Mark,
I don't think that it's an issue of the two cements being incompatible...just that either one (or both) of them aren't drying clear or that the interface between the two is causing some type of distortion. The hard head has worked well for me. I generally apply several light coats if I want to have a "nice-looking" head or shellback, etc. Any bubbles, etc., are to be avoided (but will often resolve). To be honest, though, I'm usually only worried about clear finishes when the flies are going to be looked at, rather than fished. Vanity rears its head again.
Chris
At 01:32 PM 1/25/2005, you wrote:
Chris, i had some problems with the Hard Head not drying 100% clear when i used regular water based head cement for the first coat to get eyes clued on, before beginning with the Hard Head. Know anything about that? I also did some with Dave's Flexament as the first coat. It wasn't so bad at first but as my Hard Head got thinker, it started getting harder and harder to have it dry clearly. Maybe i didn't wait long enough for the water based head cement to completely dry before using the Hard Head????? Can two different water based cements just be incompatable?????? mark.....
From: "Deborah Duran" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [VFB] Loon Knot Sense for tying Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 07:44:20 -0500
I'm glad to hear you say that. I was beginning to think it was me. I tried it on Byards Caddis fly and I couldn't get it to cure right. I'm going to play with it some more. You made it look easy. I tried a thin coat then I tried adding a little more but that never cured either. Boy it sounds like I'm trying to knock Loon. I'm really not. Hard Head and this UV light and knot sense are the only products I've used. So don't read it that way. Deb
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Broomell Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 1:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [VFB] Loon Knot Sense for tying
Thought that I'd weigh in.
I - among others - have been using Loon UV Knot Sense in lieu of epoxy for a while no. Advantages: quick curing and nice appearance (doesn't appear to cloud up over time). One major disadvantage is the poor adhesion to the tying materials. I think that the product is designed more for "glomming" onto itself (i.e. around a knot on your leader) and not so much to something else in an "open" system (i.e. sprawled out on a feather bed...er...so to speak). Flies that others have tied which are COATED more-or-less uniformly with the knot sense seem to be less prone to have the knot sense come off. Others (um...the patterns that I'm using it for)...well...not so much. It's quick for making shell-backs, etc., but the material won't last as long as standard epoxy. Other possibilities are out there as far as quick-setting "adhesives"...in the process of looking into them and will report.
In short...it has some great applications. The company is environmentally-conscious...that speaks a lot (even you non-hippies out there should appreciate that to some extent).
Cheers, Chris
