Hair Stacking
and Other Applicable Stuff

Stacking process

Intro Understanding hair Hair scales Stackers Stacking Deer, Elk and Moose Calftail and Bucktail Hand stacking Uneven stacking Cleaning hair Selecting hair References

All stacking should be done with the stacker tilted off vertical. Hair that is stacked vertically will usually fall unevenly to the side of the stacker's top tube when the stacker is laid horizontally to remove the clump. If stacked at 60 degrees or less, during the process the hair will lay along the lower edge of the stacker. When laid horizontally to remove the hair it is all appropriately aligned along the lower edge. Initially stacking can begin with the stacker vertically if so desired, but always end with at least a few taps at 60 degrees or less. When I see someone vigorously pounding a stacker in a vertical position, it is often due to the tier attempting to stack too much hair or dirty hair that requires such treatment. Adequate amounts of clean hair do not require a firm hand.

When stacking any ruminant animal's hair, first remove the underfur as well as the shorter and smaller diameter hairs, for which I prefer to use a fine tooth comb. Make an initial stack. After the initial stack, remove the clump and hold it by the hair tips. Remove any remaining shorter and smaller diameter hairs that did not stack. Smaller diameter hair usually does not stack because it is physically lighter in weight than adjacent larger diameter hair, even when the hairs happen to be of similar length. Now trim the root ends to a uniform length of at least half again as long as you will ultimately need. Check for and remove damaged hair (i.e., broken tips, blood damage, etc.)

A problem may be encountered when removing unwanted hairs from the clump by their tips. Attempting to slide them out of the now even stack causes the scales to catch adjacent hairs' which unstacks a portion of the clump. When feasible always remove unwanted hairs by the cut ends so that the direction of the hair scales do not interplay with the hairs not being removed. This is appropriate when it is discovered that the clump is too large and needs to be reduced. Obviously this approach is not practical when only removing specific hairs such as those with broken tips. The only solution then is to be careful and remove only one or at most two hairs at a time. The more removed at once, the more likely the stacked clump will become uneven.

Next with hairs that are now almost uniform in diameter and weight as well as length, with a more gentle hand restack the hair at 45 degrees or less; less being preferable. Move the stacker to a horizontal position without rotating the barrel of the stacker. Rotating it will roll the now carefully aligned hairs and very likely misalign them. Now slide the bottom tube away from the top tube. At this point the hair is essentially even. If it is not even enough, remove the clump, trim the root ends evenly one more time (do not trim too short for the fly being tied) and make a final, gentle stack. Now you should have very even hair, but it may be somewhat fanned out across the lower curve of the inside of the top tube.

To remove the stacked clump, first, if necessary, carefully gather the hair into a more compact bundle. If removed as a loose bundle the clump will be fanned to a point that it is difficult to work with. Examples of flies that may require such an application include the Royal Wulff, Elk Hair Caddis, and Comparadun. Then again there are some flies that in application require the hair to be broadly fanned side to side, such as with hair "stacked" on top or perhaps beneath a deer hair bass bug. (Here "stacking" has reference to overlaying hair clumps of different colors on top of one another in order to achieve a banding of colors different above from those below such as with a bass bug frog or the head of a Whitlock Sculpin.) Here the fanned clump in the stacker will be removed as it is to retain the splayed arrangement of the hairs. This "stacked" hair on the bass bug is applied over a wide area where that with flies such as the Elk Hair Caddis, etc. the hair is applied over a narrow area. Be sure to pull the clump out of the stacker with the hand that will ultimately hold the hair when it is tied in. Any switching of hands is likely to unstack the clump.

<<< Previous page - Stackers

Next page - Deer, Elk, and Moose >>>

Did you find the above interesting?

People who looked at the above also looked at these pages: Fly patterns Section: The best fly patterns from all over the globe Picture galleries Section: The art of fly fishing and fly tying in photos Tyer gallery The International Fly Tyers Symposium in New Jersey 1996 featured a lot of well known tyers. Here just a few of the impressive list. Honey Shrimp There are thousands of shrimp patterns in the world, made from the same template. This pattern is a time consumer, but it makes it more interesting tying shrimp flies. The eyes, proportions and legs gives this pattern some kind of magic. International Fly Tyers Symposium 1997 The New Jersey area is not the worst place to be in November. This is the story about a lot of fishing and fly tying done in that area in the fall of 1997.

A few random articles for your entertainment Small Fry: The Lure of the Little I have been an amateur musician for many years, comfortable on both keys and strings, and to use an analogy from that facet of my life I will state that, to me, the rock bass is akin to a punk rock song — It hits you hard, is pugnacious and tough up front, and though it doesn’t last too long, it is undeniably a strong, clever, and classic rocker. July 28th 2008 New Hooks Partridge has come out with a new line of trout hooks called "Flashpoint". Most fly tyers are hook junkies, and Bob Petti is no exception, so he jumped at the chance to review these new hooks. January 17th 2005 Build a Flexible Fly Tying Bench German Jan-Ole Willers wanted to be able to clear his vice, tools and materials off the dining table for such unimportant events as lunch and dinner. That made him think out and build his own inexpensive portable fly tying bench. You can do the same. February 7th 2006 Raymond Classics The first time I opened this book was on Ogunquit Beach, the sun beating down, and a heavy surf crashing not far away. It’s not easy to imagine yourself being someplace else, when you’re exactly where you want to be, but that’s exactly what happened. December 30th 2005