Does anyone know how to use a hair stacker?

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SemperFly
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Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2003 5:07 pm
Location: San Antonio

Does anyone know how to use a hair stacker?

Post by SemperFly »

I have been tying for 3 yrs now and am still perplexed by the stacking of hair. Everytime I do it I end up cussing a lot and hitting something in my Garage with a hammer. I have seen some great patterns that require this method. Can anyone help me with the basics. I would really appreciate it.

THanks,

Darren
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Hair Stacker

Post by Guest »

Many fly patterns require hair that is perfectly even at the tips. Most hair grows on animals in random lengths.

A stacker enables you to bring all of the hair tips to the same plane quickly. Just insert the hair bundle tip first into the barrel of the stacker and bang the base of the stacker on the table. The hair fibers will slide until they stop at the bottom of the stacker. Turn the stacker horizontal and remove the base. The exposed hair tips will be even.

Remove the evened hair bundle from the stacker and tie it on the fly.
To make this process easier; comb or stroke out, all short hair and under-fur from the hair bundle before it is inserted into the stacker. Straight hair stacks easier than kinky hair. If the hair is greasy or full of static cling, saturate the hair-piece with talcum powder and fluff out.

Brass barreled stackers are less prone to static cling than aluminum barreled stackers.

Select the stacker size that best fits the length and volume of hair being used. (small stackers for short hair etc.)

FDF
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Puck
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Stackers

Post by Puck »

I have 4 different size stackers. Each has it's uses. Basically, the tips go down, beat it against something solid, making sure everybody in the house knows that you are tying flies, then carefully pull the neatly stack hair out the bottom before the dog can beat you to it. For some reason she thinks a hair stacker at work is a dinner bell.
Nate

clean the hair out good first

Post by Nate »

I used to live around trout and went through a hairwing phase. I found that you can't do too much at a time, it has to be real clean and calf tail is a problem.

Hair is set up to keep dirt off the animal and so it has "barbs" that point toward the tip. These "barbs" catch the dirt coming into the hide but let it slide off away from the animal. Some hair has more, some less but this is what you are fighting. Stack it the other way for "fun" and see how it lines up with just two whacks.

The key then is that the more space the hair has in the stacker the less these "barbs" come into play.
1) Stack just for one fly at a time
2) Take an eyelash comb and comb out ALL the short hairs first.

I also have better luck holding the stacker at an angle rather than tapping it flat (no clue why)

Some hair just is hard to stack (calf tail) and you must tap-tap-tap for ever to get everything right.
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fredtoo
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Post by fredtoo »

some "pelts" like a buck tail can be oily (does not have to be obviously so). just give it a gentle washing with liquied soap, rinse and let dry (oh, I suppose you could use your wife's shampoo also).

If that aint enough, then the powder trick mentioned earlier can also help.
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