head cement

[tbar24]

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

[Ruard]

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

[tie2fish]

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

[flyfishwithme]

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.

[Soft-hackle]

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

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[Joe Billingsley]

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

[scotfly]

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

[mikeytwoshoes]

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.

[gdsaltzman]

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.

[skunkaroo]

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