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3. My Tying Area Upgrade...Thanks Mark!

Some threads ago we had some photos here of our tying areas. I posted a picture of mine and I've just had an upgrade...A while ago Mark "Softhackle" Libertone sent me an original pen & ink and my wife had it framed and here it is...

I would of attached this to the old thread but I don't know how to attached the pics that way.

Thanks Mark!

Spence

Spence,
you are more than welcome. The drawing looks great framed and where you have it placed.

Mark

Mark,

Pretty serious place of honor, no?! It looks down on me as I tie and keeps my thread wraps true...:) Well...As true as they'll ever be!

I have been looking for a pic of my other Libertone to add here and can't find it...It's just to my right as I'm facing the bench...I know I took one and sent it to you, right?

I think it looks darn good there too...My wife has the eye and she stood back and supervised the placement...Her father was an engineer so it's probably only off by a millimeter or so...:)

Spence

What? No Red Wings' paraphenelia on the walls? No Molson's wet bottle rings on the desk? No transistor radio to catch the Spitfires' games? No TV to watch Hockey Night in Canada?
Have you been BS'n us all along?

Spence,
Yup, saw the print completed. It looked great!

Tony,
It's obvious Spence isn't telling us everything. I suspect, though he has cleaned up everything so as to give the impression he's not a typical guy fly tier. That's got to be the answer. It's way too sterile!

Mark

Maybe he buys instead of ties!
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Have to be P.C. these days...

I am a messy tyer but clean up the place to some degree when I'm done.
I did a demo last week for a local club and I had a half hour to tie. I decided on four emergers, each with a different technique and materials.
Anybody that does demo tying will tell you that is a task, especially if you b.s. as much as I do...
Well, I had to do it for three different groups, so it was a dozen different flies in 90 minutes.
It looked like a war zone!
Dubbing here, marabou there, snowshoe over there, deerhair on the floor, CDC in my hair, hackle all over...

Mark/Tony,

I know you two are married, correct...;) Just don't open the closet until after the Holidays! "It's all cleaned up dear...Really it is..." I had to tuck things away or lose them, or so she said.

Before the basement was finished we would have the Christmas party down there and I'd toss a capet piece in the corner for the little nieces & nephews to play on...Two years in a row I woke up the next morning to discover that the little angels had turned off the switch on my furnace...

So, any sharp objects need to be out-of-reach until the rug-rats are out of our hair...It would be a drag, a party stopper really, if I have to put down the beer, debarb a 4x long hook, while it's stuck in a nephews hand. Let alone pointy bodkins and razor blades...Ouch!

Tony...The big screen's to my left hooked up to B&W speakers so I can see & hear the games just fine...Behind my seat there is the basement kitchen with stove & frig...There's a bathroom with shower and a small wine cabinet...If I ever end up in the "dog-house" I'm all set! :) Hell I even have one of those blow up beds from Front Gate tucked in my closet...Only real problem is there's no stream flowing through the backyard...

If I can ever get you to follow your boys back to Detroit for a game you have a comfortable place to crash...There's even a guest room upstairs since the basement can get a bit cold in January.

Spence



That's usually the norm here as well...I have a hard time tossing anything. I look at the feather I've just wrapped and think I should be able to do something with the remainder...You mix up some dubbing and don't use it all and have to find a place to store it...There is a long dinner table to my right within reach and a day or so before this picture it was covered with all the crap from my September salmon fishing trip, I keep meaning to clean and lube the reel so that's there, fly boxes, dubbing containers, feathers and fur...You know my wife actually said to me once, "Why can't you just take out what you need to tie a particular fly then put it all away?" Hmmmm...It sounds so easy when she says it?! :)

Spence,
I'm just pulling your leg. I know what it's like having little ones around, touching everything. Besides, it is GOOD to straighten things out. It's conducive to doing your best. When I was feeling better, the studio was cleaned, straightened and dusted weekly. I felt better, and I enjoyed working there, more. I've always been a neat freak. A clean studio helps keep artwork neat. Same with fly tying. By the way, I like your set up.

Mark

Yes. And it's all set for the winter tying season...Let's take another picture, say in early March. :)

My winter fly tying group starts Jan. 9th...We have been doing this since the early 90's. There is a TU Chapter, The Challenge Chapter, that is one of those groups that exist pretty much for stream improvement. They created a series of river guides for all the major trout streams here in Michigan that are must haves. They are sold in all the fly shops in the state and all the dough goes back in to stream projects. These same guys run the fly tying group...We meet in a classroom of some middle school. The school is across town for me from my office but it's a great group of guys. Worth the trip even on snowy nights...:)

Spence

Sounds like a lot of fun. My son, sons-in-law and I use to get together once a week for tying together. Good times, for sure.

Mark

Cool stuff my brew, looks cozy!