FLYMPH FORUM

what head cement do you prefer when you tie your wingless wets? do you like a water based cement or do you like the strong smellin stuff? or do you just not use any cement at all? i currently am using hard as hull but have used alot of others. generally i just use what is available to me
any input is greatly appreciated

I just make two whipfinishes. If I think that is not enough, this is the case with some tying thread, then I use clear nail-lac with a little bit of acetone to make it a litle bit thinner.
To prevent the thread of slipping out of the whipfinish I leave 1mm when I cut it off.

Greeting

I use Griff's "Thin" Multi-Coat head cement: it dries quickly without any bleeding or discoloration of materials.

I'm with Ruard on this and havn'e used head cement for 20 odd years. Three turns on a whip finisher and that is. Give it a small tug to seat the thread and cut off. I definitely don't want the smell of varnish on my flies, the added weight and the aggraivation of an eye filled with varnish just as the fish start rising.

Well,
Here in the states, we have a product known as Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails. It is a nail polish available at almost any drug store or department store. I've used it for years. It even has a nice little brush for applying it. It thins easily with acetone.

Mark

I've tried most of them at one time or another. On smaller wingless wets that I use silk on, two whip finishes would make too big of a head so I wax the last 1/2 inch or so of silk and make a three turn whip finish. It helps lock the knot and seems to hold up fine. On flies that I use tying thread on, after reading Charlie Craven's new book in which he says he uses Wapsi's Gloss Coat, I tried it and like it very much. I'm not sure why it's called "Gloss Coat" because it is very thin right out of the jar and a tiny drop is soaked up by the thread quickly without any build up that I can tell. The smell goes away quickly.

Joe

Been using fly-tite for a few years now. Great as a feather glue and as a head cement. Colourless, odourless and water based. Best of all, it doesn't go "off" in the bottle like most other varnishes.

http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?s ... rget=TZ001

I don't bother with it for fishing flies. flies for presentation though and occasionally for swap flies I'll use it.
generally use cellire. two or three coats.

For freshwater fishing flies, I don't bother since the whip finish holds so well. For swaps and looks I use a coat of thin tyerite and then 2 coats of orvis high gloss.

Depending on the thread I will either use "cement" (Sally Hansen's or Loctite super glue), or just whip finish. For fishing soft hackles I'll usually coat the thread with super glue before whip finishing.

Aaron