Fishing

We started talking about wing burners on another thread and some how got side tracked. I have a set of the brass burners which work well, but I really prefer the Life Cycle plastic stencil set. They work particularly well with the swiss straw material. It is not very practical to cut out various shapes from feathers.

Dryrod
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here is a term that caused my confusion and ultimately interest in how thes wing burners work..


"Wing: Mottled Gray Web Wing Sheet, cut to shape"

... this is from the tying directions for a Barrs Web Wing Caddis...

...so my question would be .. what is a web wing sheet (what is it made of).. and how does the tyer use the burners or the stencils to create the wings ..??

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

Web wing is a commercial name for a transparent or translucent material available in several colors. You could use the stencil to trace the wing of choice, then cut to shape with a pair of sharp scissors. You could also use a punch die tool but they are rather expensive to own a complete set. I believe the material is made from some type of polymere material or acetate. Thats just a guess.

Dryrod
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so a "burner" would not work properly on this type of material?.. again I ask this mainly because I am not 100% sure how wing burners work...

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

A section of feather is placed between the two pieces of brass [see arrow] and then squeezed closed to hold the feather in place. Then with the flame of a lighter all exposed parts of the feather are burned away. What you then have left is a piece of the feather shaped like pointed end of the brass head material.

Dryrod
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ahh... now that kind of makes sense.. lol.. I thought maybe you heated it up first and then pressed it on the feather or material.. or.. as a alternative.. held the feather and then pass a heated piece of wire or knife blade around it to cut off the excess feather..(as used to be done with feathers that were being shaped for use as fletches on arrows)...

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

The ones DR posted are the ones I have. They will work with ANY material.
You grip the material and run a flame around the pliers, you don't HEAT the pliers.
You can get a really nice effect with the plastic wing material as illustrated in on of my Fishing mags. Gives a nice little rolled edge.
There is also a fiber wing material out there, plus the Swiss Straw and even the foam sheets for packing like computers.




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

okay... so just about any heat source.. would that include a heat gun.. or a hair dryer (like shrink tubing)..

is the wing "cut" just at the pointy tip of that tool?... and

lastly.. is that one wing or a set of wings ?

as usual.. lots of questions.. but that is the spice of my life.. LOL..

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

Flame. Lighter, candle, etc. No scissors, razor, etc. NO CUTTING, that is why they are called burner.
Feathers, you place a feather in the pliers, trying to put the vain either in the middle or off to one side. Hold it with the burner and run a flame around the outside. You end up with a perfect wing, and yes in pairs.
With man made material the placement is not important, just don't let it move once in the pliers.
The stencil or the ones that are cut are WING CUTTERS




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

so wing cutters and wing burners do the same thing (give you a set of wings to tie with) but in different ways..

which is better to use or do each have their pros and cons?

the instructions for the fly I mentioned earlier with that sythetic materal said to cut the wings free hand ... I have to assume that using burners or stencils give you a more consistent (size and shape) set of wing to work with than free hand ones...

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

The purpose of the flame is to burn the feathers around the brass holder. A heat gun or mama's curling iron won't work. LOL The portion before the red line is the shape of an entire wing. The brass holder is similar in design as a tweezers except it's shape is more exotic. I also use Thin Skin by Waspi. They make some neat colors with cool designs.

Dryrod
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okay... so you clamp the tool thingy over the material and then burn it with some sort of flame (or a heated wire maybe).. and whats left is the wing ..

but.. (ya'll knew it was coming)

at that red line would be flat.. do you do any typy of shaping on that end or just leave it flat?

the reason I ask that is that the stencils look more realistic in as much as that area of the wing is not left flat..

I have heard of that thin skin material (isnt that often used to simulate minnows and such as well as wings..)..

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

I don't know about Pros and cons of one over the other. I like the burners cause they make reshaping FEATHERS easier.
Either way, to get a full set is pricie, so it is nice you can pick just the size and not a whole kit.
I would like to get the mayfly burners some day.




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

maybe Santa will be nice to you this year..

but back to the one question I had .. from the looks of it the one edge on the burned wing would be flat across.. do you shape that after you burn the wing ?.. or does it make a difference in the long run?

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

who makes this set of burners??

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

I am not sure who made the burners, but I guess I will have to take some pictures of how it works.




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

well I did some checking on line and the big name that comes up is renzetti.. maybe DR will let us know for sure.. I also found an article that shows how to make your own burners.. and how to use them.. but... lol...

looking at the article that showed how to use them I am seeing one wing burned at a time.. is that correct.. ?? reason I ask this is in the tying video for the web wing caddis I was looking at it appeared they cut the set of wings at one time and then tied it on as one piece.. these wings were not burned..

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

It probably was cut. Maybe it is very flamable and would turn in to a puff of smoke.
I have made a post on the burner.




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

the material being used in that demo was the mottled wing material.. and as DR pointed out it is a synthetic material so Im betting it would either do a "flame on" thing or just melt to a point where it could not be used.. and on the demo since it was one piece it was tied in as one piece.. Ill pm you the link so maybe it will make a little sense (since I am confusing myself .. lol.. )..

I saw your demo post.. awesome..

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

One piece wings would be easier to just HAND cut, just the ones you need two identical. I have tons of Capes that have no tips left on them, but with a burner you don't need the tip.
And I think you are right on them being Renzetti, cause I ordered them the same time I ordered the cam jaws for my traveler.




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

but you said you were short the mayfly burners correct??? if I were you Id put my bid with mojo now..LOL..

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

okay we have seen the stencils.. the burners.. what about the cutters.. I would assume they would not work that well on feathers or material like that but would work great on sythetic/sheet material.. like that web wing material??

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"

I want to hear from someone with the cutters as to how they work on feathers also.
Burners are quieter......LOL




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

While there are several companies making wing burners, Renzetti is probably better known. Here is a different concept called
TMC Through Wing Burner.

Dryrod
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looking at those cutters it looks like the old leather stencil thing where you got to beat on it to get it to work right.. is that what you mean by quieter..??

MacFly





...."May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing"