Fly Tying Tools
The Basic List of Tools To Start Fly Tying
There are a multitude of tools out there for the fly tier. What we will do here is just to outline the essential tools for the beginner fly tier, and as you go on in the art, you will accumulate specific tools for your particular type of tying.
Vises probably top the list in the tool department. It will be your single most expensive purchase and some thought and research needs to be made into vise selection. Think about what you are mostly going to tie. Are you going to tie saltwater streamers of Bass Bugs? Then you will need a heavy duty vise that clamps to your benchtop and has large jaws to hold large stainless steel hooks. Are you going to tie a bit of everything? Then you need a middle-of-the-road vise that can hold large saltwater hooks down to the smallest dry fly hooks (hard to find) or one that has interchangeable jaws (a good option). A vise with various jaw options is not going to be the cheapest vise on the market, but in the long-run you may find it has saved you from buying a second vise because the first one just doesn't hold the wide range of hooks you would like. When you are tying very small flies you want jaws that give you a lot of room around the hook and a vise designed to hold a 5/0 soundly won't give you the room to work around a #24 dry fly hook. There are some excellent vises on the market these days and as many opinions about what is the best one as there are fly tiers! Do your research, don't rush, and invest in the very best you can afford.
Scissors, like the vise, are a very important part of your fly tying kit. Dr Slick make exceptional tools for tying and if you can afford them they will serve you well for a long time. It is a joy to use very sharp and well engineered cutting tools. It is painful to use blunt and inferior cutting tools. You should have one pair of short scissors for cutting thread, feathers, and soft synthetics. A second pair should be utilised for harder materials such as ribbing wire, hackle stems, etc, and a third large pair for the thickest toughest materials. Another tool that will be very useful is a razor blade or better still a razor knife with interchangeable blades like the Excel knife. For cutting foam, rabbit strips, synthetic, you will need a very sharp blade and possibly a cutting board and metal ruler.
Bobbins are the tool you use to hold the spool of thread and helps you deliver the thread exactly where you need it. There are heavy ones, stainless steel ones, ones with ceramic tubes, ones with long frames and tubes and very short ones. It's a personal choice and you will probably end up with a collection of these tools. A solid heavy bobbin is very useful when you want to hang the thread, with some tension, to keep materials on the hook while you pick up something else. A solid heavier bobbin also feels more substantial in the hand and may well be able to apply more tension to larger patterns using nylon thread. I use a cheap, but heavy, Indian made bobbin for my saltwater patterns and a very lightweight Tiemco bobbin for fine dry fly tying. These are relatively cheap items so don't be afraid to buy a couple of different types and try them out. You will soon discover what feels good in your hand and does the job you need it to.
Other tools include: A whip finisher - although doing a whip finish by hand is advocated by some, I have always found it worth the extra 2 seconds it takes to pick up a whip finishing tool and spin it around for a neat fast tie off; A dubbing loop twister if you are going to do dubbing loops. Hair stackers are important if you are going to work with hair (and that's going to be just about every tier) - get a large, heavy, and well made one to cover jobs as varied as the smallest hairwings to the largest bucktail streamers; A bodkin and a dubbing teaser; hackle pliers - you only need one and they are essential to grab small hackles when your big fat fingers would just get in the way and slow things down, and also allows you to hang a hackle before tying off; Tweezers and needle-nosed pliers always come in handy.
There are other tools, but these are the essentials. Create a neat workspace that has lots of light (the more natural light the better) and gives you room to set up your vise at a comfortable height and a good chair - you don't want to be getting neck and back strain from a session of tying. Think about a strategic place that won't be a temptation to children or an irritation to your partner. Having a two year old walking around with your half dried epoxy minnow, or your wife sweeping all your materials into a bag because she needs the kitchen table for dinner, is not a relaxing end to a tying session.
Vises probably top the list in the tool department. It will be your single most expensive purchase and some thought and research needs to be made into vise selection. Think about what you are mostly going to tie. Are you going to tie saltwater streamers of Bass Bugs? Then you will need a heavy duty vise that clamps to your benchtop and has large jaws to hold large stainless steel hooks. Are you going to tie a bit of everything? Then you need a middle-of-the-road vise that can hold large saltwater hooks down to the smallest dry fly hooks (hard to find) or one that has interchangeable jaws (a good option). A vise with various jaw options is not going to be the cheapest vise on the market, but in the long-run you may find it has saved you from buying a second vise because the first one just doesn't hold the wide range of hooks you would like. When you are tying very small flies you want jaws that give you a lot of room around the hook and a vise designed to hold a 5/0 soundly won't give you the room to work around a #24 dry fly hook. There are some excellent vises on the market these days and as many opinions about what is the best one as there are fly tiers! Do your research, don't rush, and invest in the very best you can afford.
Scissors, like the vise, are a very important part of your fly tying kit. Dr Slick make exceptional tools for tying and if you can afford them they will serve you well for a long time. It is a joy to use very sharp and well engineered cutting tools. It is painful to use blunt and inferior cutting tools. You should have one pair of short scissors for cutting thread, feathers, and soft synthetics. A second pair should be utilised for harder materials such as ribbing wire, hackle stems, etc, and a third large pair for the thickest toughest materials. Another tool that will be very useful is a razor blade or better still a razor knife with interchangeable blades like the Excel knife. For cutting foam, rabbit strips, synthetic, you will need a very sharp blade and possibly a cutting board and metal ruler.
Bobbins are the tool you use to hold the spool of thread and helps you deliver the thread exactly where you need it. There are heavy ones, stainless steel ones, ones with ceramic tubes, ones with long frames and tubes and very short ones. It's a personal choice and you will probably end up with a collection of these tools. A solid heavy bobbin is very useful when you want to hang the thread, with some tension, to keep materials on the hook while you pick up something else. A solid heavier bobbin also feels more substantial in the hand and may well be able to apply more tension to larger patterns using nylon thread. I use a cheap, but heavy, Indian made bobbin for my saltwater patterns and a very lightweight Tiemco bobbin for fine dry fly tying. These are relatively cheap items so don't be afraid to buy a couple of different types and try them out. You will soon discover what feels good in your hand and does the job you need it to.
Other tools include: A whip finisher - although doing a whip finish by hand is advocated by some, I have always found it worth the extra 2 seconds it takes to pick up a whip finishing tool and spin it around for a neat fast tie off; A dubbing loop twister if you are going to do dubbing loops. Hair stackers are important if you are going to work with hair (and that's going to be just about every tier) - get a large, heavy, and well made one to cover jobs as varied as the smallest hairwings to the largest bucktail streamers; A bodkin and a dubbing teaser; hackle pliers - you only need one and they are essential to grab small hackles when your big fat fingers would just get in the way and slow things down, and also allows you to hang a hackle before tying off; Tweezers and needle-nosed pliers always come in handy.
There are other tools, but these are the essentials. Create a neat workspace that has lots of light (the more natural light the better) and gives you room to set up your vise at a comfortable height and a good chair - you don't want to be getting neck and back strain from a session of tying. Think about a strategic place that won't be a temptation to children or an irritation to your partner. Having a two year old walking around with your half dried epoxy minnow, or your wife sweeping all your materials into a bag because she needs the kitchen table for dinner, is not a relaxing end to a tying session.