Stories of family, creativity, and diverse distractions.

Tag: diy

Do It Yourself projects of all sorts.

Feathers and Fibers and Fur, Oh My! Understanding Fly-Tying Materials

In this post I gave a brief introduction to the tools of fly-tying. And I mentioned that flies are made of thread, fur, synthetic fibers and feathers, all tied to a hook. Today, let’s look a little closer at those materials.

Tools of the Trade: Fly Tying Tools

Michelle and I like to fly fish. “Flies” in this sense are fishhooks decorated with thread, fur, yarn, and feathers to resemble natural creatures that fish like to eat. That often means bugs of some sort, but it’s possible to tie flies that simulate minnows, worms, leeches, and even frogs and mice.

Some typical flies, with a dime for scale. These simulate bugs in various stages of life.

It turns out you need an awful lot of flies. There’s a huge variety of things that fish might be eating, and it’s important to use a fly that resembles the things the fish are eating at this moment. So you need a huge variety of flies.

Turn! Turn! Turn! (and Face!)

No, this post has nothing to do with a song by the Byrds. Nor anything to do with Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (the source of the lyrics for the song). Last week I promised a brief demonstration of what a metal cutting lathe does. So here we go!

Turning Heads, and Other Parts: The Engine Lathe

Today we’re going to take a look at my engine lathe. It’s down in my basement shop, and it’s one of the most important tools I own. Let’s get to know its parts and what they do.

Where the Magic Happens: A Tour of My Underground Laboratory

Sure, some uncharitable people might call it my basement shop. Some particularly pedantic types might even note that I have a split-level house, so the basement isn’t even really underground. But screw them. I do experiments, so it’s a laboratory. And it’s probably as close as I’ll ever get to a supervillain’s lair. Let’s have a look!

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