Tups Indispensable

[wsbailey]

I've cleaned that same tup's wool and it was nothing compared to washing an entire fleece. I made the mistake of washing it in the bathtub. The bathroom smelled like a barnyard and the water was the color of you know what.

[Bazzer69]

How did they go about blending materials back then? By hand?

I believe it was “carded “ using a wool carding block. That’s what I use. It turns out great!
Bazza

[wsbailey]

An old timer once showed me how it used to be done. He held the dubbing between his thumb and his forefinger. He brushed the dubbing with a toothbrush which not only aligned the fibers but also "removed the shorts" as he called them. I work with a large amount of dubbing so I have a full range of combs and cards.

[tie2fish]

While following a link provided elsewhere by wsbailey, I navigated my way to a redux of the website of Preben Torp Jacobsen (see "flyleaves.dk"). After switching on the Translate feature, I began reading some of his fascinating posts, one of which deals with the Tups Indispensable pattern and its materials.

It seems that Torp Jacobsen was personally well acquainted with both Skues and Oliver Kite, and so had access to much of what was happening in the world of fly fishing and fly tying during the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. It also known fact that-- despite his age -- he used computers and scanners and printers from their inception and over the years developed excellent skills dealing with accurate and realistic imaging. I mention this because included in his piece about the Tups is a graphic containing vibrant images of what his research concluded were the true material components of the elusive thorax dubbing. I offer it below as a source of interest and comparison with the comments, photos, etc. posted previously by others in this thread.

Tup's Dubbing.jpg (34.03 KiB) Viewed 20593 times

[narcodog]

Thanks for bringing this back Bill. I have some Ram's wool but it's more white than yellow as shown. Saying that when shared from the ram, what I have seen is urine stained and just down right nasty. Once washed it does not not have the yellow tint as is shown. Just sayin.

[tie2fish]

I'm sure you're right, Bob. The "final" color of the ram's wool is no doubt a function of how blonde he was to start with, how old he was when he got shaved, how much cleaning was done to the fur, etc., etc.

[Old Hat]

This a is a good bunch of "well washed" tup's wool I received from our long lost Jeff from NZ. It has a good yellow color to it.

reducedIMG_6661.JPG (411.96 KiB) Viewed 21059 times

[letumgo]

I miss Jeff... Good bloke.

[tie2fish]

That is a beautiful sample of fur you have there, Carl.

[gingerdun]

Here is Leisenring's version of the Tups Nymph.
This is from the set of twelve favorite flies that Leisenring gave to Charley Rethoret, owner of Hotel Rapids on the Brodheads in Analomink, PA. The set of flies eventually was purchased by Bernie Pociask, now deceased, who let me photograph them. I don't know where the flies are now—possible in the possession of his son.