Martyn White | Tuesday, 11 December 2018
It seems like every other day I see people online asking about dubbing wax; what's good? When to use it? Do I need it?... The responses range from spit to chapstick to glue sticks and even to wax!o
So what should you use? Well for me it's nothing. I do use wax just not for normal twist dubbing and I don't think you should either. I've tied what sometimes feels like millions and millions and millions of flies and have yet to put exactly the correct amount of dubbing on the the thread. Wax - if you have put enough on to make a difference-makes it difficult and messy to remove excess and also stops the dubbing from being able to be moved up and down the thread.
Difficult furs can be dubbed without wax if prepared properly and applied with enough pressure. If you are really struggling a small amount of soft hair like rabbit mixed in will help.
I might be wrong but I really feel like "dubbing wax" wasn't a thing when I started tying. Yes , there was wax but it was flytying/fly tyer's wax or cobblers wax, both of which I use regularly. It makes me wonder about marketing and its role in parting you from your hard earned.. Dubbing wax is an easier sell, the name tells you what it's for and why you "need" it.
So when to wax? Well, for me there are 2 dubbing applications where I think wax has a use, touch dubbing and dubbing loops with slick materials like flashabou (not really dubbing?) . Otherwise I use wax for grip and strength when tying in materials, especially things like wet fly wings or solid hair. This is especially the case when using silk threads for North country spiders or similar flies where every wrap really does count. And finally for changing the colour of pale threads for flies like the Greenwell's-both plain wax and cobbler's do this.
So what is your take on wax? Do you use it and what for and why? Head over to the board and let us know..
http://www.sexyloops.co.uk/theboard/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2819
Happy tying
Martyn