Tying tread vs Sewing cotton

[Brit in a Bothy]

As a newbie fly tyer, what, if any, is the difference between fly tying thread and ordinary sewing cotton ?

Obviously, it is a lot easier for me to obtain sewing cotton in Bahrain !

Nigel

[BRUCE1]

most threads are made from polyester and wont rot ,cotton will .

Originally Posted by Brit in Bahrain

As a newbie fly tyer, what, if any, is the difference between fly tying thread and ordinary sewing cotton ?

Obviously, it is a lot easier for me to obtain sewing cotton in Bahrain !

Nigel

I don't know what difference, if any, there is a bit of difference between the various tying silks you buy on the market, thickness mainly, but having said all that, I have used silco thread from various super markets, to tie nymphs in the past, I can't tell any difference, they still caught fish, it's your choice, you can always buy tying thread on the forum, lots of choice, try grommet, he'll help you out.......

[tk8456]

Most sewing cotton is woven and wont lay flaton the hook. It will tend to form bulky 'ropey' bodies and heads and build up too much bulk too soon.

Good quality fly tying silk may not be woven, just stranded. Like UTC thread.

If you want to spin this yourself, you can, if you want it flat and strandey (for less bulk) you can.

But yes, if you find sewing 'silk' thats not woven like a rope, then go for it. It should work.
Strength maybe an issue but in theory, silk is silk

[stevekale]

Likely the biggest difference is variety of type and weight/thickness. Fly tying thread comes in many forms. Some thread is bonded, eg Unithread, and suited for particular applications (good for gripping other materials) and other thread is not bonded, eg UTC thread, and hence lies flat (unless twisted while winding). (I suspect most sewing thread is bond but don't know.) Some are heavy (Big Fly 3/0, or even Unithread 6/0, UTC 140), some are "medium" (Unithread 8/0, UTC 70) and some are fine (Gordon Griffith's Sheer 14/0, Gudebrod 10/0, Spiderweb). It's worth focusing on and experimenting with different thread types to see this in practice. You will undoubtedly collect a range of thread for different applications.

[arkle]

With the exception of UTC 70 & 140 ALL other threads we use are not made for fly tying. Be they silk, nylon, polyester, kevlar, g.s.p./whatever.

They all have specific properties that have uses in tying, some are more useful than others & not all will do every task perfectly. Some take certain dyes better than others for example. Others will allow split thread dubbing better than others.

You choose your thread to suit the type of fly you want to tie rather than its cost. Availability in certain countries of many products is obviously not universal though, so it looks like importing a range of threads seems to be the way to go. Always get the longest rolls you can as well, it works out significantly cheaper in the long run.

[flyfishwithme]

Nigel,
It will work and was probably used by our forefathers. Remember they were bot all wealthy and would have used what was at hand. They probably waterproofed it with wax.
Try it and see mate.

[bbamboo]

Yes Philip Bailey right

In fact I have a mate who uses nothing else
Comes in more colours and he catch just as many as me.
Sometimes a bit of bulk is good

Gary
www.nichobamboorods.com

Apart from bulk, there is also an issue of the ammount af shade change when wet.....even with really heavy application of wax. I tried a klinkhammer today tied with a light olive Dewhurst Sylko.
problem 1 Too much wax and the body just wouldn't cut into the surface tension
problem 2 after a few drifts the thread was almost black.and the fly was useless.
problem 3 Bulk. Too fat for tying a size 14 fly,especialy with dubbing involved.

So if colour other than black is important to you, and your having the thread as a base for body colour(using transulent materials) my advice is that if your whiling a way the hours tying flies for future forays, you could disapoint yourself and waste a lot of time at the bench.....If you let me know what colours you want I will happily send through some Unithreads for you. That way at least you know you have a suitable product