[MikeB]

I was just wondering for those of you who tie flies on brass/aluminum or other types of metal tubes, do you flare the ends of the tubes some way, like how you would heat the ends of plastic tubes to flare them, or do you tie on them as is and how do you make sure the thread or entire fly does not slide off during the course of fishing??
Thanks,

Mike

 

[kush]

Mike,

When I tie on metal tubes I line the tube with plastic. The commercially made tubes come lined, I buy the brass in a hobby store and line them myself with Q-tip tubes or plastic tubing from a plastic or hobby shop. I leave the plastic a little longer than the metal, then heat it with flame and it flares back nicely onto the tube and secures itself in the tube. The trick here is to find the right sized tubing!

 

[Andy Wren]

Lazy metal tube tying

hi , when I tie tubes for myself on ally or brass
tend to use nail varnish to color the body or in the case of ally leave them bare the dull silver can be a good trigger for fish suggestion .:smokin:

 

[pmflyfisher]

Yes I am still looking for the right size tubing. I have the metal tubes from the hobby shop and have cut them but need to get the plastic tubing.

Thats a to do on my fly tying list ?

 

[L A Smithers]

I use small diameter brass tubing 1/16"OD . When necessary to increase sink rate I wrap the tube wth copper or lead wire.
With small diam tubing it is difficult to use a plastic liner.As an alternative I place a small drop of hot glue on each end of the tube and just before it sets I insert a greased needle into the tube leaving a fine hole for the tippet.
In most cases when a fish strikes the tube slides up the leader so there is little tendancy to cause wear.
In cutting my tubes I use a cutting disk on my Dremel tool; to flare the end I use a countersink drill in the Dremel.
One of the great advantages of the fine diam tube is that you can slide beads onto the tube forming bead heads or bead bodies.
When not using bead bodies I use either silver or gold plastic tube slid over the fine brass.
All tying is done with invisable thread to avoid the colured thread effect.
You can make a very interesting varigated body by heating the brass tube to dull red and cooling it in oil. This produces an irridescent colour pattern which is very effective on sunny days for summer run fish

 

[doublespey]

Thanks LA!

I've been finding that tubes tied on plastic and fished on a floating line tend to plane under the slightest tension.

OK for dries, but not so good if you want them to stay in or just under the surface film.

I hadn't found plastic tubing small enough to fit inside the fine diameter brass I wanted to use, but the glue idea would seem to be the ticket for smaller summer flies!

Will conduct tests and report back

DS

 

[pmflyfisher]

LA

Thanks I like that glue idea, will be experimenting soon.

You obviously are at an advanced stage of tube fly mechanical engineering.

PM

 

[MikeB]

Q-Tips with plastic??

Are the Q-Tips with the plastic straw carried under the brand name of Q-Tip, or are they manufactured by someone else and we just refer to them as Q-Tips due to the Q-Tip being the original or most well known manufacturer of cotton swabs on a stick (a la "I have to go and Xerox this document with my Cannon photocopier ).

I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but am just wondering because all of the Q-Tips I have found so far have some sort of paper fiber stick.
Thanks,

Mike

 

[BeBop]

Check your local drug store chain. They all carry their own brands, most of which have plastic tubes. Look for the ones that come in several different colours.

 

[Poul]

Hmmm...

I may have to try this glue technique. One reason I haven't jumped on the tube bandwagon is that the diameter of the tubes makes it impossible to get a fly anywhere near as thin as I like, particularly with a dubbed body...

Poul

 

[nevada caster]

metal tubs

Q-tips come with both solid paper sticks and hollow plastic. The most common plastic, at least in my house, are a pink color

I have some very small round files that I use to knock off the burrs from the inside of the tubes after I cut the metal tubes. I then often put some fabric paint in various colors on the ends. The fabric paint shrinks to about half of its voume when it dries, so even if it covers the hole when wet, the hole will open up when it dries.

 

[knutalf]

Planing plastic tube

To avoid planing using a plastic tube try to cut the front end in an angle. This solves the problem in many cases. I guess it has much the same effect as the spoon on a wobbler. It solved the problem that often occured fishing the Sunray Shadow tube on glides and tailouts.

Another option could be to insert a 1/4" inch brass tube into the front of the plastic tube. It still produces a light fly but with a little more sinking power.

The third option is to use a cone head. Cone head tubes is the perhaps the "hottest" salmon fly in Norway at the moment thanks to swedish fly tyer Mikael Frodin. And for many applications these tubes really works superbly.


Best Regards

Knut Alfredsen

 

[pmflyfisher]

Yes I saw some pictures of those conehead tubes on a european tube fly site last winter, I bet they do work good.

Maybe that is what I should start engineering design efforts on ?

PM

 

[ChromeFever]

Tubes

I tend to buy the commercially mfg'd tubes with the insert already in them? Have not tried to make my own of except for the plastic tubes out of the Q-tip box. They seem to work extremely well on sink tip lines to give them a great action in the water. I tend to wrap all my tubes with thread and then lightly coat them with fly tying cement to make sure I dont have any problems with them slipping or I touch up the metal tubes with some extremely fine sand paper and then tie and glue them in! Good Luck and Tight Lines!......

 

[Andy Wren]

Head cement

Most of my migratory and salt water flies are tied using copious amounts of hard as nails varnish to glue the things together .
maybe not the most elegant way but ,the flys tend to survive the rough and tumble of brawling rivers ,and not need repair which I'm often to lazy to do .
Must increase my shareholding in Sally Hansen (the hard as nails lady)

 

[pmflyfisher]

Sally Hansen "Hard as Nails" rules.

I have been using that since 1986 thanks from a tip from another fly tyer.

Beleive a lot of fly tyers do.

Wonder if Sally knows about this ?

 

[wintershope]

Well, I like to tie aluminun tubes and so far I haven't flared the ends. So far I haven't run into any trouble with the fly coming off.
However, when I'm in a pinch or living in low cash and don't want to cough up the five bucks for aluminum tube, I will tie the ocassional tube on the plastic shaft of a cotton swab, and you bet, I flare the ends on those.
Steve