What materials are you tying with?

I used to consider that using foam was "cheating" when tying flies. However, as I have gotten older and am less patient, have lost some dexterity, and visual acuity I have been using foam on many flies, in particular terrestrials. I also avoided synthetic materials when they started becoming available about 25 or 30 years ago, but have gotten over that as well. At present, as long as they catch fish I don't care.
 
James St. Clair said:
I build all my own brushes, cause yeah, they are way too expensive to buy. I "built" a table, for free with stuff I had around my house (1.5 foot long 2x4, a couple skinny nails, and a couple short wood screws).

You can easily copy most of the EP brushes with materials only from FTD, which are SUPER cheap. And then you can get creative to make your own that suits your needs.

I really enjoy making them, and once you get it down it only takes a couple minutes, basically trimming the materials and placing them. The spin part takes 30 seconds.
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@mcswny I do the same with Ftd materials. I wasn’t sure how many brushes I was going to make and found a super easy way to make them. Used a binder clip on one side and a drill with eye hook for the other. Spin slowly and move your hand along the brush to control spin points (close to drill at first and as it started to spin nice, take finger off trigger and move your hand further away from drill).

One big key is using good wire. I like the small and med dubbing brush wire from hareline.

And using ftd materials, it’s not a big deal if you mess up and have to throw a brush away during the learning curve period. Have fun!
 
I must be waaaay behind the times....I literally just discovered FTD. holy crap this could get dangerous.

All right, I just ordered a bit of stuff from there to play around with. If I like it, I'm sure I'll be going back for more.
 
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clarkman said:
I must be waaaay behind the times....I literally just discovered FTD. holy crap this could get dangerous.

All right, I just ordered a bit of stuff from there to play around with. If I like it, I'm sure I'll be going back for more.
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Dude, it's the best, cheapest, fly tying stuff out there. They have a ton of big game materials as well.

Like Nick said, spend a $100 and you won't believe how much stuff you get.
 
James St. Clair said:
Dude, it's the best, cheapest, fly tying stuff out there. They have a ton of big game materials as well.

Like Nick said, spend a $100 and you won't believe how much stuff you get.
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yeah, I basically only got one of each of the things I think I'll use frequently in the future. If I really like it, then I'll go grab a ton more....of course, I still dropped $20 even at those prices...
 
clarkman said:
yeah, I basically only got one of each of the things I think I'll use frequently in the future. If I really like it, then I'll go grab a ton more....of course, I still dropped $20 even at those prices...
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They have been at the Albany Expo for several years…
Suspect they’ll be there in 2023 too.
Prices get a little better . 😉
 
FinLuver said:
They have been at the Albany Expo for several years…
Suspect they’ll be there in 2023 too.
Prices get a little better . 😉
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:unsure:
 
Is FTD’s Northern Lights flash pretty much Kreelex?
SF
 
Stonedfish said:
Is FTD’s Northern Lights flash pretty much Kreelex?
SF
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I believe so.

On the old forum, I tried to start a thread with market comparisons between FTD materials and more common fly shop materials but I only think I got

Northern Lights = Kreelex
Congo Hair = EP Fibers
Starburst = Ice Dub
 
clarkman said:
yeah, I basically only got one of each of the things I think I'll use frequently in the future. If I really like it, then I'll go grab a ton more....of course, I still dropped $20 even at those prices...
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What'd you get?
I'm intrigued by the Kraken dub
 
mcswny said:
What'd you get?
I'm intrigued by the Kraken dub
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several different big game dubbing colors, croc eyes, northern lights flash, crystal hair, big game hair, water silk, and congo hair baitfish blends.

I thought I had added some of the Kraken dub too, but apparently not.

IMO, this is what fly tying materials should cost considering the insane markup for them.

just saw your post above. Yeah, that's what it looked like re: congo hair from the pics....almost didn't get it because of that, but trying out a specific blend.
 
mcswny said:
I believe so.

On the old forum, I tried to start a thread with market comparisons between FTD materials and more common fly shop materials but I only think I got

Northern Lights = Kreelex
Congo Hair = EP Fibers
Starburst = Ice Dub
Click to expand...

Thanks!
SF
 
mcswny said:
What'd you get?
I'm intrigued by the Kraken dub
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I have some of that…I believe.
I noticed that their names change by the length of material fibers within a color mix.
There may be some other materials added, but it wasn’t very noticeable when comparing side by side.
 
FinLuver said:
I have some of that…I believe.
I noticed that their names change by the length of material fibers within a color mix.
There may be some other materials added, but it wasn’t very noticeable when comparing side by side.
Click to expand...
how long are the fibers?
 
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