I would not think so but instead simply take a small cut and massage it until it becomes softer. I guess you could hit it with a hair dryer also. I watched a video (

) by Davie Mcphail and the Veniards wax he uses, which I personally did not find tacky enough. I use and like Overton's Wonder Wax - Rob

 

@steelguy Great video! Never would’ve thought of that. Thanks for sharing.

 

Dumb question here, but I just started using the type of tying wax

Cody...! There are no dumb questions, and this is in fact an extremely good one!
This is a "hard wax" which is used differently than a "tacky wax".
Perhaps we all should talk about wax more on this Forum... given how essential it is. I remember having a similar questions about hard wax Cody.

I concur with other tyers on these Pages, that Overton's is amazing stuff. It is a great "tacky wax" that isn't too soft nor too hard. It is the "Goldilocks" of dubbing waxes. I have used it for over over 40 years... and reach for it whenever I want something to stick to tying tread. I often add it to thread just before trying to dub seal fur . Everything sticks to Overton's....which is great in these situations.

Hard cake wax, like you pictured in your post, along with the Veniard cake wax and the darker Cobblers wax, is much much better for locking in tails, veilings, hackles, wings, and horns, etc on salmon flies, and for preventing thread wraps from sliding (thread avalanches) when finishing a head.
Everything locks in tight, exactly where you want it when using good hard cake wax. I use it on every thread wrap I make from the start to the end of a fly. After finishing a fly with it, a head becomes essentially a tiny hard bead of wax.

 

Cody...! There are no dumb questions, and this is in fact an extremely good one!
This is a "hard wax" which is used differently than a "tacky wax".
Perhaps we all should talk about wax more on this Forum... given how essential it is. I remember having a similar questions about hard wax Cody.

I concur with other tyers on these Pages, that Overton's is amazing stuff. It is a great "tacky wax" that isn't too soft nor too hard. It is the "Goldilocks" of dubbing waxes. I have used it for over over 40 years... and reach for it whenever I want something to stick to tying tread. I often add it to thread just before trying to dub seal fur . Everything sticks to Overton's....which is great in these situations.

Hard cake wax, like you pictured in your post, along with the Veniard cake wax and the darker Cobblers wax, is much much better for locking in tails, veilings, hackles, wings, and horns, etc on salmon flies, and for preventing thread wraps from sliding (thread avalanches) when finishing a head.
Everything locks in tight, exactly where you want it when using good hard cake wax. I use it on every thread wrap I make from the start to the end of a fly. After finishing a fly with it, a head becomes essentially a tiny hard bead of wax.

This is extremely helpful! It hadn’t even crossed my mind to use different waxes for different steps in a fly. Thank you!

 

As Duck says, use it throughout the tie. Before setting my bronze mallard wings I coat the thread along with the top of the thread base the wings will sit on. Further, and I believe critical to a proper set, I coat both the top and bottom sides of the BM slips. I can literally place the slips on top and one or two thread wraps (I tie in the pair of slips as one as does Mcphail) holds them pretty securely in place and even allows for some minor adjustment if needed.
Yes, good wax used often makes tying so much easier. - Rob

 

As Duck says, use it throughout the tie. Before setting my bronze mallard wings I coat the thread along with the top of the thread base the wings will sit on. Further, and I believe critical to a proper set, I coat both the top and bottom sides of the BM slips. I can literally place the slips on top and one or two thread wraps (I tie in the pair of slips as one as does Mcphail) holds them pretty securely in place and even allows for some minor adjustment if needed.
Yes, good wax used often makes tying so much easier. - Rob
View attachment 414639 View attachment 414640

Awesome stuff! Can’t wait to dive in on this. Thanks for the tips and photos. HUGE help!

 

I am very glad we are talking about wax, since I’ve had similar questions!
One thing to note, if you are using a gel spun thread (I mainly use nano silk 50D / 12/0) the harder black wax is better

 

I’ve mainly been tying with Danville’s Flymaster 6/0 waxed thread (70 denier). Would it be better to use non waxed thread if applying the hard wax?

 

I look forward to hearing what some of the great tiers here think about wax, but it changed my tying for the better
Personally I love using the Veniard wax as is, and keep it handy on my desk. I picked some up after watching Davie McPhail. Then started paying more attention to spinning my thread to strengthen it and waxing as needed. It really does increase the grip on materials when using finer thread and helps to minimize wraps on technical flies.
It makes "waxed" threads even better and I find it also adds much needed grip when using gel spun threads.
I often use loon low tack dubbing wax in dubbing loops but that's about it for the pasty stuff
The Veniard is just as good or better when touch dubbing and it doesn't spread to my fingers or make a mess of materials (Especially feathers).
I've been using the same puck for 4 years now and I've hardly made a dent.
Highly recommend it.

 

I look forward to hearing what some of the great tiers here think about wax, but it changed my tying for the better
Personally I love using the Veniard wax as is, and keep it handy on my desk. I picked some up after watching Davie McPhail. Then started paying more attention to spinning my thread to strengthen it and waxing as needed. It really does increase the grip on materials when using finer thread and helps to minimize wraps on technical flies.
It makes "waxed" threads even better and I find it also adds much needed grip when using gel spun threads.
I often use loon low tack dubbing wax in dubbing loops but that's about it for the pasty stuff
The Veniard is just as good or better when touch dubbing and it doesn't spread to my fingers or make a mess of materials (Especially feathers).
I've been using the same puck for 4 years now and I've hardly made a dent.
Highly recommend it.

... great thread! ...the day I discovered waxing changed everything for me.I started experimenting (wasn't working at the time )...making my own ,creating various types with different properties such as stickiness and malleability .The experiment resulted in a wax that suits my specific tying needs...and a drawer full of wax types that are given away as they will certainly never be used.I really don't believe all the fuss was necessary, however it was a lot of fun. For those out there that want to cook up their own concoction here is all you need Pine Rosin (resin crystals),Beeswax (pellets),ice cube tray with flexi bottoms and a tin can. A ratio of 4:6 or 3:7 rosin to wax seemed good for my use...
Cheers Steve

View attachment 414666

Sounds like it’d be a blast…and I’m sure a long rabbit hole to go down lol

 

My puck of AOFeathers tying wax is now over a decade old. It's a hard wax that becomes malleable by warming it up in your palms.

It's been faithful for all these years. It's been used on airplanes, driftboats, amusement parks, theaters, church, hammocks, cars, bed, etc.

It's tied intricate classics to simple dry flies.

Big and small.

Always with silk tying thread, the same puck is all I've used for over a decade. I couldn't tie in hand without it.

Good wax is an in-hand tyer's best friend

 

AOFeathers is the wax I got. Good to know what it’s capable of lol! I’m sure nothing will be coming off my vise like that quite yet haha. Amazing work. Definitely helps the confidence knowing I’m on the right track with this stuff.

 

... great thread! ...the day I discovered waxing changed everything for me.I started experimenting (wasn't working at the time )...making my own ,creating various types with different properties such as stickiness and malleability .The experiment resulted in a wax that suits my specific tying needs...and a drawer full of wax types that are given away as they will certainly never be used.I really don't believe all the fuss was necessary, however it was a lot of fun. For those out there that want to cook up their own concoction here is all you need Pine Rosin (resin crystals),Beeswax (pellets),ice cube tray with flexi bottoms and a tin can. A ratio of 4:6 or 3:7 rosin to wax seemed good for my use...
Cheers Steve

 

Steve,
Two quick questions. I assume you melt the wax and rosin in the in can, correct? Also, are the ratios you give in terms of weight? Thanks.

 

This thread needs to be a sticky IMHO, no pun intended. Very informative. Thanks everyone.

 

The best I have found is dental wax, not too sticky nor hard- ask your dentist..

Malcolm

 

So on the wax , thoughts i do have overtons and agree with everything said on it , i have gotton in a mess with it on fingers and then i felt like i was tared and featherd lol
has anyone have experience with plain old natural bee wax , i have a local source near me and i was thinking of getting some for my waxing needs ? Its all natural ,simple Bees- wax. ?
Thanks
David

 

So on the wax , thoughts i do have overtons and agree with everything said on it , i have gotton in a mess with it on fingers and then i felt like i was tared and featherd lol
has anyone have experience with plain old natural bee wax , i have a local source near me and i was thinking of getting some for my waxing needs ? Its all natural ,simple Bees- wax. ?
Thanks
David

Yup.I know what your experiencing David. I found when playing with my "cooking" that the resin I put in was necessary for the end product to be sticky. The greater the ratio of beeswax ,the softer the result became and yes had a tendency to melt once in contact with skin. I would imagine that 100 percent beeswax would be almost useless for most of my needs because it would "melt".
The results of my fun experiment left me with a great sticky tying wax that does make things easier and doesn't melt , however any TYING wax available on the market (which most likely has resin in it) should suffice ,and thereby create circumstances that necessitate the tier to simply improve ones methods for delicate procedures.
Steve

 

Excellent. Thank you.

 

Interesting topic. I have to admit that I have a tendency to try any kind of wax that comes along. Like many of us, my long term favorite is Overton's. I have recently tried "Marvel Wax" from "The Silver Trout," Fayston Vermont. This is a great product and well worth a try, no financial interest, just a happy customer. I have also tried their nickel silver ferrule lube and line dressing, all good stuff.

 

Use just as is.

 

If you want authentic tying wax to the old recipes, Eric at Gunpowder custom has 5 tying waxes and a dubbing wax.

 

I make wax the old way and I seriously doubt anyone else is except perhaps for their own use. It’s time consuming in the extreme and to be honest the game is hardly worth the candle.

 

And I love your cobblers wax, going on 6yrs with the blob that sits on my bench 😁

 

Thanks! It takes three days just to boil down the pine tar to make pitch

 

I’ve ventured down the wax rabbit hole recently. I’m far from an expert, but will highlight my journey.

I have the original tube of Wapsi tying wax in the orange tube that I bought 35 years ago. Fine for general use like dubbing loops and slippery dubbings….. but spit worked good too so I used it sporadically.

When I expanded my tying 8 years or so ago, I started tying flies where bad things tend to happen around the head like hairwings and featherwings. Stuff rolling out of place, slippery hairs, funky shaped feathers, blown apart wings, avalanching heads and I started reading more. This led me towards Overtons Wonderwax.

Overton’s is great. It’s sticky and did a good job and along with improved techniques and using better stronger thread…. led to neater steps, cleaner and stronger heads, nicer flies and less stressful tying. But….. it didn’t do certain things I was looking for. On complex heads with a lot of stuff like underwings, and sides and cheeks and toppings I just felt certain steps at the end weren’t cured with Overton’s. I still leaned on superglue and stronger threads. It worked….but to a point.

If you’ve been tying long enough and watched enough tying YouTube videos….. you’ve seen Davie McPhail. That gob of hard wax he kept on his hand. I would come to learn it’s Veniard’s wax. He went to it like a pitcher to the rosin bag. He didn’t use Overton’s. Why? So this led me reading about the harder “cake” waxes. Bees wax, cobblers wax, secret recipes….. what’s the dilly yo. So I decided recently to purchase some. I bought some Semperfli cobbler’s wax.

My experience is limited with it in the past month or so…..but my initial observations is the grip one can achieve with this stuff far outperforms Overton’s. It doesn’t goop up your fingers. So I’ll be experimenting with it more. For now….. Semperfli do or die cobbler wax, Nanosilk thread, Cellire tying cement and let the fun begin.

Fly tying is hard enough. Who would have thunk thread, scissors, cements, wax, material prep, steaming, and all of the fiddly little things here and there one would obsess over. We’re a nutty breed for sure that this type stuff relaxes us.

If you want to do things well….. you owe it to yourself and your tying, to experiment and try different things. You just might find something that works better.

Happy tying Speypagers……

 

This is an exceptionally helpful addition to this important thread.
Anyone travelling on the wonderful journey of fly tying, who might be reviewing this thread in the hope of gaining insight regarding the use of wax would do well to read @flytie09 's post again.

Well said Mike