On 29 Mar 2007 11:44:28 -0700, "rb608" wrote:

On Mar 29, 2:36 pm, wrote:
IMO, get a Thompson "A," an enclosed bobbin, GOOD scissors, a bodkin,
some hemostats, and a scalpel.

Lest this gem of advice get lost in the info about other materials,
tutorials, & other - rdean highlighted my favorite advice: GOOD
SCISSORS. When you hit the fly shop, you'll be shocked at what these
things cost; but there are few things better to have than good, sharp
scissors; and few things more frustrating than dull, cheap ones. I'd
rather have a cheap vise and good scissors than the reverse.

And don't use 'em for ANYTHING but tying. Trust me on this, and fight
the temptation.

(And instead of (or until) a scalpel, a single edge razor blade will
do just fine.)

The razor blade will work, of course. I have what I feel are important
reasons for a scalpel, though: first, the relatively large handle and
small blade are safer around a bench. A loose blade can get mixed up in
or otherwise in a place where it probably ought not to be a lot easier
than a scalpel, IMO/IME. And the handle also helps with control and,
um, "odd" usage techniques - for example, you can hold the scalpel in
your teeth...OTOH, picture if you will Frank holding a razor blade in
his teeth...plastic surgeons all over the area and several surrounding
states would be buying new Porsches, just on the off chance, and J & J
stock would jump 12%...

Seriously, there are all sorts of sources for "retired" medical scalpels
(and hemos, too) or simply buy a, um, not-quite-surgical-grade set (IOW,
a KPOS scalpel set). Or an Xacto "hobby chest" is a handy set for all
sorts of things - three handles, small, medium, and large and an
assortment of blades. I personally don't like Xactos with the pointed
"wedge" blade for general use (although for some things, they are just
the ticket), but the "hobby chest" has, or used to have, what looked
like a small scalpel blade on a small-handle Xacto type base in the
blade assortment.

TC,
R

Joe F.