Poor mans motorized dubbing brush invention

[Daryle Holmstrom]

Been thinking about this for some time finally made it. The only expense was the $14 driver.

http://home.comcast.net/~gold04/pub/br1.jpg

[lx-88]

Interesting idea. I think I'll give that a try. Thanks

[Daryle Holmstrom]

As a second thought I think all you need is the wider 3/4 inch slot. I made the 3/8 inch slot for finer materials but by just adding less you can get by with the bigger slot. So far I've found the best wire is 32 ga. 26 and 28 gauge seem to be too stiff. I'm going to hit the local electronics store tomorrow to see if they have some 30 gauge copper. The first time I used it I waxed the wire but then the dubbing was sticking to my fingers. It seems to work just fine with no wax. I run the motor until the wire breaks.

Daryle

[Daryle Holmstrom]

top, disregard first

[Old Man]

Retiredfish. Get ahold of Randy Diefert. He's on this site. He's got a sweet deal on how to make one of these things.

Jim

[Tom Grobelny]

I still have not gotten the pics of my set up that I am supposed to get to you. You seem to be getting good results with your set up though.

My tool is closer to the "twister" tool" photo of this tool below. It has a "head stock" and a "tail stock". The head will rotate to twist the wires while the tail is spring loaded to keep tension on the wires while allowing the length of the wires to shorten as the wire is twisted.

It looks like if you are using dubbing that your tool might have the advantage over mine as you have a motorized twister. I have to spin mine by hand. I think that my set up may work a bit better if you are using longer hair like hair cut off a zonker strip or artic fox, as I can probably lay the second wire down and start twisting them together without disturbing the fir as much.

Tom G

[Daryle Holmstrom]

Must be deja vu Tom, I was going to ask how you got the fur ones so nice, I tried some rabbit fur tonight but not as good as yours. Regular dubbing works out great though.

Daryle

[Old Man]

I still have not gotten the pics of my set up that I am supposed to get to you. You seem to be getting good results with your set up though.

My tool is closer to the "twister" tool" photo of this tool below. It has a "head stock" and a "tail stock". The head will rotate to twist the wires while the tail is spring loaded to keep tension on the wires while allowing the length of the wires to shorten as the wire is twisted.

It looks like if you are using dubbing that your tool might have the advantage over mine as you have a motorized twister. I have to spin mine by hand. I think that my set up may work a bit better if you are using longer hair like hair cut off a zonker strip or artic fox, as I can probably lay the second wire down and start twisting them together without disturbing the fir as much.

Tom G

I went to this web site to check it out and they will sell you one for about$100.00 plus $15.00 shipping. Way to much to pay for something to twist up rabbit fur. So I'm still looking.

Jim

[Randy Diefert]

Jim, The one that I sent to you costs $15.00 to build. And works much better than the one I have that cost me over a $100.00. And it has MUCh mo' power!

[Old Man]

Yeah, but I'm mentally challenged. I don't think that I could do all that and have it look like anything that resembles that. So I guess that I'll keep looking as something is bound to turn up or I die first.

Jim

[Scott Behn]

I reckon I'm still a little behind...I have never seen or heard of this, but it looks quite interesting. Randy do you have a photo or something of yours? I sure would like to learn how to do this.

:cool:

[Randy Diefert]

Yes Scott but, I'm more mentally challenged than Jim says he is. If you PM me your email address I'll gladly sent you 2 very good pictures of it and instructions on how to build it along with some tips that I'm going to incorporate into my next one. I cant fiqure how to get it from my documents to this page but, I have no problem emailing them. I just made up 50 Dubbing ropes for Ronn Egle Elks swap and The Leach Swap in 2 days with very little work...
So, it works for me.
Randy

[Scott Behn]

Cool!!!!! PM sent...


:cool:

[chadk]

resurrecting this post...

I was in a craft store and saw a manual wire twisting tool for crafts that was about 4-5 bucks. It just had a simple table clamp. Anyone see these before? Would they work for this?

[Randy Diefert]

Does it loook like a safety wire pliers? If so I'm not sure that you'd be able to get a rope that's long enough. I find that a 12-14" dubbing rope can produce 3 "nice sized Flies" . It can be really frustrating to run out of material 1/2 way through tying the fly.

[chadk]

It just has a spot to put a few strands of wire (or whatever) on the top and then on the bottom. There is some kind of hand crank for twisting. Lenght could be a problem since it looked more like 8-9 inches. I'll have another look next time I'm there.

[Randy Diefert]

This is my answer to the poor man's dubbing rope machine. It has a 14" drop down table that is held in place with 2 spring loaded cabinet hinges,Mount a sewing machine motor (thift store) 2" before the table and Jb weld a hook in the end. On the other end mount a Dowel rod and insert a cup hook at table (up position) hieght. To that get your self a spring and a ball bearing swivel. Wire in a dimmer switch to the sewing machine motor. And you've got it.

[Tom Grobelny]

Randy,

It looks like you have my setup beat for speed and long fir brushes now!

I used rabbit fir brushes for spring creek specials and have started making some sparse brushes to replace the hackle on wolly buggers and the like. Looks like you will have fun with your setup.

Tom G

[Randy Diefert]

Tom, I use this machine allot. It works great. I made it after returning home with one that I bought in Canada last year that doesn't have enough power or stamina to keep up making dubbing brushes after a few hours. This IS the ticket , believe me. The hardest thing is finding the sewing machine motors without buying the whole enchilada. I'm still looking for one (motor) for Jim Swan's machine that I'm making him. You'll need to find that and set it up first because that will set your hieght for the rest of it. The most important factors are: The height is the same all of the way acroos the wire and, the wire is laying straight in the groove of your table. The one I bought , I made portable with a nine volt convertor/battery charger from Radio Shack. But, Like I said it's good for an hour tops before it runs out of poop.
Good luck, If you've got any questions Feel free to PM me.This site's all about sharing!:beer2:

[bass-tard]

I can't wait to get started on making dubbing brushes. Has anyone encountered a problem with the speed of the electric motor? I think most "dremel" tools spin between 5000 and 30000 rpm (at least on the cheap models that I looked at).

[Daryle Holmstrom]

I can't wait to get started on making dubbing brushes. Has anyone encountered a problem with the speed of the electric motor? I think most "dremel" tools spin between 5000 and 30000 rpm (at least on the cheap models that I looked at).

Well brother if you can spin at that speed you da man

, for your first post watch out for the patrol

[gmac209]

I have an old arrow cresting rig that I used my wife's old Singer sewing machine motor on. Thanks for the info - it's going to get resurected as a dubbing brush machine.:thumb:

[Randy Diefert]

Bass-tard Look close at the photo. right in front of the motor is an ordinary dimmer switch with an on/off button. It is totally variable speed. Works like a hot damn!

[Randy Diefert]

I have a root's dubbing machine that I'll sell somebody if their interested too. It is made out of Oak and has one added feature. I took the 9volt battery out and got an a/c adapter and wired that in. Interested ? give me a shout. Before I get blasted here too, It's not a classified ad. I'm just seeing if anyone reading this post wanted one that's already made. I had no intention of selling it in the first place. I paid $125.00

[nb_ken]

I'd never heard of these brushes before reading this thread. Looks interesting. What kind of flies work best, generally, with these things?

[Randy Diefert]

I Like the Dragon Nymph that I tye using a Olive Dubbing Supreme Dubbing brush for big Northern BC Rainbows. These are indestructable fly's because of the stainless wire core,yet you can't see it. It looks more like a segmented body on the abdomen.

[Daryle Holmstrom]

The photos of the brush are about 9 inches long, one brush will do a single steelhead fly, or about 3 or 4 trout flies depending upon wire thickness and the amount of dubbing material. I'm still experimenting with materials. The motor is just a simple battery powered driver that turns at a slow revolution. A dremel would be way too fast.

Randy might chime in here, I would say that when I twist the brush I get between 250 to 400 revs (twists) before the wire breaks?

Wrapped on for the body pretty much bullet proof. Sinks like a rock because of the wire.

[Randy Diefert]

Yes, You definately need to control the speed of what ever motor you use. And winding the rope until the wire breaks works but what works better is...
on the far post run your wire through a ball bearing swivel and attach that to a spring which is attached to the post. now run the wire back to the motor and trap your material in between the 2 wires and slowly start twisting the wire. Gradually increase the motor speed.When the material stands straight out at a 90 degree angle from the wire your done.Overtightening does not strengthen the rope. The reason a hand held motor works is that your getting closer to the other end as the wire twists. That's why you can get by without the spring and swivel.If a rope is made right ,it can be combed with a wire brush with a minimumamount of material loss. There are a lot of materials that can be added to make very interesting brushes.

[bfic]

I've seen this refrence to a "ball bearing swivel a couple of times. what's it's purpose? I understand the spring allows the brush to shorten as it is twisted but if the wire was hooked to the swivel it would turn with the moter and not twist????

[ddman]

Today I got a 4 inch Massey fan at Wal-Mart...by taking off the front cage/ guard and the blade it appears to be great for one of these boards...even has a handy stand.....will the dimmer slow down a fan motor????????

[Randy Diefert]

Yes, The dimmer switch should work on your fan motor as a dimmer switch is what I use on my ceiling fan in my Den. You can look at the machine my friend built for my classes on my site to get an idea of how to set up your machine. Just make sure that if you do use a dimmer switch on your machine, it is the type that pushes "on & off"the twist of the knob just controls the motor's speed. I might add one word of caution in here also. [B]Do not use a motor that you cannot stop with your bare hands and do not wear rings when you are using these machines.[B] This is why I wouldn't go any bigger than a sewing machine motor. The other thing that I don't like is a foot control. I like to have my hands in control of the machine so, everything is set up within fingertip reach. The machine my friend made for me makes a 16" brush.
Hope this answers your questions.
Randy

[Randy Diefert]

bfic, The swivel does not turn as fast as the motor and will "lock up"
I use it kind of like when you use the "dubbin' Twirler" that's out on the market. it helps with tightening the rope evenly. I only use those cheapo Danielson company ball bearing ones though.
Hope this helped.

[pittendrigh]

Been thinking about this for some time finally made it. The only expense was the $14 driver.

http://home.comcast.net/~gold04/pub/br1.jpg

.......your idea makes me think a motorized draftsman's eraser
would work too.

[ddman]

Yes, The dimmer switch should work on your fan motor as a dimmer switch is what I use on my ceiling fan in my Den. You can look at the machine my friend built for my classes on my site to get an idea of how to set up your machine. Just make sure that if you do use a dimmer switch on your machine, it is the type that pushes "on & off"the twist of the knob just controls the motor's speed. I might add one word of caution in here also. [B]Do not use a motor that you cannot stop with your bare hands and do not wear rings when you are using these machines.[B] This is why I wouldn't go any bigger than a sewing machine motor. The other thing that I don't like is a foot control. I like to have my hands in control of the machine so, everything is set up within fingertip reach. The machine my friend made for me makes a 16" brush.
Hope this answers your questions.
Randy

Randy..I scored on a sewing machine motor at a thrift store. Is your dimmer switch wired in in the place of the foot pedal?

[Randy Diefert]

Yes it is,and it has to have the knob placed in an area that you can control the knob(speed) with your left hand while your index finger starts the rotation of the hook that the twists the stainless wire. I'm sending you a pm.
Randy