Lexicon of tools for making artificial flies, part 6

...The pliers are mainly used to hold the pen while winding the spring. That's the idea. In reality, they turn out to be irreplaceable in a wide variety of situations. For example, they help wind all kinds of short lengths of line onto the hook shank. Just to name a few: quilles, biots, condor rays, etc...

Self-locking pliers (Hackle Pliers)
These pliers are mainly used to hold the line while winding the hook. That’s the idea, anyway. In reality, they prove to be indispensable in a wide variety of situations. For example, they help wind all kinds of short lengths of line onto the hook shank. Just to name a few: quills, biots, condor rays, etc. They often come to the rescue when the material being wound breaks, allowing you to grab the protruding, broken-off piece (the one that’s still attached to the hook). The same applies when, while winding the body, you realize that the material is too short to hold between your fingers.

I’ve also found another use for self-locking pliers. I always keep one or two pairs on my vise column. I use them to grip various materials from which I tear or cut out individual components for a fly. It’s especially convenient to use them to grip feathers from which we pluck the barbs for the tails. With your right hand, you pull on the free end of the feather, stretching it taut, while with your left hand you pluck the required number of barbs. I also have a few pairs of pliers attached to the edge of the table. If I’m using a particular material to tie many flies (e.g., peacock feathers for Red Tags), I hold it with these pliers so it doesn’t fall off the table. To grip bundles, as in the example mentioned above, I use special pliers in which one of the arms is completely straight and acts as a sort of skewer. I insert it into the bundle, which ensures an optimal grip.

When it comes to plier shapes, companies are outdoing themselves in serving up new patents. The simplest are pliers bent from a steel bar (often a simple spoke). More advanced models are twisted spirally. This makes them spring back better, and in addition, a finger can be inserted into the eyelet of the spiral, which sometimes helps with the work. To make it easier to press the pliers, some manufacturers solder flat plates to their arms. This patent is not needed for pliers whole made of flat spring strips. Riveted pliers are also made of such springs. Although the mechanics of their operation is completely different from classic pliers, the effect is identical. It is worth getting tiny pliers, articulated on the shank and cushioned by a small spring. They work great with small flies or with very delicate blackberries. The spring effectively cushions any unplanned jerks, thus avoiding breaking the pen. Interesting, although unfortunately quite expensive, are pliers resembling „frogs” for gripping curtains at the curtain rod. These pliers are connected by a joint with a Teflon finger ring, which allows you to turn them very smoothly, while winding the blackberry. If someone can afford it - I recommend it.

Of course, the gripping jaws themselves also present different shapes and solutions. Thus, they can be internally corrugated, flat, wide, narrow, with plastic caps, with rubber tips. The latter are supposed to hold the material very securely and not cut it. Somehow I do not like their solution, they are too clumsy for me. I prefer the usual flat metal tips only nicely polished, of course, without any rims and sharp edges. The shape of the pliers themselves is not so important. And it's a matter of getting used to it, whether a given model will work well or badly for us.

Catalogs (such as Cabelas) sometimes feature pliers in which one jaw is a rotating roller and the other serves as a clamp against the roller. The idea behind these pliers is as follows: you insert the strand from which you’ll be winding the body (e.g., condor hair, silk) between the pressure plate and the roller. As you wind, the material slides smoothly out from under the roller without the risk of breaking. That’s the theory. In reality, the design is flawed. The material often slips out from under the roller, doesn’t stay in place, and frays. And worst of all, you basically have to adjust the pliers’ pressure for every type of material. They’re not worth buying, unless just as a curiosity. I also don’t recommend buying pliers that resemble spring-loaded ballpoint pens in both appearance and function. Where the refill protrudes in a pen, these pliers have a tiny hook mounted inside the spring-loaded barrel. You use it to grip the tip of the quill. I suggest sticking with more traditional plier designs.

Pliers absolutely belong to the first-class equipment of the tying machine. Their role can hardly be overestimated.

There remains a separate group of spring pliers. They are hard to find and do not necessarily need to be solicited. Spring pliers, for silks, floss, yarns and other multi-stranded materials, are a tightly compressed wire coil, with arms that allow it to stretch. The material is caught between the individual coils. Spring pliers for catching soft blackberry feathers, on the other hand, are a rod articulated on a shaft, bent into the shape of a very narrow letter „u” (the arms almost meet). A spiral is wound on the arms. The pen is caught by pressing between the arms of the tool.

Dispenser for glue, shellac, etc. (Applicator Bottle)

It is a small plastic bottle with a tiny hole in the cap, through which a removable needle protrudes. Many anglers praise this design because the varnish doesn’t thicken, and it’s easy to squeeze out a drop of the desired size through the hole. I’ll be honest: this is one of the few gadgets described here that I haven’t tested and don’t own. Judging by the reviews from users of this dispenser, it’s a great buy. I use the vial I mentioned earlier in connection with the skewers. It’s a simple glass medicine bottle set in a wooden stand. Depending on my needs, I swap out the vials for different colors of shellac. Some people attach a stick or a rod to the bottle’s stopper, which, when the bottle is sealed, sinks a few millimeters into the shellac. This acts as a sort of dispenser and stirrer. I don’t use this method because, as I mentioned, I keep the vial open at all times.

I keep my nail polishes in empty nail polish bottles (rinsed out with acetone). I trim the brushes—which are attached inside the caps—into a tapered shape, because the original brush tips are too clunky.


Adhesive/shellac/varnish, etc., wiping cloth
I've come across two ways to clean a shellac-coated skewer. The first is to rub the skewer against a slat nailed to a fishing table. The layer of shellac that builds up on the slat can be scraped off from time to time and redissolved in rubbing alcohol.

The second method is to push the skewer into a thick, soft piece of rubber after each use. This ensures that it’s perfectly clean when you pull it out. I use this second method with a piece of shoemaker’s sole rubber.

by Jaroslaw Zych