Hi All

 In a recent post Dave V. mentioned the exorbitant price that some people

charge for hand-made hooks for tying the classics. I wanted some  fairly 

large ones to tie a few classic salmon flies on for framing but the cost

had me beat...So I went one step lower...Decided to remodel existing hooks.

The search began for a suitable hook... and voila!...Mustad 3191 in sizes 4/0

and down.  About 5 bucks a hundred.

   Having time on my hands and a small workshop I made a mould from a thick piece of

aluminium.. Ground and filed to shape of the desired size and pattern. and attached to

a block of wood...

Used  wire cutters to snip off the eye and a propane torch to heat and reshape them.

Carefully ground the taper. Then reheated and dunked them in oil to retemper them.

Had to dig up a reduction gear and find an appropriate can to put sand in and turn

for hours to repolish them.  Finally a couple of coats of black lacquer sprayed on and I had

a fairly reasonable result.

All for a little time and about 10 bucks investment..

Happy Tying

Stephen

Quote by: Dave V

Way cool Stephen . Did anybody ever tell you that your are one talented mo foe ?  I bet if you look back in the family tree you would stumble across a black smith or two. Now a question for you. You said you clip the eye of the hook. How do you attach the fly to the line ?  You can pick fun at me if this is a silly question I won't mind Dave V

I believe these hooks are used for presentation flies, not ones that are going to be fished.

See Yah

Lee

 Hi Lee and Dave V.

  We must remember that blind eye hooks were used for " fishing flies" before some enterprising

lad decided to bend a loop on the end of the hook..

   Several strands of silkworm gut are twisted together  The ends are mashed down to flatten them

and then tied on the hook forming a loop at the end...To which the leader was applied.

Hence the tapering of the hook so that the process of binding the loop on did not add much

additional bulk.

And yes Dave...I only have to go back to my grandfather's brother...He had a blacksmith shop and a sawmill.

As an old man he did wonderful carvings of moose and other animals as well as making fiddles.

I am impressed as well with Stephen's creativity and craftsmanship.  Sounds liek soemthing I would try to do.  I would probably fail, but I am a hands on variety and like to get involved in things.  I have built furniture, computers, rebuilt car parts, farm equipment when I was a kid.  These sorts of things I find really gratifying.

Dave, I was wondering the same thing about the hooks, although I suspected there was some unusual method in which these hooks would fastened to a line.  A great history lesson any ways!  Thanks for sharing Stephen.