Tiemco ceramic bobbin holder

[Spider]

Fly tying season starts for me in a few weeks and am considering buying a ceramic bobbin holder following plenty of frays last season. Has anyone used the Tiemco ceramic bobbin holder? I tried the Gordon Griffiths model but found it useless - very stiff at the feet, whereas the Tiemco one has metal feet. Any user feedback appreciated.

[Pritts Apprentice]

Hi Spider

I use a Tiemco japanese bobbin holder, amongst other Tiemco items. Its excellent and will not cut your thread and has a shortish tube so you can suck a thin thread through quite easily. Well made and perfect for the job. I also use a Dr Slick bobbin holder which has a longer tube and that is nice to use because your hands some how seem further away from the fly and so you see things better and seem to have better control, again this bobbin is cermanic. Once you have one you'll not go back to steel. Although I use a steel one when tying with Kevlar thread, don't ask me why I just do. Good luck.

[fredaevans]

Yes to what he said. Use both and haven't had any problems of any sort with either. Generally use the short tube for larger flies, the longer one for smaller ties. That 'system' keeps the bobbin out of the way based on the size of the hook being used.
fae

[arkle]

If your G.G. bobbin holder is to tight, have you tried stretching the legs outwards a bit. You will need to be quite firm with it, if to much so then just bend the arms back in as they all bobbin arms made from single length of spring steel wire that's made to be treated as such. Once the tension is set right, & providing the ceramic is in perfect condition it'll work as it's designed to. If it still breaks the thread, then the ceramics damaged & it's a write off.

[ruby pennel595664]

Maybe I'm just unlucky with ceramic bobbin holders I've had two and both have been blooming useless, and they were not cheap, both constantly broke the thread. I checked them for damage using a powerful magnifier but couldn't see any damage at the tips where the thread came in contact.

I just use metal tubed holders now and very rarely have any break offs. I know a lot of forum members recommend ceramics but I won't touch them any more due to my own experiences.

[fredaevans]

Just a guess, but I'd suspect you had the thread tension too high. Post above on how to 'spread' the arms to lighten up on that. On most, this is a pretty simple process, a few I've had (over the years) it was a bit of a pain in the .... to get it right.

Fred