Split thread and CDC

[Svend Tang-Petersen]

Ive been wanting to try this for a while and have been toying around
with not too good results since I
tried placing the cdc in the split thread with my fingers only. Over the
past 6 months Ive chekked the
shelves at office depot, fry's etc for paper clamps that wouldnt break
the fibers. I finally gave up and
ordered the set that Marc Petitjean has for sale on his website. Since
the euro is strong they ended up being
a bit more expensive than originally planned but they finally arrived a
few days ago and just make life
so much easier. Ive toyed with a few patterns; Elk Hair caddis with
trimmed cdc body (ended up using tan
cdc for the thorax and cutting only the sides and bottom leaving the
rest for the wing) and a peeking caddis
as well. They all came out ok, but Im not sure the latter (except for
looking nice) would fish any better than
a version done with peacock, dubbing and ostrich for the case. It was
also fairly simple to mix colors by simply stacking the various colors
of cdc before using the clamp. I think there was a recent article in one
of the magazines by Marc showing some other patterns and ideas.

All in all a reasonable investment and interesting addition to the tying
arsenal.

[Dave LaCourse]

Svend writes:

>Ive been wanting to try this for a while and have been toying around
>with not too good results since I
>tried placing the cdc in the split thread with my fingers only. Over the
>past 6 months Ive chekked the
>shelves at office depot, fry's etc for paper clamps that wouldnt break
>the fibers. I finally gave up and
>ordered the set that Marc Petitjean has for sale on his website. Since
>the euro is strong they ended up being
>a bit more expensive than originally planned but they finally arrived a
>few days ago and just make life
>so much easier. Ive toyed with a few patterns; Elk Hair caddis with
>trimmed cdc body (ended up using tan
>cdc for the thorax and cutting only the sides and bottom leaving the
>rest for the wing) and a peeking caddis
>as well. They all came out ok, but Im not sure the latter (except for
>looking nice) would fish any better than
>a version done with peacock, dubbing and ostrich for the case. It was
>also fairly simple to mix colors by simply stacking the various colors
>of cdc before using the clamp. I think there was a recent article in one
>of the magazines by Marc showing some other patterns and ideas.
>
>All in all a reasonable investment and interesting addition to the tying
>arsenal.

I tried to do this a couple of years ago and gave up trying to find the right
paper clamps. However, recently I found what I was trying to make in Dan
Bailey's catalog. It's called Henry's Fork Hackle. The package contains five
threads of cdc, each about 4 inches long. I've been experimenting with them
and they make a wonderful wing for a caddis. I make the body out of a tan cdc
feather tied in at the bend and wound forward to just before the eye. I then
tie in the cdc string and when I wrap it, pull the feathers back (after each
wrap). Three, four wraps and you have a wonderful wing.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html

[Mike Connor]

"Svend Tang-Petersen" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
> Ive been wanting to try this for a while and have been toying around
> with not too good results since I
> tried placing the cdc in the split thread with my fingers only. Over the
> past 6 months Ive chekked the
> shelves at office depot, fry's etc for paper clamps that wouldnt break
> the fibers.
<SNIP>

Seeing as you already got the tool, this wont do you much good, but it may
help somebody else. The standard steel bulldog clips work fine, if you split
a length of silicone tubing along its length, and superglue this over the
blade edges. Of course you can not see the fibre length inside such clips,
but this is actually not much of a problem., as you can see the length
before you placxe the clip on the material.

If you want a "see-through" clip. Take a spring loaded clothes pin, ( not
sure what these are called in America, they are the clips used for pegging
clothes to a washing line), sand the faces down, and carefully glue two
"perspex" or similar plastic blades to them. You can use the silicone
tubing on these as well, for better grip.

This will work on practically any spring loaded clip. These clips are also
excelent for holding material anyway. I have one fixed to the bench for this
purpose.

If you wish to use "tables". Just get a few small hardwood blocks, using a
fine saw, groove them down the middle. You can make blocks of various
depths. Clean the groove out with fine sandpaper. It may be advantageous to
use various fretsaw blades for this, instead of a normal saw. This is the
same as the dubbing blocks which people have used for ages. They can of
course be used to fold CDC, soft hackle, various dubbings etc.

TL
MC

[mmcgr]

Svend Tang-Petersen wrote:

> Ive been wanting to try this for a while and have been toying around
> with not too good results since I
> tried placing the cdc in the split thread with my fingers only. Over the
> past 6 months Ive chekked the
> shelves at office depot, fry's etc for paper clamps that wouldnt break
> the fibers. I finally gave up and
> ordered the set that Marc Petitjean has for sale on his website. Since
> the euro is strong they ended up being
> a bit more expensive than originally planned but they finally arrived a
> few days ago and just make life
> so much easier. Ive toyed with a few patterns; Elk Hair caddis with
> trimmed cdc body (ended up using tan
> cdc for the thorax and cutting only the sides and bottom leaving the
> rest for the wing) and a peeking caddis
> as well. They all came out ok, but Im not sure the latter (except for
> looking nice) would fish any better than
> a version done with peacock, dubbing and ostrich for the case. It was
> also fairly simple to mix colors by simply stacking the various colors
> of cdc before using the clamp. I think there was a recent article in one
> of the magazines by Marc showing some other patterns and ideas.
>
> All in all a reasonable investment and interesting addition to the tying
> arsenal.
>

I've never had any trouble using bulldog or esterbrook clamps for the
purpose. I've got a writeup on how to do it at
http://www.peninsulaflyfishers.org/Fly_Tying/shStreamer.html which is
about doing it with marabou, but the method applies equally well to CDC.

Mike

[Dave LaCourse]

Svend, the latest issue (Spring 2004) of "Fly Tyer" magazine has an article on
a new tool that does this quite easily. It also mentions using the clamps.
The tool can be found at
http://flytyervariant.com/Petitjean%20products.htm

And, no, I have no connection with flytyervariant. d;o)



Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html

[Stan Gula]

Dave LaCourse wrote:

> Svend, the latest issue (Spring 2004) of "Fly Tyer" magazine has an article on
> a new tool that does this quite easily. It also mentions using the clamps.
> The tool can be found at
> http://flytyervariant.com/Petitjean%20products.htm
>
> And, no, I have no connection with flytyervariant. d;o)

Dave, that's what Svend was posting about<g>.

I was talking to the guy from Flytyervariant at the show in Danbury last
month. He kept trying to show me the Petitjean tools, but I was fixated
on the Brahma hen pelts.

[Svend Tang-Petersen]

What I got from Marc was the full set of clamps as seen in the picture right

under 'MP Plier'. I cant tell from this page if they are charging 30$ for a

single clamp or not. I got the whole package for about 45-50$. (I also got some

leader floatant and had to pay shipping for a GT of 70$).

[Tom Littleton]

Stan writes:
>I was talking to the guy from Flytyervariant at the show in Danbury last
>month. He kept trying to show me the Petitjean tools, but I was fixated
>on the Brahma hen pelts.

as an aside(alluding to the issue David was talking about), this last issue of
Fly Tyer contained two feature articles pushing Flytyervariant's products.
Seemed a bit of a commercial overkill to me as I read them.
Tom

[Stan Gula]

Tom Littleton wrote:

> Stan writes:
>
>>I was talking to the guy from Flytyervariant at the show in Danbury last
>>month. He kept trying to show me the Petitjean tools, but I was fixated
>>on the Brahma hen pelts.
>
>
> as an aside(alluding to the issue David was talking about), this last issue of
> Fly Tyer contained two feature articles pushing Flytyervariant's products.
> Seemed a bit of a commercial overkill to me as I read them.
> Tom

Pretty much sums up why I stopped reading the mags. I can get all the
info I need from friends, the Internet, and Internet friends.