Some time ago, a fellow rod builder asked whether I could make him a 4-string binder like the one I currently use, and take with me to meets and demos. I said, sure, why not, so I started assembling and making parts, considering what upgrades I could incorporate – better motor mount, better balanced drive wheels, larger foot plate, smaller thread spools with no protruding wing nuts, thread tensioners that attach to the binder wheels in a less jury-rigged manner, and thread guides made from steel rod rather than sections of cheap fiberglass coarse fishing rods. Oh, and real flanges with grub screws to fix the rear upper drive wheel and the front binder wheel to the main axle, rather than epoxying them in place… So I set about doing all that, and am now nearing completion, only waiting for a new sewing machine motor and drive belt, and a set of sewing machine thread tensioners, to be delivered before I can finalize the build. Here are some intermediate build pics. Drive wheels provisiona...
At my age, threading a fly onto a tippet in low light conditions, without magnification, is an exercise in frustration. A few high end gadgets are on the market to help with that - magnetic fly threaders - but they are prohibitively expensive, and the concept behind them is simple enough that I reckoned I could make one myself. They are nothing more than a solid base with a groove, a tiny dimple in that groove at one end, to position the eye of the hook, and a small rare earth magnet embedded in the base, just below that dimple, to (sort of) keep the fly attached to the tool, and positioned so that the hole in the eye is aligned with the groove. Once attached, you use the groove to guide the end of your tippet towards, and hopefully right through the eye of the hook - if the eye is free of crowding materials or varnish, this should work relatively painlessly. Most available fly threaders are made either from aluminium or high density resin (some are even 3D-printed) but since I don’t h...