Baron
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Tigereye
Well-known member
Lots of ways to skin the cat. Basically whatever works for you. A trip to a craft store will show tons of organization ideas boxes, cans etc.
Personally I use the plastic shoe size boxes to store capes, various feathers furs etc. An old christmas tin from fruit cake holds my dubbing, a plastic dissecting kit from a yard sale was repurposed to store tools ie scissors , bobbin, whip finisher , dubbing brush etc. An old metal bread box holds a bunch of odds and ends that I no longer use but perhaps will someday or use in a pinch. Hooks are stored in a neat little box that hold 24 small plastic containers that stack by screwing together. I believe it's from Michael's craft store $6.00.
Personally I use the plastic shoe size boxes to store capes, various feathers furs etc. An old christmas tin from fruit cake holds my dubbing, a plastic dissecting kit from a yard sale was repurposed to store tools ie scissors , bobbin, whip finisher , dubbing brush etc. An old metal bread box holds a bunch of odds and ends that I no longer use but perhaps will someday or use in a pinch. Hooks are stored in a neat little box that hold 24 small plastic containers that stack by screwing together. I believe it's from Michael's craft store $6.00.
Baron
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"Hooks are stored in a neat little box that hold 24 small plastic containers that stack by screwing together. I believe it's from Michael's craft store $6.00."
Aha, Tigereye, I'll be looking for this.
Aha, Tigereye, I'll be looking for this.
dc410
Well-known member
My fly tying table generally looks like a tornado just blew across it. Every now and again I clean it all up and put everything back in it’s own little place. It always feels great to do that! Then in a matter of a week or so it’s all screwed up again. Been doin’ it for 40 years and I don’t see me changing up my system at this point. Not much of a system but it’s mine!
Bamboozle
Well-known member
I’m organized as heck…
Clear plastic Rubbermaid bins of various sizes, stacked on shelves is where I store the majority of my materials in their original packaging with a liberal supply of Para dichlorobenzene (moth crystals) in the bins of natural materials. I like the Rubbermaid stuff because it seals well and comes in lots of sizes to handle big things like whole bird skins, etc.
I also use a couple sets of Sterilite drawers to store synthetic stuff, roughly sorted by color. So for example, I have a drawer loaded with black stuff that includes ANYTHING synthetic in black, a single drawer for yellow, white, orange & red, a single drawer for olive and single drawer for browns & tans. I also use some other drawer sets for cements & lacquers and oddball stuff I’ve accumulated but hardly ever use anymore.
I use Plano boxes for tools and I have a separate one just for bobbins, mainly because I have a ton of bobbins all loaded with spools of thread. I use small compartment boxes I found in a hardware store for wire, thread & floss.
Years ago, I used the plastic stacking “jars” to store hooks but if you drop them, they break and spill your hooks all over. Now I have a couple of the purpose made curved bottom hook boxes sold by Umpqua and I use something similar but smaller for beads, cone heads, dumbbell eyes, etc.
My fly tying desk is an old piece of crap unpainted kids desk that my mother “antiqued” for my sister a thousand years ago. It is small with almost useless drawers and an extension I added to it because it was so small. I’ve been using it since I started fly tying and I wouldn’t part with it for the world.
It moved with me to NYC and lived in two different apartments, once stationed inside a closet where I tied flies because I had no other spot to put it. It also has moved with me to four different homes in PA…
…and the top is always clear of anything except the materials I am using for the fly I am presently tying although that wasn’t always the case. ;-)
Clear plastic Rubbermaid bins of various sizes, stacked on shelves is where I store the majority of my materials in their original packaging with a liberal supply of Para dichlorobenzene (moth crystals) in the bins of natural materials. I like the Rubbermaid stuff because it seals well and comes in lots of sizes to handle big things like whole bird skins, etc.
I also use a couple sets of Sterilite drawers to store synthetic stuff, roughly sorted by color. So for example, I have a drawer loaded with black stuff that includes ANYTHING synthetic in black, a single drawer for yellow, white, orange & red, a single drawer for olive and single drawer for browns & tans. I also use some other drawer sets for cements & lacquers and oddball stuff I’ve accumulated but hardly ever use anymore.
I use Plano boxes for tools and I have a separate one just for bobbins, mainly because I have a ton of bobbins all loaded with spools of thread. I use small compartment boxes I found in a hardware store for wire, thread & floss.
Years ago, I used the plastic stacking “jars” to store hooks but if you drop them, they break and spill your hooks all over. Now I have a couple of the purpose made curved bottom hook boxes sold by Umpqua and I use something similar but smaller for beads, cone heads, dumbbell eyes, etc.
My fly tying desk is an old piece of crap unpainted kids desk that my mother “antiqued” for my sister a thousand years ago. It is small with almost useless drawers and an extension I added to it because it was so small. I’ve been using it since I started fly tying and I wouldn’t part with it for the world.
It moved with me to NYC and lived in two different apartments, once stationed inside a closet where I tied flies because I had no other spot to put it. It also has moved with me to four different homes in PA…
…and the top is always clear of anything except the materials I am using for the fly I am presently tying although that wasn’t always the case. ;-)
JerryC
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Dave_W
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Staff member
I'll second this as it describes me about as well as I could describe myself. ^
Baron
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So the Theme her is plastic bins, drawers, separators and more. Avoid glass, keep stuff your mom had and display George Washington Fly-Fishing.
I wonder if you can get high if you put moth balls in a stinky fruitcake can and sniff........my those are both some old memories.....
I wonder if you can get high if you put moth balls in a stinky fruitcake can and sniff........my those are both some old memories.....
Bamboozle
Well-known member
I'll add another reason to my preference for Rubbermaid bins (storage containers), the basic kind they sell everywhere...
A lot of cheaper bins have flimsy lids that don't create an airtight seal (important if you are storing natural materials) and the lids deform if you stack other bins or stuff on top of them.
When the lids deform, after awhile they will take a set and never work right again. I've never had that problem with Rubbermaid storage containers and I have big Rubbermaid bins stacked 4 & 5 high and the bins are close to 30 years old.
A lot of cheaper bins have flimsy lids that don't create an airtight seal (important if you are storing natural materials) and the lids deform if you stack other bins or stuff on top of them.
When the lids deform, after awhile they will take a set and never work right again. I've never had that problem with Rubbermaid storage containers and I have big Rubbermaid bins stacked 4 & 5 high and the bins are close to 30 years old.
Baron
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I see that Fly tying reduces us to our most primeval forms. Members whom I may have assumed to have it all sorted out are on an equal level with folks like me who never seem to sorted out.
Fly tying may just be the great equalizer.
Bam, My wife wants to know if Rubbermaid has lidded containers 6' tall. I don't know what she wants them for.............
Fly tying may just be the great equalizer.
Bam, My wife wants to know if Rubbermaid has lidded containers 6' tall. I don't know what she wants them for.............
Tigereye
Well-known member
https://www.michaels.com/bead-landing-bead-storage-box-with-30-containers/10121776.html
Quick check online at Michael's, couldnt find the 24 pack but here is same thing with 30 for $10
They are great for beads too
Quick check online at Michael's, couldnt find the 24 pack but here is same thing with 30 for $10
They are great for beads too
afishinado
Moderator
Staff member
Lots of good tips in the above posts for organizing your fly tying materials.
It's important to have some system to organize or you'll end up buying the many of the same things you already have that are hidden, especially hooks which are expensive.
It's important to have some system to organize or you'll end up buying the many of the same things you already have that are hidden, especially hooks which are expensive.
M
maxima12
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Funny, i am in the process, organize, right now! Does it make me better if i am more organized than you? Doubtful? Most important, we fish and we try.
Maxima12------- Seems i been organizing my whole life, with NADA where it needs to be! If it is all in boxes, your not using it! Every object has a story and a tale! Not a hoarder but a rememberer!
If i was to forget, the marble a child gave me or the knife of a friend, the wink of an evil eye, the book, the poem, the sacrifice won and lost. Well, why am i here!
Maxima12------- Seems i been organizing my whole life, with NADA where it needs to be! If it is all in boxes, your not using it! Every object has a story and a tale! Not a hoarder but a rememberer!
If i was to forget, the marble a child gave me or the knife of a friend, the wink of an evil eye, the book, the poem, the sacrifice won and lost. Well, why am i here!
drakeking412
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I'm like Bam, I organize things very heavily and like to keep things as clean as possible. Beads, hooks, tinsel, wire, and specialty tinsel all have their own plano box. I like to melt the dividers into place too. Then I have all other materials in an antique sewing chest my grandmother bought for her mother in the 60's and all tools are kept in a Renzetti tool caddy.
https://imgur.com/a/HCw7XEK
https://imgur.com/a/HCw7XEK
M
maxima12
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That's ok with a bunch of stuff, how about the big bang of stuff. when the good is buried and "what room has it" and the choice of 16 boxes.
Then the closets. Fly tying has been a real adventure for me from age 12. You get fast if you put an effort and slow when you lost it. Lost, never forgotten, let's just say set aside till life "COOLS OFF", some!
Hot, Hot , Life! Hot off the rails, Hot on the trails, Hot to succeed, then Hot to recede! Remember, Once a Man and Twice a Baby!
Now, this is not intended for the KNOW! I love the "NOT KNOW". Like me UNKNOW, till I SAW! Took me over like a storm of global proportions. Fly Fishing, Fly tying, what is that? Me in my boy scout uniform witnessed the next new, Wonder of the Earth. Royal Coachman tied at a scout gathering. Hille's own O"connor Young Bill back I would say 1968.
You know when Glam had some meaning. Charisma Bill and his Glam, blew the crowd away, many questions, many thanks, many memories. Where did the Glam go!
Organize it but without the GLAM, useless! I see all the new guys, for a price, your in. I stick a turkey feather in their hat and call them, pimp!
Organize fly tying first comes with organizing life! Trying to catch up is rough! Equal is O K and Box Cars change the day!
I am in to hanging material on the wall now. Boxes, tubs, bags all good while removed. Being shoved back in. A festive blow of revolution and a big punch of evolution!
Reminds me of the album, Helmet, with that big screw! But that's the mind of a loose mind!
Then the closets. Fly tying has been a real adventure for me from age 12. You get fast if you put an effort and slow when you lost it. Lost, never forgotten, let's just say set aside till life "COOLS OFF", some!
Hot, Hot , Life! Hot off the rails, Hot on the trails, Hot to succeed, then Hot to recede! Remember, Once a Man and Twice a Baby!
Now, this is not intended for the KNOW! I love the "NOT KNOW". Like me UNKNOW, till I SAW! Took me over like a storm of global proportions. Fly Fishing, Fly tying, what is that? Me in my boy scout uniform witnessed the next new, Wonder of the Earth. Royal Coachman tied at a scout gathering. Hille's own O"connor Young Bill back I would say 1968.
You know when Glam had some meaning. Charisma Bill and his Glam, blew the crowd away, many questions, many thanks, many memories. Where did the Glam go!
Organize it but without the GLAM, useless! I see all the new guys, for a price, your in. I stick a turkey feather in their hat and call them, pimp!
Organize fly tying first comes with organizing life! Trying to catch up is rough! Equal is O K and Box Cars change the day!
I am in to hanging material on the wall now. Boxes, tubs, bags all good while removed. Being shoved back in. A festive blow of revolution and a big punch of evolution!
Reminds me of the album, Helmet, with that big screw! But that's the mind of a loose mind!
M
maxima12
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Unsung!
theoriginalnickyp
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I found an old machinist's box in my mother in-laws basement that was going unused and repurposed it. You can get pretty $$$ but this one is at Hrabor Freight for $85. Everything else is in rubbermaid and plano boxes like others have stated.
Rolf
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Sterilite is your friend.
Baron
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You Guys are pretty impressive and I've really enjoyed this thread. I can see that with many of your suggestions, if I just cooperate and stick to the plan, there is hope that I'll find organization as the months and years pass.
Bamboozle
Well-known member
As someone who is way too organized, I can tell you from experience that the way to organize is to look for a solution to a problem, not the other way around.
Bottom line, think it through and think about future acquisitions before spending any money.
In the interim, get one large bin and bunch of Ziploc bags. Cigar boxes are good too if you have a source.
BTW - I also have a bin of old Ziploc bags that I save from fly tying materials and other stuff. I can't tell you how many times I reuse those bags for something fishing related.
Bottom line, think it through and think about future acquisitions before spending any money.
In the interim, get one large bin and bunch of Ziploc bags. Cigar boxes are good too if you have a source.
BTW - I also have a bin of old Ziploc bags that I save from fly tying materials and other stuff. I can't tell you how many times I reuse those bags for something fishing related.
