Use a Seam Ripper to Cut your Fly-Tying Thread

This is a little thread cutting trick I figured out a long time ago when I was tying for a fly shop. Like so many great ideas, it was forgotten, only to be recalled after some triggering event. In this case, it was re-watching how Tenkara no Oni cut his thread this video at 03:43:

Notice that rather than completely closing the blades together as we normally would, he only partially closes the scissors to form about a 30º “V”, places it on the thread, slides it up to the cut point, then juts the scissors forward to cut the thread.

This has the obvious advantage of avoiding accidentally cutting hackle fibers but takes a little practice and your scissors need to be really sharp for it to cut well without fraying the thread and leaving a trail of unwound fibers (and most tyer’s scissors aren’t). But it’s a better option that snipping if you want to avoid chopping off something you didn’t mean to.

 

Scissors

Scissors are great multi-use tools and the obvious choice since we already have them and it’s probably the way most of us initially learned. But when finishing your fly, it’s all too easy to accidentally snip off some innocent hackle bystanders (especially on sakasa kebari). 

 

For this reason (and because I like a neat head), I switched to using an Exacto knife long ago. Since it’s so sharp, you can make precision cuts without cutting hackle, and get so close to the head that there’s no tag. This is the preferred tool of many professional and commercial tyers.

 

Exacto Knife

Knives like these are still my all-around favorite, but they also take practice. That razor edge is unforgiving, and even lightly touching something like ribbing or a hackle stem could spell disaster two seconds before the fly was ready to exit the vise, leaving you with a mangled corpse of an unwound monstrosity.

 

As an alternative, you can use a simple seam ripper to perform the same task without cutting hackle fibers or ribbing and still make a clean cut.

Seam rippers are used in sewing to cut, well, seams. You slip the fork into the seam so that the thread is in between the two tines and push forward to “rip” through the stitches. And it’s the same principle we’re talking about here and that you just saw in my video of Tenkara no Oni above.

The inside edges of the fork are smooth and the only cutting edge is at the bottom so the tines kind of guide the thread down to the blade.

 

Seam Ripper

Sometimes, a seam ripper is the right choice for finishing your fly; however, unlike scissors or razors, they’re pretty much a single-purpose tool. But since they’re so inexpensive, it can’t hurt to add one to your fly tying toolbox.  

 

I’m not suggesting that the seam ripper is the be-all, end-all tool that should replace your scissors or Exacto knives (though I know there will be someone out there who will infer exact-o-ly that–there always is) but in certain situations, it’s a good choice.

When I tie sakasa kebari for the Etsy shop, I use my seam ripper because it’s quick and I can cut without having to take any precautions to cut something unintentionally.

They’re cheap, work fast, cut clean, and are easier to pick up from the tying desk than scissors (no finger loops).

Give it a try and see what you think. They’re stocked in any brick-and-mortar that carries sewing supplies or, of course, online. I found a pair on Temu for less than a dollar so in my opinion, it’s worth a shot to see if you like it. And you might even know someone who sews who’ll let you try theirs.

Coincidentally, I just saw a new tool from Stonfo in the latest Feather-Craft catalogue that functions exactly the same as a seam ripper, but of course is ten times more expensive. Save the $$$ and get one from your local sewing shop or online corporate juggernaut-of-choice.