Seeing a new wrinkle in any of our traditional regalia has always piqued my interest. Cameron Mortenson at the Fiberglass Manifesto (via Moldy Chum) sent me a little tidbit figuring it would whet the creative juices.
The idea of a $100 fly tying bobbin would have had us gagging a couple of years ago, but once fly rods broke the $1000 barrier the lines between reality and fantasy became blurred – and almost anything is acceptable.
Billed as a rotary bobbin, with constant force spring and ability to retract thread as well as dispense it – an interesting idea, and something we don’t currently enjoy with our aging fleet of Matarelli bobbins and the countless imitations that Frank’s bobbins have spawned …
The Ekich bobbin is available in Trout (20mm) and Steelhead (35mm) sizes, stainless steel or ceramic lined.
It appears the spring must be discharged periodically. My interpretation of the user guide suggests the spool needs to be reseated slightly to discharge the thread tension after usage.
Pulling the thread rotates the spool in a clockwise direction storing energy in the spring/clutch mechanism. The spring dispenses 60 cm (24″) of thread. At this point, it is fully wound and there is a noticeable increase in thread tension. The spring needs to be reset by lifting the spool just enough to disengage the drive pin. This reset is also required prior to thread cutting. The amount of thread left outside the tube during the resetting process will remain there without being rewound.
Cutting that small tang off the faceplate appears it may eliminate the need to discharge the spring, but it would also remove the ability to respool the line.
I love gadgets. Unfortunately, revolutionary change is elusive – and fly tying and its aged tools seem to be an excellent candidate for modernization, yet our quaint and curmudgeonly pastime resists change quite effectively.
It’s an interesting concept, worthy of the couple minute read ..
Tags: The Fiberglass Manifesto, Ekich rotary bobbin, fly tying tools, fly tying, Matarelli bobbin,
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I tied with one a couple years ago and fell in love with them. Someday I might be able to buy my own!
That’s the only bobbin I will use with my new $1,000.00 Special Edition Renzetti vise — if I had a $1000.00 Renzetti vise that is.
Doesn’t Norvise have something like that for around 30 bucks?
In any event, I just put half dozen of those on my wish list. Who knows, I just may win the lottery one of these day.
Norvise does have one for about thirty, but… you have to load the thread and it can be a little awkward at first. I bought into the system a few years back. I don’t always use the vise correctly, but I’m sold on the bobbins!