Now I know this is not the traditional work bench but have any of the members made a fly tying bench...........looking for ideas or even someone to make one for me.....

Dave

I've been flyfishing British Columbia for nearly 40 years. In about '73 or '74, I built this bench and have found no reason to modify it ever since.

1. You didn't ask for much did you? Man, it's winter here. See? This is almost straight south from my dining room. Hard to find where I hid things on myself in the off-season.

2. & 3. The bench is 12mm ply and white paint. Base is 40 x 60 cm, the arch is 12cm high x 28cm long x 9cm across. Screws & glue = you're done. I drilled a hole near the far end to hang it on the wall out of the way.

After I dope the fly heads, they get hung on the heavy copper wire clothes lines out of the way under the arch.

There are two very different ways to tension the tying thread FAKE in these pictures.
a) on the prong which sticks up at the front of the arch is a neoprene rubber stopper which is cut into 2 disks. The screw regulates tension, just pull the tying thread between the disks and it can and has stayed tight for a week.
b) at the far right corner is a screw-eye, opened up a little. from the fly, run the thread through the eye and let the bobbin hang down for weight. The bobbin is custom made steel, can't recall the builder, works OK.

4. The business ends of a 9' x #9 rod I built (1980?) Fenwick 2pc fiberglass blank, Rodin reel seat, Fuji agate phosphorescent tip guide. Hardy Marquis reel with a spool of WF#9ST. Other spools with other lines. The handle alternates cork and 3/8", closed-cell neoprene foam = deforms slightly to the grip of my hand and allows the rod to flex all the way to the reel seat (double-hauling, you can feel it!)
= = =
I hope this helps. The bench has been most convenient over the years. I suppose I could have shaved 10-15cm off the width but that compromises the clothes lines.
Looks like I got the pix mixed up. Oh well.

Attached Images

	Bench end small.jpg (148.2 KB, 62 views)
	Bench Side small.jpg (130.5 KB, 36 views)
	OutsideFeb11 small.jpg (117.1 KB, 37 views)
	Fly Rod small.jpg (113.9 KB, 29 views)

G'day Y'all,
I love to fly fish in high cold mountain streams but old age and fate wont let me do that any more.
I tied my own fly and made my own fly rods in Colorado, long ago.
I built a fly tying box that I could throw in the truck and take with me. That way i could replace a fly that the fish were hitting when I wore it out or lost it.
Here is a blurb from another fellow that did the same and then he posted the plans.
Hand Made Tying Box



It is a wish of fly fisher to casually do fly tying anywhere any time. You can make useful tying box only for you by yourself. If you decide to do it isn't difficult as you think, and moreover, you can get tying box at a low price. I introduce hand made tying box of myself that I have used regularly for 30 years.
The lid has space of large sized materials of hackle capes, quills, etc. and small pockets of tying tools. And inside lid is kept flat. Besides there is small container of head cement, flotant, etc. that is possible to take off. The main box is 9.5cm(3.7in.) thick. It is partitioned into two at center and they are partitioned into halves. Even, left compartment has inside tray of 4cm(1.6in.) thick and right compartment has board of vise that it turn to the inside 180° Left side is space of thread, floss, etc. and right side is space of dubbing materials, furs, etc. This box is 45cm(17.7in.) wide, 35cm(13.8in.) depth, 15cm(5.9in.) thick. This is made from boads of 15mm(0.6in.) thick, plywood of 5mm(0.2in.) thick. This is painted with polyurethane of teak color.
My Best Streams - Hand Made Tying Box 2

I would offer to make one for you one but the freight would eat your lunch.
Regards
Joe

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They need to be changed for the same reasons.

That's fantastic, Joe! How convenient for a trip, I dream of doing that some day.
In the mean time, I still keep everything in a matched pair of Mexican Corona beer boxes.
Oh well. The wobbly pop was good.

Thanks for all the input fellas, I was initially thinking of a free standing work bench initially as my fly tying bench but then after looking at the above examples I thought why not something portable, so I started searching for plans and I found something that I really like. All I have is a PDF of the plans so I will attach them to this post for you all to have a look at

Dave

fly_tying_bench_plans.pdf

Hi Dave:
I took a good look at the plans.
1. Elegant bench made by someone who cares. The back and sides might help to prevent my supervisor (the cat) from playing with feathers, stealing a hackle cape, etc. Mine bench is crude but very effective.
2. You can't stand it on end in a wardrobe to clear off the table for anything else.
Too many things to fall off.
3. I see no way to tension the thread and/or get it out of the way. Having a "third hand" helps me when I'm cutting extra materials or using both hands to wind floss/chenille/etc.
4. I had intentions of making a desk top bench which was hinged to fold up against a wall but that would have put the end to any portability.

My mountain picture? The Castle River comes out of there. Maybe I'd like to take my little bench in there with me.
= = =
You could clone mine in less than 30 minutes. Then decide on the features that you'd like to have in a nicer "home" version.

Probably the main feature I'd be looking for in a tying bench would be a scrap sweep. A scrap sweep is somewhere where you sweep all the little scraps of feather or tinsel or thread or whatever. Usually has a narrow slot on top flush with the tying table - you sweep the stuff into that with your hand - and a removable bowl or something underneath which you can empty. Keeps the whole process clean and organised.

Arron

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Forgot something else.
A white worktop - not brown and definitely not woodgrain. A white background makes it easy to see fine threads etc.

cheers
Arron

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www.patonga.me - A website about Patonga - fishing, wildlife, flora and local events. Take a look.

That is a very good point, had not thought of that.

Arron's correct = white bench top like mine (no charge for the many years of grime.).
If I had a crap-trap, with my luck, the good stuff would fall in there first!

I seem to like to work with the developing fly in front of me, not so much looking down on the top of it. On most common tables, that arch is the right height.

I've worked in many, many biology laboratories and they all have the so-called "acid proof" bench tops which always are black. Very hard to see details over a surface like that.
Most commonly used work stations had 30" x 40" white Bristol cards taped down.

I'd suggest a thin piece of melamine as the bench top

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regards
Nick (I really don't need a Stubby!)
veni, vidi, tornavi

Thin or thick or a coat of paint left over from window sills, I'd rather be fishing.
I used to fish with 4 other families, little kids, infants and all. We went up the Table River valley, east of the Parsnip River (you do have Google Earth?). We would camp for a weekend at the 13km log sort. I took that bench to supply everyone with whatever we needed. It was a complete thrill to do that part of a big family outing.

Well I have made my fly tying work station, I am happy with how it turned out, made it from Victorian Ash. The build is complete as I said, next is filling gaps, screw heads etc with an appropriate coloured wood putty from the Cabot's range before a final sand with a fine paper then a coat of polyurethane.

WRT the white bench top suggestions I chose to go with a HMH backing board that attaches to the vise post so it gives that contrast, that way I can leave the work station all timber. Here is a picture but be gentle, its one of my first woodworking jobs at home.

Dave

build complete.jpg

I should have added that I thank you all for your input and opinions.........

If you want plans for a bigger one ... here

no connection etc - just found it on my virtual travels

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regards
Nick (I really don't need a Stubby!)
veni, vidi, tornavi