It’s unfamiliar ground for a fellow that shops with coupons, but after suffering another glue-based indignity, it was time to plow some dollars into the problem.

Head cement. Thinned to penetrate, odiferous, and requiring equally caustic thinners to remove  from things it wasn’t meant to glue …

… because eventually you’ll get cocky. Coaxing a feather to remain in a certain position, you uncork the cement to lay in a generous dollop, using the tingle of “spider-sense” to replace the stopper.

It’s not so bad when the entire bottle empties into your crotch. It’s mostly room temperature and your careful thinning is rewarded by an even saturation of the pants enroute to a better bond with those sensitive areas below.

No sudden chill or shock to the system, no nerve ending screaming in torture – all that comes later when you’re attempting to separate undergarments from everything nearby …

… all of which are hairy and sensitive.

It’s job induced peril. If you tie this will happen. You will regret it.

After the top two layers of skin return, I’ll be in a better mood – in the meantime I’ll marvel at my gleaming technological cement reservoir (and the hole it left in my pocketbook) – and consider its purchase cheap.

It’s a Dyna-King cement reservoir, and has lifetime written all over it.

Milled from a single block of Aluminum it’s weighty enough to avoid tipping over, holds about half a bottle of cement, and has an “O-ring” seal on the bodkin to prevent leaks or air penetration.

The cost is $39.95, which is steep – but after I bench tested the shape with my hammy hands, I’m positive that I won’t be able to tip the cement jug with a careless or hurried move.

The picture at right shows the reservoir ready for filling. Grease has been applied to the thread to prevent cement from penetrating into the threads and sealing the unit.

They suggest periodically replenishing the barrier with petroleum jelly or light grease.

The below picture describes its intended use. The loaded bodkin is pulled from the top assembly and returned for refill or until its next use.

The O-ring provides the tension for removal and replacement and ensures an airtight seal when the bodkin is in place.

This is one of those niggling long term issues that’s not enough of a problem to warrant an immediate fix, and just enough of a disaster that you curse yourself for not addressing sooner.

I’ve used a variety of hollowed out wooden blocks that were eventually pressed into a multi purpose role. Great for drying flies – but to avoid clippings raining down onto fresh cement, the tendency was to move the block further away.

Guaranteeing you’ll slurp cement on the desk surface as the loaded bodkin traveled between reservoir and fly.

Getting the container too close meant banging it while spiraling a long segment of chenille or hackle – which was just as bad.

The Dyna-King cement reservoir is about 3/8” shorter than the glass bottle flavor, and quite a bit heavier than wood. It may survive close to the vise base without discharging the contents accidentally. The tension on the O-ring is sufficient to hold the bodkin firmly in place when upended, and you can knock over the entire assembly with bodkin in place without a spill.

… which may buy me enough time to regrow some hair, and allow the swelling from the mixture of toluene and pumice to subside a bit.

Full Disclosure:  I paid full retail for the device.

Tags: Dyna-King cement reservoir, toluene, head cement, lacquer, bodkin, fly tying misery, The Fly Shop, fly tying tools