This section currently has 15 articles

All the fancy gadgets

Everyday Fly Tying Tips

Tie Better: I am as likely to sit down and tie six different flies as I am to tie six of the same pattern. Speed is not a concern, but I don't want to waste my time either. There are things I can do to make my life easier which may be different from a professional production tyer.
Click here to read more

TMC Wingburner

Burning wings: Tired of making wings with too many divertions from time to time? See if the new tool from TMC can help you burn the wings perfectly every time or if you still have to fold and cut like an used hair dresser.
Click this burning link

Find "Tool turning" on this page

Tool turning

Woodworking: Dutch Henk Verhaar finds that producing his own tools is just as satisfying as tying flies or building rods. Follow his small course in woodturning here and learn to turn hair stackers, bodkins and other beautiful tools in exotic woods
It's quite easy and requires only few tools

This link takes you to "My Eyes!!"

My Eyes!!

Painting Eyes: Painting eyes on streamers is nothing new, but as with any other tying procedure, there are some tricks that can help, and some pitfalls that should be avoided. This article shows you how to do it on-the-cheap with readily available materials.
Click here to read more

Find "The Cautery" on this page

The Cautery

Cut, cut: Martin Joergensen writes: "I always wanted one of these tools. I have seen them used at fly tying shows and by a few tyers elsewhere, and found the tool to be an excellent companion for the lazy and sloppy fly tyer. Just my kind of tool!"
Read his review of the tool that burns material here

This link takes you to "Tying bench"

Flexible bench

Woodworking: German Jan-Ole Willers wanted to be able to clear his vice, tools and materials off the dining table for such unimportant events as lunch and dinner. That made him think out and build his own inexpensive portable fly tying bench. You can do the same.
See the full construction details in this article

Go to "DIY Tying Station"

Tying Station

Woodworking: A tying station is a small, mobile board where you can set up your vise and your tools, making it quick and easy to move your favorite tying spot around: from the dinner table to the TV to the office to... the bed? This article gives you some ideas on how to make one.
Find instructions, images and drawings here

Find "DIY Epoxy Rotor" on this page

DIY Epoxy Rotor

Slowhand: If you tie a lot of epoxy flies and have been glancing in the direction of the nice but expensive epoxy rotors in the local flyshop, you may want to consider building your own out of some scraps and a disco mirror ball motor.
Read the complete instructions and see the step-by-step photos here.

"C&F tube body tool" is found here

C&F tube body tool

Extend yourself: The C&F extended tube body tool is more than two darning needles in a fancy holder. If you - like Dutch Henk Verhaar - like doing it yourself, this might be worth looking into. The flies tied with extended bodies can become very realistic and still be simple to tie.
Read Henk's review here

See "A portable fly tying kit" by clicking here

A portable fly tying kit

In the most simplistic terms, a flytying kit must only have the tools and materials necessary to tie the flies you may use on a single trip or a single river. However, like most of us, a travelling flytying kit consumes more space than 26 high-schoolers crammed in a Volkswagen Beetle.

Go to Turbo Block

Turbo Block
Siman Ltd. has taken the Turbo dubbing twister a step further with this tool, which enables you to easily make your own dubbing brushes - stiff or soft and from almost any dubbing material.

Go to Whip fisnish with your hands

Whip fisnish with your hands
Whip finishing without a tool is not at all difficult. Lots of people use and praise the whip finishing tool which comes in many variations.

Go to Rotary vices

Rotary vices
This section of Tie Better will deal with rotary fly tying vices. I will try to explain what a true rotary vice is, what its advatnages are and how it can be used in different steps of fly tying.

Fisker tube tool
This Danish tool might be an alternative. In spite of some minor drawbacks, it's a very good tool at a very reasonable price.

Go to Stacking material

Stacking material
When stacking materials it is important to consider it as consisting of more than just one process. There are several steps involved: material selection, cleaning and preparing, selecting the right tool and performing the stacking process itself. By Wayne Luallen

All articles from this section...

Tie Better
·How to submit a pattern to GFF
·Martin's Mundane Fly Project
·Oatman's Silver Darter
·The Killer Mantis
·Everyday Fly Tying Tips
·Major Traherne's flies
·Tying with CDC
·The CDC & Elk family
·DIY brushes and combs
·The Bloody Zonker
More...
Book Reviews
·A Fly Fishing Guide to Rocky Mo...
·Atlantic Salmon Magic
·Essential Saltwater Flies
·Fifty more places to fly fish b...
·US-Europe book couriers wanted
·The Blitz
·Fishing Season
·Plu Stiniog
·I’ve Never Met an Idiot on the ...
·Bonefish Fly Patterns
More...
Reviews
·The Fish & The Fly Q&A
·The Fish & The Fly 1-3
·A Fly Fishing Guide to Rocky Mo...
·Atlantic Salmon Magic
·Essential Saltwater Flies
·Fifty more places to fly fish b...
·Stepping into the Stream
·Heads or Tails
·A Backyard in Nowhere Q&A
·A Backyard in Nowhere
More...

Recommend this page to a friend