Dubbing Brush

Dubbing Brush

by Kuba Chruszczewski

                 The term „dubbing” often appears in descriptions of the construction of various artificial flies. It means a certain type of fly making material with a rather thick, shaggy torso. Such a torso can be used in all kinds of flies - wet, nymphs, streamers and also dry flies can have a torso made of dubbing - depending on the material we use. And these materials are a huge number. It can be fur, wool, ground silk, all the recently very popular synthetics, glossy additives.... All the mentioned materials can be mixed together in any combination. This gives the possibility to obtain material for all kinds of trunk with the desired properties. Length of fibers, stiffness, texture, color - depends only on our ingenuity. For convenient and quick mixing of materials, I recommend a trick long used by fly builders. We place shorn hair, yarn, or silk cut into appropriate lengths plus, for example, a little shiny synthetic in an electric coffee grinder. Short grinding mixes the materials used, giving them the right uniform texture.

The torso of the fly is made of dubbing twisted with thread. You can lubricate the leading thread with glue or special wax( dubbing wax), glue the dubbing to it, twist everything together and wind the yarn obtained in this way on the hook shank. The best method is to place the dubbing in a loop formed from the leading thread or another type of thread specially tied to the hook. This is how you will get the most durable, strong trunk.

In addition to building the torso itself, you can , using a properly constructed dubbing, make the entire fly. If you use a material with sufficiently long fibers to construct the dubbing, it can be used to make a large, impressive, yet very durable pike fly relatively easily. If you are making a lot of such flies, it is worth getting a special device, very helpful in the construction of the so-called „dubbing brush”.( dubbing brush).

Photo 1

Two columns are mounted on a wooden base. In one is embedded a fixed, stationary abutment. In the other is embedded a rotating axle, at one end it has an abutment, at the other a knob.

Between the columns is a desktop that, thanks to its mounting on an axis, can be turned 90°.

Tools needed to make a „dubbing brush” - thin steel wire on a winder, tweezers with bent ends, steel brush, scissors, wire cutters.

Performing „dubbing brush”:

Photo.2.

Hook the wire by wrapping it several times on the rotating hook.

Photo.3.

Put it through the stationary clip, let it hang under the weight of the winder. The wire is hidden in a groove filed into the desktop.

Photo.4.

Cut out bunches of synthetic bristles („carpet”).

Photo.5.

Arrange the bristles on the desktop covering the wire.

Photo.6.

Arrange strands of shiny material on the bristles, such as Flashabou.

Photos.7., 8.

The wire is pulled over the laid fabric to the movable clip, here we fix it.

Photo.9.

We turn the desktop down. You can twist.

Photos 10., 11

While twisting, comb the material with tweezers and a brush.

Photos.12., 13.

Cut the wire with pliers, dubbing brush ready.

Photo.14.

Materials needed to make the fly.

Photo.15.

We tie a strong thread to the hook with a tail made of the same materials we used for the dubbing, and a dubbing brush.

Photo.16.

Wind the dubbing brush onto the hook shaft in tight coils, combing the bristles back.

Photo.17.

After reaching the eye of the hook, we fix the wire with thread and cut it off with pliers.

Photo 18.

Glue the large eyes. The fly is ready.

Photo 19.

Other color variations.

Photos

Tom Bogdanovich