Hackle Pliers

[barclay34]

I Have A Pair Of Hackle Pliers But They Are "Standard" Ones And I Want to get another pair because they don't grip the hackle enough,

Could Any of you Reccomend Some Good One,


Thanks

[darkuser80]

whatever they are make sure they are rotating pliers with a good grip on the jaws. I use the old pliers occassionally to weight things down but when hackling the rotating ones are worth their weight in gold.

[midlander]

I use these ones almost exclusively these days. They really are non-slip.

[Scratch]

Yes Oliver, the 'standard' will cut and snap fine hackles and will slip also.
I'm still on the standard ones I got with my 'begginers' kit (begginers **** more like) 20 yrs ago. I knew even back then that something wasn't quite right,so I tried a modification which works fine for me and has remained unchanged ever since... and it costs nowt!
Take some shrink tubing or some of that plastic tubing you get with braided loops etc. Cut 2 small pieces about 4 or 5 mm (to suit the size of the nose on yer pliers) ...I'm sure you can figure the rest out

[KevCompton]

This thread may help somewhat:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=23495

I prefer the small 'tear-drop' model of John Dorin pliers. The are extremely light-weight; thereby, putting very little tension on the materials and avoiding the breaking off of hackle, herl, pheasant tail fiber, or biot as you wrap it around the hook shank. For me, they hold very well. There is a small and larger model.

[Alan B]

There are three problems to overcome with hackle pliers, Grip Twist and "tugging".
Grip. Not easy, try gluing a piece of fine wet and dry paper to the insides of your hackle plier’s jaws. This helps the grip enormously. Another alternative that works well is Micropore medical tape. (The papery tape they use in hospitals)
Twist. Every turn around the hook shank produces twist. Rotary pliers let this out. To convert your standard pliers to rotary tie a broken elastic band to the loop end and grip that while winding.
Tugging. By which I mean any unevenness in the tension while winding. This often causes the hackle to break. Some rotary pliers have a spring as well as a swivel. These are the ones to go for, don't bother with pliers that have one and not the other. (Spring or swivel). Or use the trick with an elastic band above.

The best hackle pliers you can use you are issued with! Index finger and thumb! The best gripping ones I have ever found are the Hackle Nabbers. These have a unique method for gripping the hackle. They are expensive (about £11) but good.

Cheers,
Alan.

[barclay34]

Thanks All,

i have just ordered a rotary rubber tiped pair of hackle pliers from lakeland so i will have a go with the Elestic band as well

[stickfloat]

Anyone with pliers that dont grip... what helps is a piece of dull ( to start with ) shrinktube shrunk on one side of the plier....it's ok for me

Stickfloat

[richardw]

Originally Posted by barclay34

I Have A Pair Of Hackle Pliers But They Are "Standard" Ones And I Want to get another pair because they don't grip the hackle enough,

Could Any of you Reccomend Some Good One,


Thanks

Put a short length of valve rubber tubing over one jaw. Leave the other one plain metal. Make sure there is no fash sticking over the uncovered jaw from when it was ground during manufacture. My "Standard" hackle pliers, treated in this way, are still gripping and going strong after 38 years of reasonably regular use.

richard

[barclay34]

Thanks ,

i'll Put some tubing on one of the jaws