Fly Dryer

Hi Lew;

I don’t know anything about fly tying either, but I showed it to my wife and she wants one. She sews and makes quilts. She thinks it would be great for organizing sewing needles and safety pins on her work table.

-- Evil can only thrive when good men do nothing.......E. Burke

I tie and it might sell if cheap enough, many of use use various things such as star-foam cups and such. Go over to FAOL (Fly Angles On Line) and go to the fly tying section.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/

Be sure to introduce yourself and you’ll get some feedback.

-- Dan in Central Oklahoma, Able to turn good wood into saw dust in the blink of an eye!

Dave,

The black foam is from Lowes and is nothing more than pipe insulation- the least expensive type.

Lew

Us Fly tyers are suckers for gizmo’s and gadgets just like Woodworkers, Looks a little big though, I’d make two sizes, one for larger saltwater and big game flies and a small one for Trout sized flies, the small one would probably be the most popular. Worth a try, not much cost to make, might make the base out of wood, if you look at the tying benches and other things, tyers like the look of wood!
Here’s another idea

http://www.flytyingdesk.com/superbench.html

Marketing might be a problem, there is not a Fly Shop on every corner.
Maybe Ebay.
Or one of those Super Shops with catalogs. Here’s a few.

http://www.bobmarriotts.com/

http://www.theflyshop.com/

http://www.hookhack.com/

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

I’m a tyer too. I like your idea, and it would work for most of my tying. However, I would suggest a couple of changes, for the general fly tying public.

1) Orient the cylinder horizontally, instead of vertically, and make its ‘resistance to turning’ adjustable.

2) Lose the pipe insulation. Hook barbs will tear it up quickly, especially if you’re tying larger flies. Look for a more dense foam, or try a magnetic sheet. I, like many trout fishermen, tie almost exclusively on barbless hooks, and foam doesn’t hold onto them very well.

3) Make sure it is on a steady base—i.e. hard to knock over. My wife (and the cats) would kill me if a full load fell on the carpet! :)

I use a magnetic holder like this – http://www.tachit.com/holder.asp. It might be interesting to try some of that magnetic sheet material on a horizontal cylinder though. Hmmm… ;)

Many of the salt water/big game/bass tyers that I know, use a slowly rotating disc (~6” dia. @ <10>ve seen foam, wood, and magnets used on that type, as well.

Good Luck!

-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...