William Anderson Demonstrating Clark Dubbing Block Technique

[Ron Eagle Elk]

William, Nicely done. Ray, the pop ups work fine here in Washington. Nice video.

[letumgo]

[Mike62]

Turns out making the blocks is the easy part.

Question: After I get the body spun up and slip it onto a card like William does, I still have an issue with the body wanting to unravel while on the card. (try a thicker card perhaps?)

Problem #2. The thread is waxed thoroughly, twisted up, and let sit to 'cure' per Mr. Leisenring's advice but it doesn't want to behave when I remove it from the card. What am I missing here? How do you folks keep the spun body from unraveling as you're trying to tie it to the hook shank?

After watching the video of William twisting his thread I can honestly say that I'm definitely not over twisting it.

Old dogs want to learn new tricks, it's just that some of us dogs are a little slower than others. Any advice is appreciated.

[Bazzer69]

Turns out making the blocks is the easy part.

Question: After I get the body spun up and slip it onto a card like William does, I still have an issue with the body wanting to unravel while on the card. (try a thicker card perhaps?)

Problem #2. The thread is waxed thoroughly, twisted up, and let sit to 'cure' per Mr. Leisenring's advice but it doesn't want to behave when I remove it from the card. What am I missing here? How do you folks keep the spun body from unraveling as you're trying to tie it to the hook shank?

After watching the video of William twisting his thread I can honestly say that I'm definitely not over twisting it.

Old dogs want to learn new tricks, it's just that some of us dogs are a little slower than others. Any advice is appreciated.

You might try twisting the thread a different direction and a different wax. The wax needs to slightly sticky at first and dry a little when left overnight or longer. That way it won’t unwind when taken off the card.

[Mike62]

Turns out making the blocks is the easy part.

Question: After I get the body spun up and slip it onto a card like William does, I still have an issue with the body wanting to unravel while on the card. (try a thicker card perhaps?)

Problem #2. The thread is waxed thoroughly, twisted up, and let sit to 'cure' per Mr. Leisenring's advice but it doesn't want to behave when I remove it from the card. What am I missing here? How do you folks keep the spun body from unraveling as you're trying to tie it to the hook shank?

After watching the video of William twisting his thread I can honestly say that I'm definitely not over twisting it.

Old dogs want to learn new tricks, it's just that some of us dogs are a little slower than others. Any advice is appreciated.

You might try twisting the thread a different direction and a different wax. The wax needs to slightly sticky at first and dry a little when left overnight or longer. That way it won’t unwind when taken off the card.

Well, I did wonder about both of those. I'm almost ashamed to say that I use toilet ring gasket for wax. It's very pliable, tacky, but it also doesn't ever take on any other consistency. For thread I've simply been using old 6/0 to practice with, and, I've been spinning the thread in a clockwise direction.

What would be a better choice of wax to use?

I love the possibilities of this technique, I wish I had paid more attention years ago.

[Bazzer69]

Toilet ring wax is very soft and sticky and stays that way. I would recommend Bill Bailey’s wax, it’s made for the job. Will last forever as well.

[Mike62]

Toilet ring wax is very soft and sticky and stays that way. I would recommend Bill Bailey’s wax, it’s made for the job. Will last forever as well.

Thank you, Sir.

[SenecaLaker]

Hi Mike, I had a similar problem when I started . I was using some bow string wax. This wax wasn't nearly as soft and sticky as the toilet ring but also never seemed to harden up like William and the others on the board show. I was fortunate enough to come across a vendor who was selling cakes of dubbing waxes at one of the fly shows. I believe the formulation was 721. I waxed the string as suggested and spun a few bodies and stored them on a card overnight. I was amazed the next day when they nearly stood out straight with very little support. Huge difference!!

Dave

[Mike62]

Hi Mike, I had a similar problem when I started . I was using some bow string wax. This wax wasn't nearly as soft and sticky as the toilet ring but also never seemed to harden up like William and the others on the board show. I was fortunate enough to come across a vendor who was selling cakes of dubbing waxes at one of the fly shows. I believe the formulation was 721. I waxed the string as suggested and spun a few bodies and stored them on a card overnight. I was amazed the next day when they nearly stood out straight with very little support. Huge difference!!

Dave

I did the same thing yesterday! I've got bowstring wax lying all over the place, so I tried it. Same result you appeared to get; but it was still better than the toilet ring wax. I took Bazzer's advice and ordered some Bailey's tying wax last night. I love this place...

[Old Hat]

You will be on a roll in no time Mike. The wax is the key here. Also, just for future reference, the process doesn't work near as well with any threads other than silk. You will get some of the same issues. It is a sum of all parts.