Computer technical types love jargon that lifts the customers eyebrow. It’s a simple explanation really, Ma cut the crusts off our sandwich in elementary school, we been on the prod ever since.

“Dogfood” describes the process by which you first eat what you wish to serve the customer. Our cadre of coupon shopping Singlebarbed ultra consumers (me) report back on some of the items mentioned in prior posts.

Brass Beads: The brass beads mentioned from Rings & Things arrived, the beads are what I was looking for, but watch the hole size. The standard is a 1mm hole which will fit over the eye of a #20 Tiemco 100, nothing larger.

The 2mm bead is the perfect size for #20 and #18 hooks. They will fit over the hook point of larger hooks, #18 and #16.

The 4mm size has a larger hole but it was a hook point thread as well, make sure you get the 1.5mm hole size. The 3mm beads have a 1mm hole but are too big a bead to fit around the bend of a small hook.

Brass Barbell: The price list for the brass dumbbell eyes arrived from China. Small $26.40 /1000, Medium $32.40 /1000, and Large $40.80 /1000. Considering the shops sell them for about 25-29 cents each, that is a stunning price. Contact information available at the TopMim web site.

HH-66 Cement: I checked the big chain hardware stores and none carry it. If ordered from the Internet, the thinner requires an extra $15 handling charge as it is not allowed on planes. That makes a lifetime of head cement cost $40 instead of $20. Still a deal, I have an order enroute.

Many asked about head cement bottles or applicators, they are available as fingernail polish bottles (glass) with brush applicator, or my favorite, the squeeze needle nose, Needle bottle. Plastic bottles can be dissolved by certain cements, so if you haven’t tested it yet, don’t buy 600 of them.

Tags: fly tying, brass beads, vinyl cement, head cement, brass barbell