Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
OH! That makes my teeth hurt, just looking at them.
YIKES!!!
YIKES!!!
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
-nicely done, good job generation.
Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Classic fly and presentation Ray!
I have settled on some curved Dr Slick tweezers for manipulating the dubbing on my block.

I have settled on some curved Dr Slick tweezers for manipulating the dubbing on my block.
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Good lord, by the time I get to comment there is far to much to comment on. This is an exceptional flymph, to my eye, it really does all the things I would want to see in these flies. I wish the background were a bit darker so the lighter materials were clearer, but that doesn't take away from the elegance in which they were assembled. This is great. I wish I had tied this one myself. My jealousy of someone's tie is usually a mark of my appreciation for a fly like this.
Also a great shot of the dubbing block that Lance made. It is just the kind of simplicity and functionality to speaks clearly to the Clark blocks in his fathers collection. This one will serve you and your kids (once they come around) for years. The techniques he used to produce this one served me very well in determining what I wanted to include in the blocks I make. Top rate on Lance's part.
On the spun bodies, they are not as easy to achieve as it would seem on first attempt, (I know this is not your first attempt, but it's a good example of a loaded card of spun bodies) but with a couple sessions, it does become especially simple. The bodies you show on the card could be a bit more sparse, depending on the result you're trying to achieve, but these will work out great and no doubt produce very successful fishing flies. It's just a bit of practice, and then the aha. And then you switch materials and the aha fades, only to return with a bit more practice. I'm glad to see the card all loaded up. It's really cool to see the process shown for making these flies, something that I fall short on demonstrating and I appreciate the effort you put into sharing.
Which wax, or what was the quality of the wax that you used to put these bodies together? I've found too that using the bodies within an hour of spinning them is do-able, but better to give them some time to meld. There is also some play in the manipulation of the bodies once they are tied on, all depending on the desired result, and the amount of time they are allowed to sit.
This is another exceptional post. Again, thanks for the effort to share. You, and so many others here who are taking the extra steps to demonstrate the smallest personal techniques that make this such an amazing site.
w
Also a great shot of the dubbing block that Lance made. It is just the kind of simplicity and functionality to speaks clearly to the Clark blocks in his fathers collection. This one will serve you and your kids (once they come around) for years. The techniques he used to produce this one served me very well in determining what I wanted to include in the blocks I make. Top rate on Lance's part.
On the spun bodies, they are not as easy to achieve as it would seem on first attempt, (I know this is not your first attempt, but it's a good example of a loaded card of spun bodies) but with a couple sessions, it does become especially simple. The bodies you show on the card could be a bit more sparse, depending on the result you're trying to achieve, but these will work out great and no doubt produce very successful fishing flies. It's just a bit of practice, and then the aha. And then you switch materials and the aha fades, only to return with a bit more practice. I'm glad to see the card all loaded up. It's really cool to see the process shown for making these flies, something that I fall short on demonstrating and I appreciate the effort you put into sharing.
Which wax, or what was the quality of the wax that you used to put these bodies together? I've found too that using the bodies within an hour of spinning them is do-able, but better to give them some time to meld. There is also some play in the manipulation of the bodies once they are tied on, all depending on the desired result, and the amount of time they are allowed to sit.
This is another exceptional post. Again, thanks for the effort to share. You, and so many others here who are taking the extra steps to demonstrate the smallest personal techniques that make this such an amazing site.
w
"A man should not try to eliminate his complexes, but rather come into accord with them. They are ultimately what directs his conduct in the world." Sigmund Freud.
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Rodger...this is one of the coolest things I've seen in the tools dept. That is such a nice tool. Thanks for sharing that.chase creek wrote:Hi Ray.
I'll ask my wife in the morning about the tweezers, she's down for the night now. I sometimes forget she's still working (and I'm not)![]()
I know they throw tools out when they get new ones, so if you don't complain too much on your next visit, maybe they could
slip a couple in your pocket. The regular pics are useful, too.
There's also a little drill-bit kinda thing they use for root canals, pictured below. They toss those after they use them. They come in different sizes, but the largest size is perfect for roughing up dubbed bodies on small flies. I have one that I put into a buffalo tooth handle. Didn't mean to pull this thread off in another direction - proceed as you were.
w
"A man should not try to eliminate his complexes, but rather come into accord with them. They are ultimately what directs his conduct in the world." Sigmund Freud.
www.WilliamsFavorite.com
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Looks like you have the Clark Block under control, Ray. Here are some photos of bodies spun by Leisenring and Hidy for comparison.
In my experience, not only does the sparseness matter a lot, so does the length of the trimmed fur.
Lance


In my experience, not only does the sparseness matter a lot, so does the length of the trimmed fur.
Lance


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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Lance, excuse my ignorance, but did Jim smoke? A lot of folk did back in the day, but his cards look remarkably like the cards you would get in a tin of tobacco, before the days of plastic pouches.
"Listen to the sound of the river and you will get a trout".... Irish proverb.
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Lance - Thank you very much. The photos (scans?) are extremely valuable references, as is the comment about the dubbing fiber length. I bet William was picking your brain during your recent tying demonstration (as would I, given the chance).
William - I agree that the background was too light & my photo was over exposed. I wasn't paying attention to the exposure, until it was too late. Once I downloaded the images to my computer, I realized this was an issue. Oh well. If you look at the other fly I posted yesterday, you will see that I changed out my backdrop, in an effort to improve the exposure.
To answer your question, I was using Shuck wax for the dubbing brushes. It was working well, but when I wax the thread, I press my thumb into the wax to hold pressure on the silk as it t is pulled thru the wax. After a while, my fingers and thumbs became tacky from the wax. Enough to make it difficult to drop the dubbing in place with my fingers. That's where the tweezers showed their benefit.
Jeff - Oh, that is an interesting question.

William - I agree that the background was too light & my photo was over exposed. I wasn't paying attention to the exposure, until it was too late. Once I downloaded the images to my computer, I realized this was an issue. Oh well. If you look at the other fly I posted yesterday, you will see that I changed out my backdrop, in an effort to improve the exposure.
To answer your question, I was using Shuck wax for the dubbing brushes. It was working well, but when I wax the thread, I press my thumb into the wax to hold pressure on the silk as it t is pulled thru the wax. After a while, my fingers and thumbs became tacky from the wax. Enough to make it difficult to drop the dubbing in place with my fingers. That's where the tweezers showed their benefit.
Jeff - Oh, that is an interesting question.
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo
"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo
"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
- William Anderson
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Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
I use tweezers now more and more. Mostly to manipulate individual fibers as they lay out along the silk. The Shuck wax is my go to wax for dubbing loops and touch dubbing, but for pulling silk strands through the ball of wax, I need something a little less tacky and a little harder, for now, until I can work out a different ratio. I actually alternate between a few waxes...and this will carry over to Rodger's post about wax issues, but I like the consistency of beeswax, but with more tack. I haven't spent any time working on a new formula. I'm still using a couple cakes Paul Ainsworth was kind enough to send me years ago and it is just the ticket...almost. For dubbing loops where I can hold the wax cake in a piece of tin foil the Shuck wax is second to none.letumgo wrote:
To answer your question, I was using Shuck wax for the dubbing brushes. It was working well, but when I wax the thread, I press my thumb into the wax to hold pressure on the silk as it t is pulled thru the wax. After a while, my fingers and thumbs became tacky from the wax. Enough to make it difficult to drop the dubbing in place with my fingers. That's where the tweezers showed their benefit.
w
"A man should not try to eliminate his complexes, but rather come into accord with them. They are ultimately what directs his conduct in the world." Sigmund Freud.
www.WilliamsFavorite.com
www.WilliamsFavorite.com
Re: Dun Honey Flymph (Hidy/Leisenring Style)
Jeff, In the 1941 edition of ATWF Leisenring says to scavenge celluloid windows from junk cars in automobile graveyards, and cut them up into these rectangle cards. That little colorful and quaint detail was edited out of the 1971 edition, which is understandable. I'm bringing it back into the new edition as a marginal note or sidebar.Mataura mayfly wrote:Lance, excuse my ignorance, but did Jim smoke? A lot of folk did back in the day, but his cards look remarkably like the cards you would get in a tin of tobacco, before the days of plastic pouches.
And yes, Jim did smoke. He wrote once to Pete Hidy about setting his shirt on fire by smoking a cigarette while fishing in the wind.