > pointing at you. Now run the back edge of your scissors down the left, > > and then the right, side of the stem (often just the right side is > > enough). The fibres will fold downward on each side. How radically will > > depend on whether or not you are in a webby area. Don't be afraid to > > repeat. Remember, the goal is not to have the fibres pointing vertically > > downward (although you see that in a lot of book photos), merely to have > > convinced them to orient in the direction you want when wound and > > stroked. > > Step 4: Proceed as per Joyce. > > > > Notes: > > 1. Some hackle stems are twisted and will not fold well regardless. > > 2. Sometimes fibres will shoot off at an angle after Step 1. If they > > bother you snip them out early. > > 3. I don't find the hackle pliers and fingers technique convenient for > > very long hackles. Better to mount a bulldog clip (a la A.K. Best's > > third hand but with more holding power) on your bench if you want to go > > that route. The clip is mighty handy for other uses as well. > > 4. Some well-known tiers moisten their fingers while folding with the > > pliers route. There are also numerous combinations of holding and > > stroking techniques. > > 5. Folding via the clip (or hackle pliers) method is a great way to get > > a bunch of hackle fibres for a throat. > > > > Cheers, > > Paul > > http://www.galesendpress.com > > -- > > Paul Marriner > > Outdoor Writing & Photography. Owner: Gale's End Press. Member: OWAA & > > OWC. > > Author of Stillwater Fly Fishing: Tools & Tactics, How to Choose & Use > > Fly-tying Thread, Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, Miramichi River Journal, > > Ausable River Journal, and Atlantic Salmon. >
