Rotary Fly Drier

[chrisdetweiler]

How many of you use one of these for drying your epoxy flies? My wife bought me one for Christmas. Up until now, my method was globing 5 minute epoxy on my streamer flies and sticking them in a styrofoam cup. It would get pretty messy by the time I was up to 6 flies. What a pain. I used my drier for the first time last night. It sure beats the styrofoam cup method!

Chris Detweiler
Harrisburg, PA

[OneMoreCast]

I wouldn't tie without one anymore.

If you are doing one fly at a time, you don't need one. If you are doing a dozen.. it'll cut your time in half.
Didja get the one with the little alligator clips and spring around the circumference? Be careful with big daddy flies. I just finished a bunch of tandem sailfish streamers for a friend and 3 of them committed suicide on the floor.. I didn't notice until it was too late... had to start over from scratch.
Double rat farts....

[chrisdetweiler]

No, I still need to get the alligator clips - thanks for the reminder. I just stuck the flies directly into the foam last night. Still worked better than the styrofoam cup! ;)

[Flybyknight]

Being a fundamental Scott when it comes to spending a buck,
I built my own using some very high density foam rubber, some
plywood, wire,and a dishwasher timer motor.
It looks like crap, but has worked fine for about 6 years now.
The only cost was the ON/OFF switch.
Dick

[toddkfly]

Use mine every time I use epoxy. The wheel will let you use 30 minute epoxy and get what I think is a more consistent head. Better when you need to do a batch of flies as well.

[mike cozzens]

Oh yes, best tool I've used for epoxy flies. I bought one from Orvis years ago and it was a complete piece of junk.
I McGuivered the parts and ended up with a nice turner that has served me well for years. It's nice to crank out a couple dozen black clousers early in the season and not have to worry about flies all season.

Mike

[spilunkr]

I forget where I picked mine up several years ago, but you are right it does make tying with epoxy much easier. Mine has a big foam wheel which I even managed to adapt with the help of a few rubber bands to turning rod blanks when I built a couple of rods.

Guy

[silverfish]

I have a dryer setup that I built years ago after Bob Clouser showed me his, and it can handle several wheels at a time. I no longer tie commercially and so had cut the dryer down to one disc only. Each disc is 12'' in diameter so it has plenty of capacity, and distributes the material well over the fly surface. I had also begun using Hard Head because of the smell of epoxy, and it's tendency to bubble & yellow with sunlight exposure.
However, after watching Bobby Popovics use his Tuffleye, and ultraviolet light setup, where he can fix a clear, non-yellowing coat in a heartbeat, I realized that using any of the thermosetting resins is now old school. The incredibly rapid set of the material makes a dryer obsolete. I'm sure that Bob will have his "works" at Tidal fish, and demonstrate the product's neat capability. The setting holds over time too, just ask any dentist!

[jschmidt63]

I built one using a motor my brother gave me, crude but works great. If you use 20 minute epoxy its essential too. And the great thing with 20 is that is stays workable for much longer, you can apply it thinner and you dont waste as much. Just line up a bunch of flies and go to town.

John

[TimeFlies]

If you read Bob Pop's (a master at using epoxy) book he doesn't used them frequently. Only when a uniform head/body might be required, but many patterns may required more of a taper shape. I usually take about two minutes for me to work the epoxy the way I want, than I hang them by the eye and if there is any more "running" of the epoxy it still remains very uniform.

[boats]

You can buy Alligator clips by the dozen at Radio Shack. Stick a nail in the recess intended for wire and crimp it down with pliers, Then wrap it with tying thread using a bobbin just like you are tying on a hook.

You need a lot of them.

Boats

[tightloop101]

I have used one of these for a long time, I made mine from a rotisserie motor from the grill and a dowel with a foam block. It works great and I haven't had any problems nor did I pay the big bucks.

[bigjim5589]

I have 2 that a (late, F.I.P.) fishing buddy built for me several years ago, and I've used them extensively. Both have plywood wheels with alligator clips. Each wheel holds about 30 flies. These are heavy duty dryers. I tied commercially & had intended to add additional wheels on a pulley assembly. My buddy had it all worked out, but his passing left the project unfinished, and I gave up the commercial tying anyway back in 2003.

I prefer the 60 or 90 minute Devcon epoxy. A lot more working time for doing large batches of flies & I seem to have less problems with it than those with less cure time.