DIY Project / Bobbin Modification to Use Guttermann Spools

[letumgo]

I picked up several spools of Guttermann's silk thread at Joanne Fabric a while back, and have not used them much because they are on long spools.

The silk looks like nice material.



I didn't realize that the ends of these spools come off, but they do. A simple tug on the flange and the end pops out, releasing the thread. If you look closely, you can see that the end of the spool had little tabs on it, which help capture the thread when it is not being used. Neat.



This weekend I decide to see if I could come up with a way to tye directly from these spools. So I bought a new bobbin holder and then modified the arms of the bobbing to accommodate the longer spools of thread. I found the best way to do this was to use a pair of round nose jewelry pliers (pink handle is optional), along with a pair of flat needle nozzle pliers. The combination allows you to bend the arms of the bobbin, without too much deformation or over stressing the joint where the arms met up with the center tube of the bobbin.



Unfortunately, because of the recess at the end of the spool, the centering device in the bobbin will not hold the spool properly.


A quick trip to the local Ace Hardware store provided the perfect solution. They carry small plastic caps which are designed as screw covers. It turns out that they are a perfect fit into the Guttermann spools. They even have a hole in the center, which works perfectly with the bobbin. The plastic screw covers can be found in the hardware section, where they keep the bins of screws. The caps cost 23 cents each.

[hankaye]

Ray, Howdy;

As our friend Ruard always reminds us in his signature;

"There will allways be a solution."



hank

[letumgo]

[DOUGSDEN]

Ray,
How crazy ingenious is this whole project! The screw covers at the end was a stroke of genius. How is the silk for tying? And, how does it compare with Pearsalls et al?
Just plain impressed as usual,
Doug

[Old Hat]

I like.

[Ruard]

Ray, Howdy;

As our friend Ruard always reminds us in his signature;

"There will allways be a solution."



hank

Thanks Hank, sometimes you have to look better, but then suddenly the half pence falls!

Greeting

Ruard

[tie2fish]

Both clever and resourceful, mirroring the source. Bravo.

[crazy4oldcars]

Like you, I had bought a couple of spools, but never used them because of the size of the spool. I made a few flies, tying it in as a material, but I don't remember much about it. How is it to tie with? Looks like I will have to dig them out of whatever hole they are moldering in.

Kirk

[letumgo]

Kirk - I just tried tying with the Gutermann's silk. My first impression is that the silk is thicker than Pearsall's Gossamer silk. It may be closer to Pearsall's Napels silk, which is commonly used for rod building. The other thing that caught my attention was how slick the silk is. I did a quick test with unwaxed thread (making five or six quick wraps, and then seeing if it would grip the hook under tension). The test showed that you need to use a tying wax, to keep the thread from slipping. This is similar to working with the Pearsall's threads. At least the end of the thread should be treated with wax, when mounting the thread.

Here is my first fly tyed with the Gutermann silk.

Gutermann 696 Peacock and Dun


As you can see, the head is quite large. It will take practice to keep the head size small and still get a durable fly.

As I study the photo, I like the look of the abdomen. I think the thickness of the Gutermann's silk will be fine for the abdomen. I tyed the thorax with two strands of peacock herl and a thread dubbing loop (two strands of silk thread). The thorax ends up being slightly larger in diameter, with the Gutermann silk. It may work better to switch to regular tying thread to finish off the head of the fly, and possibly the thorax.

It felt a little awkward tying with the larger spool. Keep in mind that I generally tye with my scissors in my right hand all the time. It took a few position shifts, before I found a comfortable way to hold the elongated bobbin/spool. With practice I think I can get used to it and make it work fine.

[William Anderson]

Ray, I've used this silk in lots of shades but never from a bobbin. This is cool. It does seem awkward but leave it to the engineer to figure it out. Cool post. Nice fly.