Fly head cement

[Steelheadr]

What kind of head cement does everyone use? There was a short post last September, but not many participants. It's time to refill the bottle...

[flygoddess]

SHHAN, Zap-A-Gap, and Loc-Tite.
[signature]

[SatanLBZ801]

I use nail polish for probably 75% of flies. Rest I like the UV gels.
[signature]

[sinergy]

Same Nail Polish, Sally Hard a nails works great on small flies. On streamers large flies Daves Flex or 5 minute epoxy.
[signature]

[Lobina_Mosca]

Clear Cure Goo Hydro. Seriously the best thing out there, IMO. While I have about 6 bottles of SHHN I only use that now for coating foam bodies to get a crunchy hopper-ish texture.

CCG Hydro has about the same consistency as SHHN, but sets immediately with no tack. It will also tend to not soak into the thread as much as SHHN, so you only need one coat. Plus, it's so much more versatile than just head cement.

This one was built in layers of CCG to achieve the shaped effect in the thorax, but whereas SSHH would take two or three coats, I only had to do one coat of CCG on the body for this one...



And of course, most flies don't need head cement. If you find your heads coming undone and need cement for that purpose, you're doing something wrong in the first place.
[signature]

[flygoddess]

At $20.+ how does it keep?
You are right about more coats of Sally. I do use a drying wheel.


When using a bead, you really don't need head cement, but without a bead I always coat the thread then whip.
[signature]

[TroutBumDave]

I only use super glue, and only on bigger flies that have dumbbell eyes. (I hate how they flip around - probably a technique to stop that, but I'm lazy) Never had a problem with thread coming off, so I don't really cement my flies.
[signature]

[OldTroller]

Almost never use it but when I do it's always "brush on super glue." No different that regular super glue but the brush on is just easier and comes in the bottle.
[signature]

[sinergy]

Nice, Ill have to try that I tie a Jujubee mid coat the whole thing with 5 miute epoxy but the epoxy has a tendency to clump and droop I have to spin my vise to keep it from drooping but then I get the epoxy on my vice jaws.

Have you tried that stuff with the UV light ?

I agree a good whip finish should secure your thread but after tieing a dozen or more flies I get lazy half hitch it and slather on some head cement.
[signature]

[Lobina_Mosca]

[quote sinergy]Nice, Ill have to try that I tie a Jujubee mid coat the whole thing with 5 miute epoxy but the epoxy has a tendency to clump and droop I have to spin my vise to keep it from drooping but then I get the epoxy on my vice jaws.

Have you tried that stuff with the UV light ?

I agree a good whip finish should secure your thread but after tieing a dozen or more flies I get lazy half hitch it and slather on some head cement.[/quote]

Clear Cure Goo is actually UV cured. Once you try it, I pretty much guarantee you'd never use Epoxy again. There are several types of CCG all the way from thick (like epoxy) to the "Hydro" (like Sally's) to a flexible style and some even has glitter flecks in it.
[signature]