I'm 70 years old and just bought my first whip finisher!! I have always done it by hand, that way I could determine how many loops I wanted as well as space the thread just the way I wanted!! But all the pros use a tool so I thought I might try one. Your video was awesome and timed perfect!!
Thanks…this boosted my confidence to finally tackle and master the intimidating whip-finish tool that has been lurking in the corner of my work station for years. I’m just a dabbler, still tying at an amateur 101 level but hope to soon be next-level with my new found whip finishing expertise. Thanks again!
Since my earlier comment I have brought a Stonfo WP (similar to the repaired one you demonstrated) and find it intuitive … much more so than the common spinning brass one I already owned. Thanks😊😊
Interesting vid! For years I finished by hand as I couldnt use the whip finish tool! However this year I eventually learned how to use the rotary whip finish tool and havent looked back since. For me it now gives me a much neater head and I now also even enjoy finishing my flies off with the whip finish tool.
Thank You. I have been tying flies for about 20 years and I love my whip finisher. I got a S type and never could figure out how to use it correctly. Now I know how. I think however I will stick with my regular one.
Finally I can now whip finish thanks Davie I've learned almost everything I know about fly fishing watching and copying at the same time I owe u a pint mate.
Another excellent video Davie I have never got round to learning how to use a whip finisher just doing it by hand over the yrs I have acquired about 7 or 8 of varying kinds and makes so now I have a reference point I will definitely be learning how to use them thanks once again for a great video.
Figuring out how to use a whip finisher was crazy difficult for me. I've forgotten which video I watched, but I must have watched that thing 20 times! It's interesting to see how you "load" the Matarelli. Just goes to show there's more than one way to do just about anything! Cheers!
Have one but virtually never use it.. 54 years ago when I taught myself how to tie flys by taking a store bought one apart, I used a few 1/2 hitches and lacquer to secure it. Then eventually figured out how to make a tool out of an empty pen. I wrap my thread 3 x around the pen tip and slide the thread at the head as you showed. I do this 3 x and pull on the thread to tighten one knot snug against the other. I mainly use a double ended pen with two different size holes on each end, choosing the appropriate size for the hook. Now I use Sally Hansen hard as nails as my lacquer and have for many years….thought I was the first to discover this use for nail polish and pen tips! Never had an issue with the thread coming undone once “ glued”! Might give my whip finisher a try…it has a seeming advantage in some applications? One observation…I can make 3 half hitches, one on top of the other in the same amount of time as you demonstrate making one with a WF tool….might simply be a result of practice, not sure? Thanks for the video…never knew WPs come in different sizes till now! Thanks!
I bought one like the last one you used and finished my knot with it like any other whip finisher. I once saw someone use it and always thought the knot was finished wrond and had troubles with it. The ones I want know are the tmc midge whip finisher with the half hitch tool all in one. Thanks for making this video. Atb Dom!
Thanks Davie. I ‘superglued’ the ‘rotating barrel’ to the ‘spindle’ on both my large and small Veniard whip finishers about 5 years ago, as I found the ‘free rotation ’ to difficult to set up and keep pressure on thread - (they work fine ‘superglued’ and I get a good whip finish). Now I’ve seen your instruction videos - I realise what I was doing wrong! Not keeping the barrel from rotating using index finger during the initial set-up!
Great video Davie - I'm new to tying and the finish in normal time and without focus always looks intimidating. Love that you showed old style and your Ladbrokes pen :)
Davie you have been through the mill with whip finishes I use matereli both sizes & you can reverse the whip turns Been fishing the week in Lesotho cold wet windy weather totally blanked and I will go again next winter. So I must watch and learn to tie from you then I'll come right Davie keep teaching . Thanking you.
Un video sumamente útil, cuando empecé, no estaba en sitio poblado, eso si tenía los videos tuyos, y fui mirando las herramientas, en el torno, hice la prensa para atar, con acero inoxidable los conos para dar terminación, y los elementos de atar con giro, pero como no tenía en ese momento tubo de metal para hacer girar adentro, usé acero de material de aporte para la soldadora TIC, 2,5mm y 3,5 mm (varillas).- Siempre tengo presentes tus consejos, y la curiosidad de la bolita de cera pegada en el dedo, que también me dió buen resultado.-Gracias por todo eso . . .
Thanks Davie. I have one self made one that i bend out of wire (first one) and one that looks like the one from Venyard. By the second one I bend the front hook straight rather then to the side. This works a lot better for me. Still using my self made one the most. I suppose it's what you get used to. Thanks 👍🏻
I started using half hitches by hand. I worked outdoors in the Canadian oil industry and my hands were atrocious! Just chapped and split, I actually cut thread with my callouses. I used a half hitch tool to save my thread. After that I bought Hellen Shaw's book I think it was just called "Fly Tying." This was many years before the internet, back in the mid 70's. She tried to show how to whip finish by hand with stills and I mean absolutely no disrespect to her, I couldn't do it, I would cut the thread with my hands again. At this point Davie I had no bobbin. I did not know they existed, so I would work with 8" lengths of thread. We had a dozen beehives so I had lots of beeswax. So there I am tying like that until I think 1978. I got married too young and decided to go see my childhood fishing partner. He was recently married. So I went to see him and he hauled out these two tools!! A Bobbin and a whip finisher!!!! The rest is history!
We all started with a couple of half hitches with a drop of varnish. A major step forwards when you learn and then use a hand whip finish technique. Smaller more even stronger and tighter heads. Then as you progress into producing batches of patterns. Be they for your personal boxes. Friends. Team members. Completion. Or sale. The key quality mantra has to be. Repeatable consistency. The same hook size/pattern. The same blend of materials, colours, quantities, sizes, proportions. Yes for your own use have say four or six with another batch of different variations of size, colour, slimmer body, more or less hackle. On different sizes and or style of hooks. When batch one of twenty 14# bwo cdc emergers are reordered. To then send them on. 16# grub hooks with completely different materials and colours. Probably not the best plan. The whip finish tool is part of that consistency and repeatability. With the added time saving bonus.
Great video demonstrating the various types of whip finishing tools and how to use them. This is probably the one tool that new fly tiers struggle with the most, but one that is important to learn how to use properly. I don’t think I’ve seen a video yet on RUclips that demonstrates all of the tools and methods in one video until you did it. Great video and resource! Thanks for all you do for the community as always.
Great VT Davey went from half hitches to the whip finish as yourself so many moons ago still using the whip finisher from venierds if it ain't broke don't fix it.
I whip finish by hand, still can’t figure out any wf tool, will review this and try again, a decade later. Minimal tools is my style, I guess!? Scissors, fingers and a vise is all I need.
I have a whip-finisher similar to that last one, it came in a tool kit I won in a Benson & Hedges competition in the early ‘80’s (just boasting). Came with instructions, but I’m still none the wiser, tried it periodically and gave up in despair. Wonder if I should try again? For years I used to keep a little loop of thread on the bench which I would catch in and finish like a rod whipping. Wonder if anyone else ever did that? Then I got a Materelli style one, never looked back., simplicity itself. You can easily make one out of a bicycle spoke if you like that sort of thing.
Hi Davie, could you maybe make a video explaining some of the different hairs and furs ie shadow fox pelts -tails marble, silver fox, tanuki finn raccoon, polar fibres and goat and how to best use them, and if it’s necessary to use different types of artic fox to make a wing or tail. Thanks
Hi Davie, I believe the last tool you used is called a Thompsons, I use one but mine doesn't have the S shape hook just a straight sort of cup hook, I've tried using the Materelli but always go back to the Thompsons as i find it easier to use, just what you get used to I suppose
Back tae tying after 25 years am struggling, of course ma fingers ain't as nimble and thread seems to be much finer. The whip finisher is doing ma heid in but all git there, eventually😊.
I have tied thousands of flies. Sadly, although I`ve tried, I cannot get the hang of the tool. They remain in my kit, pristine and virtually untouched. Good video though thanks alot.
Thank you dear Davie; this brings great memories. As a lad the first whip-finish tool I had I built myself from a pencil and two safety pins; I built my first vice as well. I'd never have had a clue then obviously - in '74 w/o any Net 😃- if it hadn't been for the great Dane Preben Torp Jacobsen and his books. /Hakan
The S bend finisher is very similar to the one that Martyn Williams uses, he is lightening fast when using it… I tried and very quickly ditched it for the Matereli thanks Davie…
Oh... I had the 11:00 style, I never realized they were supposed to be used differently than others. 🤷 Never mind, the half hitch hasn't failed me so far. Use thin varnish and it wont come unraveled
I use the materelli whip finisher. Sometimes though when I pull the thread back through after doing the whip the thread sticks and sometimes snaps before the knot is finished. Am I trying to whip the thread to tight to achieve a tight knot?
Hi James, I always tighten the whip finish after I have removed the whip finisher as it will stop this happening , waxing the thread will also help.. All the very best Davie
Morning David, To be honest I would rather use the whip finishing tool as I did learn to whip finish with the tool first and then learnt myself how to whip finish by hand when I was teaching as many didn't have a tool or they couldn't use one.. Most tyers learn the other way around, great question.. All the very best Davie..
I have a couple of those tools on my bench but I can't remember how to use them. I started whipping with just my fingers, and I never felt that I needed a tool again. Show people how to do that. The fewer doo-dads, the better.
We all do but there are certain situations where whip finishers will come in handy e.g. making neat heads on tiny flies. I fish a lot during winter so my hands will be dry and cracked during cold season thus making it difficult for thread to slide off - then I go back to the whip finishers untill better weather 😅
I’ve had the Veniard one at the end for over forty years and it works fine, you are using it a little wrong. Use it like the first tool at the start, which is also a Veniard model. No need the have the tool wound round the hook eye, once you have the basic figure four it works easily
You're right. I have a Mattereli and a Petitjean, and much prefer the latter. That said, when a longer throw is required ( for instance whip finishing under/at the base of a parachute) the Mattereli works better. Once used to the accuracy of a whip finisher you wonder why on earth you ever finished by hand.
@12:30, I think the first whip finisher is a Thompson. You forgot to show how you whip finish with your fingers only. I think I’ve seen you do that or perhaps I’m confusing you with someone else.
I tie a whip finish with my fingers. It’s not hard and allows you to dispense with a tool. There is also a much better way to tie half hitches than the one shown here. It’s also done with one’s fingers but keeps the tension on the thread. Finally I don’t understand why so many tiers don’t palm their scissors as this far easier than putting them down after every snip. When I figure out how to upload a video in reply I’ll demonstrate all these techniques. I really enjoy the site, thanks so much.
Hi @leocrimin2979, I'm sorry my video didn't help you so I looked on RUclips to see if there was one that may show the whip finisher a little slower for you to see so I have attached a link to one which I hope helps you. ruclips.net/video/ra3MuNtK4qM/видео.html All the very best Davie
Enjoyed this video, great to see even the experts have a little difficulty with the whip finisher’s 👍
Thanks again, Davie. These videos are helping me understand and improve my flytying. Thank you.
My tying improved so much after seeing my first Davie McPhail video 10+ years ago: Don’t use 3 yards of thread to tie a fly. Thank You, Davie!
Went thro exactly the same process as you Davie & 50+ yrs on, tying, ended up with the same whip finisher...definitely the best & simplest tae use!
I'm 70 years old and just bought my first whip finisher!! I have always done it by hand, that way I could determine how many loops I wanted as well as space the thread just the way I wanted!! But all the pros use a tool so I thought I might try one. Your video was awesome and timed perfect!!
Thanks…this boosted my confidence to finally tackle and master the intimidating whip-finish tool that has been lurking in the corner of my work station for years. I’m just a dabbler, still tying at an amateur 101 level but hope to soon be next-level with my new found whip finishing expertise. Thanks again!
Since my earlier comment I have brought a Stonfo WP (similar to the repaired one you demonstrated) and find it intuitive … much more so than the common spinning brass one I already owned. Thanks😊😊
Interesting vid!
For years I finished by hand as I couldnt use the whip finish tool!
However this year I eventually learned how to use the rotary whip finish tool and havent looked back since. For me it now gives me a much neater head and I now also even enjoy finishing my flies off with the whip finish tool.
Brought back so many memories Davie...thanks for that....best invention since sliced bread and the Scotch pie. 👍👍👍
Thank You. I have been tying flies for about 20 years and I love my whip finisher. I got a S type and never could figure out how to use it correctly. Now I know how. I think however I will stick with my regular one.
Finally I can now whip finish thanks Davie I've learned almost everything I know about fly fishing watching and copying at the same time I owe u a pint mate.
You forgot Marc Petitjean`s Whip Finisher!! The best!!
Such an interesting video on such a bugger of a tool. Outstanding as always Davie
Thank you for the instruction. Always something to learn.
Another excellent video Davie I have never got round to learning how to use a whip finisher just doing it by hand over the yrs I have acquired about 7 or 8 of varying kinds and makes so now I have a reference point I will definitely be learning how to use them thanks once again for a great video.
Terrific tutorial. Thanks so much as always for taking the time and effort to post. Really appreciated 🙏.
Figuring out how to use a whip finisher was crazy difficult for me. I've forgotten which video I watched, but I must have watched that thing 20 times! It's interesting to see how you "load" the Matarelli. Just goes to show there's more than one way to do just about anything! Cheers!
Have one but virtually never use it.. 54 years ago when I taught myself how to tie flys by taking a store bought one apart, I used a few 1/2 hitches and lacquer to secure it. Then eventually figured out how to make a tool out of an empty pen. I wrap my thread 3 x around the pen tip and slide the thread at the head as you showed. I do this 3 x and pull on the thread to tighten one knot snug against the other. I mainly use a double ended pen with two different size holes on each end, choosing the appropriate size for the hook. Now I use Sally Hansen hard as nails as my lacquer and have for many years….thought I was the first to discover this use for nail polish and pen tips! Never had an issue with the thread coming undone once “ glued”! Might give my whip finisher a try…it has a seeming advantage in some applications? One observation…I can make 3 half hitches, one on top of the other in the same amount of time as you demonstrate making one with a WF tool….might simply be a result of practice, not sure?
Thanks for the video…never knew WPs come in different sizes till now! Thanks!
Right On Davie 🎉
A Best 2023 ahead for You Mate !!!!
✨🎣💫
I bought one like the last one you used and finished my knot with it like any other whip finisher. I once saw someone use it and always thought the knot was finished wrond and had troubles with it. The ones I want know are the tmc midge whip finisher with the half hitch tool all in one. Thanks for making this video.
Atb Dom!
honestly being a newer tier, this is one of my pains one day i can do it fine the next lost in the woods. thanks Davie
Thanks Davie. I ‘superglued’ the ‘rotating barrel’ to the ‘spindle’ on both my large and small Veniard whip finishers about 5 years ago, as I found the ‘free rotation ’ to difficult to set up and keep pressure on thread - (they work fine ‘superglued’ and I get a good whip finish). Now I’ve seen your instruction videos - I realise what I was doing wrong! Not keeping the barrel from rotating using index finger during the initial set-up!
Great video Davie - I'm new to tying and the finish in normal time and without focus always looks intimidating. Love that you showed old style and your Ladbrokes pen :)
Davie you have been through the mill with whip finishes
I use matereli both sizes & you can reverse the whip turns
Been fishing the week in Lesotho cold wet windy weather totally blanked and I will go again next winter.
So I must watch and learn to tie from you then I'll come right
Davie keep teaching .
Thanking you.
I just appreciate the knowledge you show!!
Un video sumamente útil, cuando empecé, no estaba en sitio poblado, eso si tenía los videos tuyos, y fui mirando las herramientas, en el torno, hice la prensa para atar, con acero inoxidable los conos para dar terminación, y los elementos de atar con giro, pero como no tenía en ese momento tubo de metal para hacer girar adentro, usé acero de material de aporte para la soldadora TIC, 2,5mm y 3,5 mm (varillas).- Siempre tengo presentes tus consejos, y la curiosidad de la bolita de cera pegada en el dedo, que también me dió buen resultado.-Gracias por todo eso . . .
Thanks Davie. I have one self made one that i bend out of wire (first one) and one that looks like the one from Venyard. By the second one I bend the front hook straight rather then to the side. This works a lot better for me. Still using my self made one the most. I suppose it's what you get used to. Thanks 👍🏻
Thanks Davie, we appreciate you..
I started using half hitches by hand. I worked outdoors in the Canadian oil industry and my hands were atrocious! Just chapped and split, I actually cut thread with my callouses. I used a half hitch tool to save my thread.
After that I bought Hellen Shaw's book I think it was just called "Fly Tying."
This was many years before the internet, back in the mid 70's. She tried to show how to whip finish by hand with stills and I mean absolutely no disrespect to her, I couldn't do it, I would cut the thread with my hands again. At this point Davie I had no bobbin. I did not know they existed, so I would work with 8" lengths of thread. We had a dozen beehives so I had lots of beeswax. So there I am tying like that until I think 1978. I got married too young and decided to go see my childhood fishing partner. He was recently married.
So I went to see him and he hauled out these two tools!! A Bobbin and a whip finisher!!!! The rest is history!
Welp I have been loading that materilli wrong since day one!!!! But it still works guess I need to try offering the thread the correct way.
Great video, remember when I got my first whip finish tool, took me ages to work out how to use it. No instructions lol
Great video!
We all started with a couple of half hitches with a drop of varnish. A major step forwards when you learn and then use a hand whip finish technique. Smaller more even stronger and tighter heads. Then as you progress into producing batches of patterns. Be they for your personal boxes. Friends. Team members. Completion. Or sale. The key quality mantra has to be. Repeatable consistency. The same hook size/pattern. The same blend of materials, colours, quantities, sizes, proportions. Yes for your own use have say four or six with another batch of different variations of size, colour, slimmer body, more or less hackle. On different sizes and or style of hooks. When batch one of twenty 14# bwo cdc emergers are reordered. To then send them on. 16# grub hooks with completely different materials and colours. Probably not the best plan. The whip finish tool is part of that consistency and repeatability. With the added time saving bonus.
Thank you, sir!
Great video demonstrating the various types of whip finishing tools and how to use them. This is probably the one tool that new fly tiers struggle with the most, but one that is important to learn how to use properly. I don’t think I’ve seen a video yet on RUclips that demonstrates all of the tools and methods in one video until you did it. Great video and resource! Thanks for all you do for the community as always.
I've got one with the s shape .had to heat the end and turn it 180 degrees for left handed use took a bit too get use to it
Great VT Davey went from half hitches to the whip finish as yourself so many moons ago still using the whip finisher from venierds if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Brilliant thanks Davie
Great video thanks 😊
I whip finish by hand, still can’t figure out any wf tool, will review this and try again, a decade later. Minimal tools is my style, I guess!? Scissors, fingers and a vise is all I need.
I have a whip-finisher similar to that last one, it came in a tool kit I won in a Benson & Hedges competition in the early ‘80’s (just boasting). Came with instructions, but I’m still none the wiser, tried it periodically and gave up in despair. Wonder if I should try again? For years I used to keep a little loop of thread on the bench which I would catch in and finish like a rod whipping. Wonder if anyone else ever did that? Then I got a Materelli style one, never looked back., simplicity itself. You can easily make one out of a bicycle spoke if you like that sort of thing.
Hi Davie, could you maybe make a video explaining some of the different hairs and furs ie shadow fox pelts -tails marble, silver fox, tanuki finn raccoon, polar fibres and goat and how to best use them, and if it’s necessary to use different types of artic fox to make a wing or tail. Thanks
Hi Davie, I believe the last tool you used is called a Thompsons, I use one but mine doesn't have the S shape hook just a straight sort of cup hook, I've tried using the Materelli but always go back to the Thompsons as i find it easier to use, just what you get used to I suppose
Back tae tying after 25 years am struggling, of course ma fingers ain't as nimble and thread seems to be much finer. The whip finisher is doing ma heid in but all git there, eventually😊.
I have tied thousands of flies. Sadly, although I`ve tried, I cannot get the hang of the tool. They remain in my kit, pristine and virtually untouched. Good video though thanks alot.
Thank you dear Davie; this brings great memories. As a lad the first whip-finish tool I had I built myself from a pencil and two safety pins; I built my first vice as well. I'd never have had a clue then obviously - in '74 w/o any Net 😃- if it hadn't been for the great Dane Preben Torp Jacobsen and his books. /Hakan
Hahaha....did the same myself many many years ago....fond memories indeed 👍
@@bobbell5265 😉
The S bend finisher is very similar to the one that Martyn Williams uses, he is lightening fast when using it… I tried and very quickly ditched it for the Matereli thanks Davie…
Спасибо, очень хороший урок!
Thanks Davie that last one is the one I have been given 🤯
Oh... I had the 11:00 style, I never realized they were supposed to be used differently than others. 🤷 Never mind, the half hitch hasn't failed me so far. Use thin varnish and it wont come unraveled
Who else uses the first brass whip finisher that David showed us?
I do.
Thanks
Could never get used to them,always have used my hands!
I had one like that last one and gave up with it lol bought a Tiemco instead and it works far easier.
I use the materelli whip finisher. Sometimes though when I pull the thread back through after doing the whip the thread sticks and sometimes snaps before the knot is finished. Am I trying to whip the thread to tight to achieve a tight knot?
Hi James,
I always tighten the whip finish after I have removed the whip finisher as it will stop this happening , waxing the thread will also help..
All the very best Davie
All things being equal would you rather whip finish by hand or by a tool? Thanks
Morning David,
To be honest I would rather use the whip finishing tool as I did learn to whip finish with the tool first and then learnt myself how to whip finish by hand when I was teaching as many didn't have a tool or they couldn't use one.. Most tyers learn the other way around, great question..
All the very best Davie..
what wax do you use for your thread? there are so many different types, I get confused.
I have a couple of those tools on my bench but I can't remember how to use them. I started whipping with just my fingers, and I never felt that I needed a tool again. Show people how to do that. The fewer doo-dads, the better.
Want to see a trippy way of finishing a fly head check out Dave Whitlock or John Barr, Rene Harrop master of the Thompson style cool video
I have my fingers for whip Finish, i dont need anything.
We all do but there are certain situations where whip finishers will come in handy e.g. making neat heads on tiny flies. I fish a lot during winter so my hands will be dry and cracked during cold season thus making it difficult for thread to slide off - then I go back to the whip finishers untill better weather 😅
Ladbrookes pen 😂
You got a budgie
I don't Cameron though when I was a boy I did..ATB Davie..
Never used them. Have always finished by hand.
👍👏👌💪
🤝❗
I can only see this at 240p, it would be much better at a higher quality if possible. Many thanks..
I’ve had the Veniard one at the end for over forty years and it works fine, you are using it a little wrong.
Use it like the first tool at the start, which is also a Veniard model. No need the have the tool wound round the hook eye, once you have the basic figure four it works easily
Marc Petitjean's finisher is worth mentioning as it permits very close quarter finishing.
You're right. I have a Mattereli and a Petitjean, and much prefer the latter. That said, when a longer throw is required ( for instance whip finishing under/at the base of a parachute) the Mattereli works better. Once used to the accuracy of a whip finisher you wonder why on earth you ever finished by hand.
@12:30, I think the first whip finisher is a Thompson. You forgot to show how you whip finish with your fingers only. I think I’ve seen you do that or perhaps I’m confusing you with someone else.
I dont get it. I have one like 5 min in vid. The first Tool. Cant do it... always slips or knot the Tool itself...
I tie a whip finish with my fingers. It’s not hard and allows you to dispense with a tool. There is also a much better way to tie half hitches than the one shown here. It’s also done with one’s fingers but keeps the tension on the thread. Finally I don’t understand why so many tiers don’t palm their scissors as this far easier than putting them down after every snip. When I figure out how to upload a video in reply I’ll demonstrate all these techniques. I really enjoy the site, thanks so much.
Takes about 2 mins to learn.
Nul, gestes trop rapides pour véritablement apprendre. Vidéo inutile
Hi @leocrimin2979,
I'm sorry my video didn't help you so I looked on RUclips to see if there was one that may show the whip finisher a little slower for you to see so I have attached a link to one which I hope helps you.
ruclips.net/video/ra3MuNtK4qM/видео.html
All the very best Davie