whip finisher

[Baron]

A whip finisher is a great tool but it is surprising how difficult it was to figure out. But I guess you all know that. I have been doing hand ties until now and I see that the tool is handier. I guess the learning curve is part of the game but wow it is tough.
When tying how many turns do you all use for most of your flies?

 

[Bamboozle]

What kind do you have?

There are essentially two different designs, the Materelli Style with an oddly shaped bent wire with a sharp hook which rotates within the handle or the Thompson Style that has two thin springy wire arms, one of which that may or may not rotate.

If you have a Materelli style or the Thomson style that rotates, the trick is to use a finger to keep it from rotating while you are hooking the thread and to TRIANGULATE the thread before wrapping.

If you have a Thompson style that doesn't rotate and you have mastered it, you will quickly figure out how to do a whip finish with just two fingers. While I can do it, I always use one of my Materelli whip finishers which are the real deal and unfortunately no longer available.

While the knock-offs are OK, the real Materelli has a few design elements that I like better, maybe because I have been using mine for eons as well as the other tools Frank Materelli made like the best steel tube bobbin ever.

As far as turns go, maybe four at most on bigger flies and less on tiny stuff. A common mistake among beginners is too many thread wraps in general on everything.

 

[afishinado]

Baron wrote:
A whip finisher is a great tool but it is surprising how difficult it was to figure out. But I guess you all know that. I have been doing hand ties until now and I see that the tool is handier. I guess the learning curve is part of the game but wow it is tough.
When tying how many turns do you all use for most of your flies?

Assuming you have a Materelli type whip finisher (see Bamboozles post above), which is the most common type used these days, the video embedded below should help.

I generally whip finish my flies with 4 turns first and 3 turns a second time (my lucky number is 7 ). Actually if the last turns come undone the first turns will remain intact. Having the head of a fly come undone has never been a problem for me.

And I generally don't use head cement after whip finishing the head. The only time I use head cement is when it's call for on a fly with a larger thread wrapped head like some streamers or wet flies.

Just practice, you'll get it.

Good luck.

 

[drakeking412]

same as afish for me, two sets of 3-4 turns and head cement if I'm feeling froggy

 

[Baron]

Bam, It is a rotator by Stream Works. Bought last week in Sacramento. It works fine but, though I've seen them online I had never seen one in person....nor how small they are. This one does not quite have as deep of a rear notch as does many I've seen.
AFish, Thanks for the video as it was reassuring. That narrator has the right cadence to all of his videos and I tend to understand him well. I had thought he was an Orvis guy until I looked him up. He's not too far across the river from me.
Drakester, two sets of 3-4 turns.
I'm still at the stage where I tend to use way way too much thread.
Thankfully, to make up for all my poor hand tied jobs, there is Sally Hansen GillTastic in Red or clear.

 

[Bamboozle]

That is a Materelli style whip finisher however it "looks" like the "Large" version of the StreamWorks whip finisher.

Frank Materelli had two versions of whip finishers, the regular one and a "Long Reach" version which was designed to get a whip finish at the rear end of a fly, most likely tied on a long shank hook.

I have both of Frank's creations and while both can work on the head of a fly, the regular one is easier to maneuver so make sure of what you got.

If you have the "Large" version of the StreamWorks, buy a "regular" sized one or an equivalent.

You may find it easier to use.

 

[Skeet6]

One of the things I like about the Materelli (style) ones are that the small tab that is on the bottom of the tool that extends below the handle can be sharpened and used to cut your thread. I did this when I first got it, and have resharpened it a few times over the years.
Mike B

 

[Baron]

I'll get the regular someday soon and will sharpen it. no. Wait, these are aluminum, they won't hold an edge. Well someday.........

 

[Baron]

I'll get the regular someday soon and will sharpen it.

 

[Bamboozle]

I heard that at one time, Materelli offered a whip finisher where the tab (which has a raised FM on the real ones) came with a sharpened notch cut into them.

I have a few, but none of mine have that notch and I am OK without it as I most often have a small pair of scissors in my hand.

Baron:

The tab that is sharpened is the same piece of steel as the wire that does the whip finishing. On most knock-offs, the end of the wire extends through the handle and is flattened behind a bead to hold it in place like the photo posted by Skeet6.

 

[Baron]

Ah good info. I have sharp and small tying scissors. Thanks.

 

[UncleShorty]

If you tie left handed forget the Matrerelli style tool.

It won't work unless modified. (You'd have to bend the "hook" on the tool 180 degrees.)

Although I have a Dr. Slick Thompson style tool, I whip finish by hand exclusively. I learned to whip finish left handed by watching videos of right handed tiers in a mirror.

Hand finishing just seems easier and faster to me. By the time I wrap the thread around the tool and get it set up I'm done with a hand finish.

Disclaimer, I don't tie anything smaller than #16s. So maybe a tool is advantagous for the tiny stuff...

 

[Bamboozle]

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/73596-left-handed-whip-finish/

Check out utyers post halfway down.

 

[Baron]

I am whipping up storm left-handed the way Utyer has shown in Bam's posted video. I can see the. value on it. it is seemingly more consistent than hand tying.

 

[UncleShorty]

Oh, man I have the tool names reversed, I think.

The Thompson is the one that has the open hook on the end that fits over the hook eye, right? That one won't work for Lefties.

The Martinelli willjust watch the video in the mirror...

Sorry for the confusion...

 

[UncleShorty]

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