Picture Framing (Flies)

[Highlander]

Been asked a few times recently about how one would go about framing flies for show thought I might jot down a few ideas how I do it now.
Years back I bought moulding lengths, bought a mitre saw & mount cutter. Used to enjoy it but it soon got a bit out of hand. Hardly a week went by without a neighbour or someone that knew someone giving me some business. Remember it was a hobby & not a full time occupation. I did flies for presentation (retrials, club prizes etc) but it became certificates &  everything else under the sun including a full sized Rangers jersey. To get to the chase it was taking over my life.
  Fast forward 20 odd years & everything is so different. I do not do it anymore other than the odd one if I think it is for something worthwhile. The Peter Ross Challenge prize which was a bit tongue in cheek dressing that ended up with Robbie was a case in point.

Anyway so much simple now as you can see & no reason while anyone with a minimum of dexterity could not do their own.

Let's say we want to frame a few flies to put up on our tying den wall or such like.

1.Pop into Wilko or The Range they do a good range of wooden ready made frames complete with precut mounting board. Good thing is they are relatively cheap far cheaper than me buying in base materials & making my own. No need to go bigger than A4 size. An A5 one is handy for say one large fly or two smaller ones. A dark or light coloured wood is nice & both companies offer a wee selection.

2.Choice of fly is not really important, you just want something that will look nice when finished.
If the fly hackles are fairly "thick" as in a palmer or indeed has a bit of depth to it then you might want to think about a double mounted frame that way it gives you that extra room. Taking it to the extreme a fly with say large eyes might need a "deep frame"

3.Next thing you will need it a sheet of coloured card, your choice but a cream or tan coloured one would suit but is your choice. Next cut the card that it fits into the frame, remember to remove the  glass

4.Take your flies/flies & position them into the frame to suit how you want them to look. Once you are happy with that get a very light pencil & with a couple  of dots mark them at the eye & at the bend
       
5.Now get a needle & just at the head of the fly push though to the back of the  card just so you can see the puncture. Repeat at the bend, do this at the middle of the bend as you will see later gives a bit of room to make minor adjustment

6.Thread some black cotton thread onto needle & insert "from the back though puncture & then back through the same hole to finish at the back. You will now have a loop of thread at the front. Inserting your fly pull both strands from the back tightening down on to the fly at the eye. A couple of overhand knots will stop the thread pulling through Repeat at the bend. If the fly is a bit skew wiffy you can adjust to suit. A wee drop of varnish or super glue on the knot will seal it but not too much as it will wick through to the card. You can add a few drops to the fly where the thread comes round.

7.Now you want to name your flies, two ways to do this. First is if you can print nicely, a fountain pen or fine tipped nylon pen. If not get someone that can. Second buy a sheet of Letraset or similar. If you are unsure something I sometimes do is pre-name the card prior to mounting the flies that way we you make an arse of it you have only lost a bit of card.

8.Lastly put back glass (clean no finger prints) then mount then flies & lastly backing & secure with the pins provided on the frame.

Hope this helps. Any question feel free

[Bobfly]

Excellent instructions. 
Framed and mounted flies look great. I was given a box of old salmon flies, some onto gut and some with a gut eye loop. I used a pale blue card and the result is quite pleasing, so I did another with a centre-piece of an old shop card with a ready-tied fly cast ""Charles Lyon Sporting Stores" it says on the card and all three flies are eyeless and direct onto gut and with the old square style of hook bend. I just used old frames with glass bought very cheap from charity shops and made the card to suit the size. The frames were old and a bit "used" so that suited quite well too.

[Inchlaggan]

I do much the same, but (and only IMHO) some flees look rather "flat" and the time spent tying, for example, splayed wings or arranging legs is lost.
What I did was to buy a deep frame (usually called "box frames") and beef up the back board with some MDF. Laid out the flees and printed a backing with names and frames. Glue the print to the MDF and drill 2mm holes in the marked position for the middle of the body of the flee.
2mm tubes in plastic or aluminium can be had from the likes of Hobby's and were cut to length and glued in place.
The means of tying was as Highlander describes with a loop through the tube.
Much more complicated and time consuming, but the cost was around £25 for a 30x20cm display, a couple of hours work (plus the tying of the flees) and they sold for £75.

[Harpo]

These guys are going to frame one of Daves Pike flies

[attachimg=1]

[corsican dave]

 :applause  :lol:

[Bobfly]

Just about big enough to display two of them at a squeeze !! 

[corsican dave]

well, I've got one of these
[attachimg=1]

but to be honest, it's getting a bit cramped. and it's only really suitable for the smaller patterns.... :

I might need one of these next: