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Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:15 am
by tie2fish
I mixed up my first batch of homemade wax the other day, with an eye to making something that would serve to color and/or add transluscence to silk thread. What I have so far works pretty well to this end, although it is still a tad soft. Anyhow, I decided to try it out first on Pearsall's Gossamer #3 (Primrose), and the Greenwell Spider shown below is the result. I'm quite pleased with the effect the wax has on the silk; the dark shadow showing through is from the dark tag ends of the Greenwell hen feather fibers.

Greenwell Spider II

Hook: Daiichi 1550, # 14
Thread: Pearsall's Gossamer #3 Primrose, very well waxed
Hackle: Greenwell hen
Rib: Fine gold wire
Tail: Greenwell hen hackle fibers
Body: Thread in touching turns

This photo is lost.

Re: Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:42 am
by hankaye
t2f, Howdy;

Nice job! You deffinatly have the translucence part of it. I spy the line between the shank and the base of the tail.
Really shines.

hank

Re: Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 9:41 pm
by DNicolson
I hate to sound too pernickety, but a Greenwell spider has no tail.
Nice Greenwell flymph though. ;)

Re: Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:16 am
by willowhead
CONGRATZ Bill..........ya done good. ;) i just got home to Arkansas earlier....... :D

Re: Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 8:22 am
by William Anderson
Bill, another cool fly to see. I'll have to try your new wax if you have a pinch left over. I tried making wax a couple years ago, and still have the stuff to do it, but I got a paddy from Paul Ainsworth that is impossible to beat, so I haven't ventured out again. Mine turned out like I wanted it to, softer and nicely toned, but I didn't realize tying with it was going to be, not great. This looks spot on.

Great looking Greenwell.

w

Re: Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:36 am
by tie2fish
DNicolson wrote:I hate to sound too pernickety, but a Greenwell spider has no tail.
Nice Greenwell flymph though. ;)
I'm sure you are correct, sir, that this fly is not a spider in the strictest sense of the term :oops: . Other tyers, however, including Alice Conba, have been known to include tails on dressings that they call "spiders". I'm also pretty sure that it is not a "flymph" either, as it lacks the spikey brush-like body/thorax fur that defines what Leisenring and Hidy had in mind ;) .

Re: Old Fly, New Wax

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:36 pm
by willowhead
Bill.....you got your versa and you got your visa.....as in relevant and irrelevant......
with these flies.....far as i'm concerned.....all that matters is does a fish like it well enough to eat it, and are you havin' fun tyin' 'em, and fishin' 'em. Thass the relevant part..... ;)
the historical aspects are all fine and dandy and a lotta fun to study and learn about............but really..........i'd lay money some dirt poor kid up on a mountain top (in Caintucky :lol: ) with a cane pole and a pair of pliers for a vise, is able to enjoy the experience just as vividly as any of us, if not more...............equally relevant. :D