adventures in diamond hard uv

ADVENTURES IN DIAMOND HARD UV RESIN
----------------
DIAMOND HARD TACK FREE U.V. RESIN is quite amazing stuff and unlike other torch activated uvs out there this stuff really is tack free and cures in seconds and most importantly it wont break the bank , there's quite a few things you can do with uv but its not in my mind a complete replacement for epoxy or glue it has its use along side these products , and one thing i really do love about it is doing what I've blogged about today

these eyes are called sea eyes , i got these from rutland fly fishing in the UK but i don't think they do them anymore you can however get them from lake-land fly tying they are exactly the same ones here's the link aluminium sea eyes they are sold in packs of 25 for the ridiculously cheap price of 2.50 UK basically they are like dumbbell eyes like you get on clousers but these are made from aluminium and have a really cool recess that you can stick in your own 3d eyes so of course this brings up a gazillion possibilities for the fly tier , and the other bonus is being aluminium there are very light which in turn reduces the sink rate of your fly over the trad metal dumbbells , these ones being large are also a great option for the pike fly tier

I've used these eyes quite a lot in past and before id have to mix up a little 5 min epoxy then ad a bit to the recess then place the eye on top then add a another little bit of epoxy on top of the positioned eye then wait for it to dry before turning the sea eye over and repeating the process this takes a bloody age to do and you can only do a limited amount of eyes at one time before the epoxy goes hard and you have to mix a new batch up

0--------------0

as you can see in the picture above the handy dispenser makes it really easy to drop a little bit into the recess of the eye

i then place the small 3d on top and push down with a bodkin as you push down the diamond cure will overflow a bit at the sides but don't worry about this as it will even itself out on the next step

just top up with diamond cure to completely seal the eye in , it will form the shape of the eye just don't overfill the eye for the best results , you can always just add a bit at a time curing as you go till you get the desired effect and thickness

curing takes seconds with the very cool half the price twice the job of other similar looking torches ultrafire uv torch and seconds is really all it takes , the torches come in a an amazing 19.95 UK with batteries fitted compere that to 34.oo UK on other sites well that's quite a saving for the same torch

so having set the eyes you need to prepare the hook i still go with the old build a dam on each side of where the eye is going to sit (you can just see it with my rubbish photography) im also using a clear mono thread from uncle Greg over at piketrek and its only 1.50 UK for 200m another bargain

so what i do know is add a covering of diamond hard over the thread and on the spot where the eyes are going to sit , you only need a small amount on there




sit the eye on and whip round a few times to hold it in place add a small blob of the diamond hard to the dumbbell whipping

then zap it for a few seconds and that's all you need

this has set rock solid and you wont be able to shift it a great solid bond


ive just decided to do the most messy fly in the world just made up of angel hair and nothing else plenty of flash and plenty of movement

some red angel hair tied in under and in front of the eye and fold back and secure cant beat some red in head

there you have it a great looking sparkly fly with a rock solid eye , of course you can pretty much add any kind of eye you like to the dumbbells , and its fast and easy to do give it a try ,

0-----------------------------0

and that's me for the week no fishing due to bloody awful wind this week here so maybe next week ill maybe get out who knows if i don't at least i can get onto vice for some entertainment

mcfluffchucker

(a cave in Scotland)