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Making Cost Effective Wing Material -
Appurtenances to dry flies such as legs, antennae, eyes, tails, and, oh yes, wings can make a fly look more realistic and float better as well as produce more strikes. Yet, when it comes to these attachments none is more important to the dry fly than the wings.
Wings can be made from a variety of materials including hair, foam, hackle feathers, and an ever growing number of synthetics. In addition, prepackaged realistic wing material can be purchase at almost any store that handles fly tying materials. Anyone who has been tying for any length of time has most likely at least experimented with these materials to create a fly that performs well under a number of different conditions. The purpose of this writing is not to discuss materials a fly tier has used, but to introduce some different materials that have the potential to change how you view and make wings in the future.
The most realistic wings that most fly tiers use these days are made from prepackaged wing materials such as Thin Wing, Thin Skin, Web Wing, pearlescent sheets, medallion sheeting, etc. Packaged custom cut wings made for a particular pattern and size of fly are also available. The problem with any of these products is that generally you get a limited amount of material at a price that is not very cost effective. But what if you could make your own wing material that would perform as well as any prepackaged product at a faction of the cost?
With this concept in mind I started making my own wing material approximately three years ago. The person who got me started was Ted Trowbridge a great master fly tier and inventor of the TNT Hopper Legs. Having admired Teds flies and especially his wings, one day I just asked him where he got his wing material. He said, I make it and being the gracious person he is, he went on to explain how. It was just fusible webbing and netting that was purchased at the fabric store and then bound together with an iron and rubber or silicone glue, he used Goop® available at any hardware store.
Fusible webbing is a great material that can be purchased at a fabric store at a cost effective price by the yard. You can bind this to just about any material to form a wing. Generally, netting (also purchased by the yard at a fabric store) is the preferred material. Just take the fusible webbing and press it to the netting material with an iron. After binding the two together take a rubber or silicone glue or sealant and place a thin layer over the netting using to permanently seal the two together.
As for glues to work with fusible webbing use a general purpose silicone sealant, but other non-water based or permanent glues will work as long as they do not breakdown when exposed to water. On any wing material you can also use head cement, rubber cement, fingernail polish, super glue, etc. to achieve the affect you want and seal the wing to give it the necessary toughness.
The advantages to fusible webbing is that it easy to work with, can be colored with a permanent marking pen, ink, or dye, is light weight and cost effective. The disadvantages are that you have to be careful when fusing to a material that the iron is not two hot, an iron that is to hot can melt the fusible webbing. Also you should to place the material to be fused on a Teflon pressing pad (especially netting) and then cover with the fusible webbing before pressing. Without the pressing pad you risk the material adhering to the pressing table. In addition, there is a right side (with glue) that needs to be next to the material. Generally, you can feel the glue side bumps to tell which side goes down.
Perhaps the best wings can be made from anther product found at the craft or fabric stores called HeatnBond®. HeatnBond is a registered trade mark of Term-O-Web. It is, I believe, a polypropylene or polyethylene product that makes excellent wings because it floats. This iron-on adhesive comes in several weights with heavy (ultra hold) being the one I use the most. To use HeatnBond make a sandwich by placing the material to be used in the middle of the top and bottom layer of HeatnBond. Then press the two together and use a hobby iron (high setting) on one side then turn the sandwich over to press the other side to complete the process.
A person can place any coloring or sparkle on the inside of the sandwich. To do so, you place the netting inside the folded HeatnBond and press. Before pressing you can add colored highlight markings with a permanent marking pen, ink, or dye. It is best to apply these products to a thin sheet of polyethylene foam sheeting that can be acquired on the internet. In addition, adding crystal flash or glitter can make for some different wings.
The advantage to HeatnBond is there is no need to use any silicone glue or seal material or the wing edges. The only disadvantage is that you need to turn the product over to press both sides using the sandwich method and really need to use a Teflon pressing pad to avoid sticking to the ironing pad with any HeatnBond overlap.
The Iron heat is important with both of these products. For fusible webbing use a setting just above the middle of the heat range and for HeatnBond a setting near the maximum. Purchase a used iron at a thrift store just for wing making as sometimes the material glue gets on the iron surface and is not easily removed. The best iron is a hobby craft iron that can be found at most craft and hobby shops.
Materials to seal too or inside the fusible webbing or HeatnBond can be almost anything. However, the best is polypropylene netting and hair, polyethylene foam sheeting, or cellophane (called cello) that can be found at craft stores or on the internet. Cellophane is placed on the inside of HeatnBond to make it thicker. Cellophane comes in many different colors and patterns.
Joanne fabric stores and internet providers seem to have the large range of netting colors and a number of internet vendors have a great supply of polypropylene hair. I like the polypropylene hair over other products to seal inside because of the random pattern it produces and the fact that I purchase it in almost any color. My favorite method is either polyethylene foam sheeting or cellophane because they make a tuff wing that is not to stiff and is easy to cut with a wing cutter.
Another great product is cheesecloth found at craft and hardware stores. Cheesecloth has a rather random pattern and can be very easily dyed. Another product a person can use is polypropylene plastic screen that comes in black and gray. The drawback to screen is that it makes a very stiff but tough wing when covered (sandwich method) with HeatnBond.
View attachment 9185View attachment 9186
To form wings from any of the materials you can use a wing burner, cutter, or simply a pair of scissors. Most of us have used one or more of the aforementioned methods to form wings; however some may have not formed mayfly wings on the fold. Therefore, I have included a picture of the method see above. When using this method you may want to place a piece of paper inside the fold to prevent the wing sticking together especially with wings made from HeatnBond.
When making your own wings there are no rules and any person can make up there own. My effort is to make a fly look as real as possible and/or to add something that will cause a fish to strike. For me that is the purpose of dry fly tying and fishing.
Directions for make wing material
Making wing material that floats is a fairly simple process. To start you need a pressing table and scissors as well as the following items:
1. Iron (Hobby or regular pressing iron)
2. Heat-n-Bond ultrahold
3. Netting or Polypropylene (PP) Hair
4. Polyethylene foam sheeting
5. Alcohol ink for additional coloring
6. Teflon Pressing Pad
The next step in the process is to determine the color of the wing material to be produced. The wing material can be colored with alcohol ink or just the use colored netting or hair. If ink is to be used it is best to apply it to polyethylene foam sheeting or in some cases directly to the Heat-n-bond material. If ink is used color the entire sheet of material to be used. After coloring whatever material you are using cut a sheet of Heat-n-bond twice the size of the wing material to be made and lay it out with the colored sheet on top.
Step-by-Step Process
1. Coloring the polyethylene foam sheeting
2. Laying black netting (bottom) PP hair (top)
3. Adding 2nd layer colored PE (optional)
4. Heat-n-Bond folded into a sandwich, ready to press on Teflon® pressing pad
5. Iron on hottest setting foam, netting, and hair inside – first pressing
6. Sandwich turned over 2nd pressing
7. After cooled completely, peel back one side
8. Peel off to remove wing material
The finished material will look like the examples above. If you do not use the polyethylene sheeting you should add another sandwich layer of Heat-n-bond to provide sufficient strength and prevent the wing material from tearing. It should be noted that you can also add glitter, flash, tinsel, or other attractor materials to make the finished wings more luminous.
Pictures of some dry flies made with the wing material
Appurtenances to dry flies such as legs, antennae, eyes, tails, and, oh yes, wings can make a fly look more realistic and float better as well as produce more strikes. Yet, when it comes to these attachments none is more important to the dry fly than the wings.
Wings can be made from a variety of materials including hair, foam, hackle feathers, and an ever growing number of synthetics. In addition, prepackaged realistic wing material can be purchase at almost any store that handles fly tying materials. Anyone who has been tying for any length of time has most likely at least experimented with these materials to create a fly that performs well under a number of different conditions. The purpose of this writing is not to discuss materials a fly tier has used, but to introduce some different materials that have the potential to change how you view and make wings in the future.
The most realistic wings that most fly tiers use these days are made from prepackaged wing materials such as Thin Wing, Thin Skin, Web Wing, pearlescent sheets, medallion sheeting, etc. Packaged custom cut wings made for a particular pattern and size of fly are also available. The problem with any of these products is that generally you get a limited amount of material at a price that is not very cost effective. But what if you could make your own wing material that would perform as well as any prepackaged product at a faction of the cost?
With this concept in mind I started making my own wing material approximately three years ago. The person who got me started was Ted Trowbridge a great master fly tier and inventor of the TNT Hopper Legs. Having admired Teds flies and especially his wings, one day I just asked him where he got his wing material. He said, I make it and being the gracious person he is, he went on to explain how. It was just fusible webbing and netting that was purchased at the fabric store and then bound together with an iron and rubber or silicone glue, he used Goop® available at any hardware store.
Fusible webbing is a great material that can be purchased at a fabric store at a cost effective price by the yard. You can bind this to just about any material to form a wing. Generally, netting (also purchased by the yard at a fabric store) is the preferred material. Just take the fusible webbing and press it to the netting material with an iron. After binding the two together take a rubber or silicone glue or sealant and place a thin layer over the netting using to permanently seal the two together.
As for glues to work with fusible webbing use a general purpose silicone sealant, but other non-water based or permanent glues will work as long as they do not breakdown when exposed to water. On any wing material you can also use head cement, rubber cement, fingernail polish, super glue, etc. to achieve the affect you want and seal the wing to give it the necessary toughness.
The advantages to fusible webbing is that it easy to work with, can be colored with a permanent marking pen, ink, or dye, is light weight and cost effective. The disadvantages are that you have to be careful when fusing to a material that the iron is not two hot, an iron that is to hot can melt the fusible webbing. Also you should to place the material to be fused on a Teflon pressing pad (especially netting) and then cover with the fusible webbing before pressing. Without the pressing pad you risk the material adhering to the pressing table. In addition, there is a right side (with glue) that needs to be next to the material. Generally, you can feel the glue side bumps to tell which side goes down.
Perhaps the best wings can be made from anther product found at the craft or fabric stores called HeatnBond®. HeatnBond is a registered trade mark of Term-O-Web. It is, I believe, a polypropylene or polyethylene product that makes excellent wings because it floats. This iron-on adhesive comes in several weights with heavy (ultra hold) being the one I use the most. To use HeatnBond make a sandwich by placing the material to be used in the middle of the top and bottom layer of HeatnBond. Then press the two together and use a hobby iron (high setting) on one side then turn the sandwich over to press the other side to complete the process.
A person can place any coloring or sparkle on the inside of the sandwich. To do so, you place the netting inside the folded HeatnBond and press. Before pressing you can add colored highlight markings with a permanent marking pen, ink, or dye. It is best to apply these products to a thin sheet of polyethylene foam sheeting that can be acquired on the internet. In addition, adding crystal flash or glitter can make for some different wings.
The advantage to HeatnBond is there is no need to use any silicone glue or seal material or the wing edges. The only disadvantage is that you need to turn the product over to press both sides using the sandwich method and really need to use a Teflon pressing pad to avoid sticking to the ironing pad with any HeatnBond overlap.
The Iron heat is important with both of these products. For fusible webbing use a setting just above the middle of the heat range and for HeatnBond a setting near the maximum. Purchase a used iron at a thrift store just for wing making as sometimes the material glue gets on the iron surface and is not easily removed. The best iron is a hobby craft iron that can be found at most craft and hobby shops.
Materials to seal too or inside the fusible webbing or HeatnBond can be almost anything. However, the best is polypropylene netting and hair, polyethylene foam sheeting, or cellophane (called cello) that can be found at craft stores or on the internet. Cellophane is placed on the inside of HeatnBond to make it thicker. Cellophane comes in many different colors and patterns.
Joanne fabric stores and internet providers seem to have the large range of netting colors and a number of internet vendors have a great supply of polypropylene hair. I like the polypropylene hair over other products to seal inside because of the random pattern it produces and the fact that I purchase it in almost any color. My favorite method is either polyethylene foam sheeting or cellophane because they make a tuff wing that is not to stiff and is easy to cut with a wing cutter.
Another great product is cheesecloth found at craft and hardware stores. Cheesecloth has a rather random pattern and can be very easily dyed. Another product a person can use is polypropylene plastic screen that comes in black and gray. The drawback to screen is that it makes a very stiff but tough wing when covered (sandwich method) with HeatnBond.
View attachment 9185View attachment 9186
To form wings from any of the materials you can use a wing burner, cutter, or simply a pair of scissors. Most of us have used one or more of the aforementioned methods to form wings; however some may have not formed mayfly wings on the fold. Therefore, I have included a picture of the method see above. When using this method you may want to place a piece of paper inside the fold to prevent the wing sticking together especially with wings made from HeatnBond.
When making your own wings there are no rules and any person can make up there own. My effort is to make a fly look as real as possible and/or to add something that will cause a fish to strike. For me that is the purpose of dry fly tying and fishing.
Directions for make wing material
Making wing material that floats is a fairly simple process. To start you need a pressing table and scissors as well as the following items:
1. Iron (Hobby or regular pressing iron)
2. Heat-n-Bond ultrahold
3. Netting or Polypropylene (PP) Hair
4. Polyethylene foam sheeting
5. Alcohol ink for additional coloring
6. Teflon Pressing Pad
The next step in the process is to determine the color of the wing material to be produced. The wing material can be colored with alcohol ink or just the use colored netting or hair. If ink is to be used it is best to apply it to polyethylene foam sheeting or in some cases directly to the Heat-n-bond material. If ink is used color the entire sheet of material to be used. After coloring whatever material you are using cut a sheet of Heat-n-bond twice the size of the wing material to be made and lay it out with the colored sheet on top.
Step-by-Step Process
1. Coloring the polyethylene foam sheeting
2. Laying black netting (bottom) PP hair (top)
3. Adding 2nd layer colored PE (optional)
4. Heat-n-Bond folded into a sandwich, ready to press on Teflon® pressing pad
5. Iron on hottest setting foam, netting, and hair inside – first pressing
6. Sandwich turned over 2nd pressing
7. After cooled completely, peel back one side
8. Peel off to remove wing material
The finished material will look like the examples above. If you do not use the polyethylene sheeting you should add another sandwich layer of Heat-n-bond to provide sufficient strength and prevent the wing material from tearing. It should be noted that you can also add glitter, flash, tinsel, or other attractor materials to make the finished wings more luminous.
Pictures of some dry flies made with the wing material
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