Drying Rack?

I have another mystery tool question for the forum. My previous mystery tool question gave me some great information so I might as well post this my next "that the heck is this fly-tying tool" mystery question.

I think this is a drying rack but that's my guess. The manufacturer was Made 2 Fly. It's stamped on the bottom in gold lettering.

I did some digging online and the only clues I could find was Schmidt Outdoors which is/was based out of Michigan. The website didn't load up so I bet the company is out of business. Looking on YouTube for clues, a channel from Ray Schmidt showed up. He's got some decent tying videos that are older, but they are pretty good.

Anyway, the piece of wood that is inserted into the middle slot fits well in the middle slot. The other two slots are a hair smaller which doesn't make sense to me.

I've seen some DYI drying racks that have a piece of hemp string that are tied to a post, railing, etc. The fly is hung from the string by inserting the barbed end in the middle of the string. I suspect that this is the same thing.

Am I correct or wrong? And how to do you use this?

Thank you in advance everyone. My newbie fly-tying questions that I post always have great insight from everyone.

book holder/reading rest?

lars said:

book holder/reading rest?

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well, heck...you might be correct! I'm serious. You put one of the 100 fly-tying books you have on it and go to town trying to tie the fly perfectly.

Lars is correct, it is the Made2Fly #6307 Book Holder accessory.

Almost looks like a dubbing brush table. ALMOST, but not quite.

TerrellBFly said:

Almost looks like a dubbing brush table. ALMOST, but not quite.

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I have no idea what that is. I guess I better Google that one.

Didn't mean to hijack the topic! Sorry. It is the slots that run along the middle of the book holder that resembles the brush tables.

Ill try to explain: its a system that utilizes a wire/thread base, to stack dubbing on top of and allows for a brush to be made using dubbing. This brush would be used on large bodied streamers to add bulk without adding weight.

Its not terribly complicated, just more work! They can be home made, but some fly tying companies or shops sell them. I built mine so I can attach a drill to one side and use that to spin the wire/thread.

TerrellBFly said:

Didn't mean to hijack the topic! Sorry. It is the slots that run along the middle of the book holder that resembles the brush tables.

Ill try to explain: its a system that utilizes a wire/thread base, to stack dubbing on top of and allows for a brush to be made using dubbing. This brush would be used on large bodied streamers to add bulk without adding weight.

Its not terribly complicated, just more work! They can be home made, but some fly tying companies or shops sell them. I built mine so I can attach a drill to one side and use that to spin the wire/thread.

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no worries on the hijacking. I didn't take it that way.

You could be correct that this is a dubbing table. I've looked at a few YouTube videos and I imagine it could be used in that way. How, I'm not quite sure but it's something to think about.

Bamboozle said:

Lars is correct, it is the Made2Fly #6307 Book Holder

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Bamboozle said:

Lars is correct, it is the Made2Fly #6307 Book Holder accessory.

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Well, that' s gonna come in handy.

This is one idea for a drying rack - I start by putting them on the outside for the color/clear coat to dry, then paint the eyes and put them on the inside - works great for Sally Hansen type finishes - if you’re going the UV route, buy a hand sized chamber from your local nail salon (second pic) to cook them all at the same time

ledhead1944 said:

Well, that' s gonna come in handy.

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I wish I could find you a bigger & better image, but the image below is from a cached page from the Made 2 Fly website in 2008:



Could you use it as a drying rack, sure.

Was it designed to be a drying rack, no.

It's a shame Made 2 Fly went out of business...

Bamboozle said:

I wish I could find you a bigger & better image, but the image below is from a cached page from the Made 2 Fly website in 2008:

View attachment 1641252502

Could you use it as a drying rack, sure.

Was it designed to be a drying rack, no.

It's a shame Made 2 Fly went out of business...

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I actually have the thread holder also. I put that thing together and that will be super handy!

A widow was selling some of her husband's fly equipment, rods, reels, tools, etc. She was selling a Cabelas Deluxe tool kit complete with the vise. I have an older Orvis vise and I have been trying to find a base for it. The desktop base is okay, but I would rather have a pedestal base instead. I thought the base of the Cabelas vise would work. The post on my old Orvis vise is a hair too big. I figured that going to see this vise was a gamble, but I had a sense there were more fly-fishing stuff and there was.

She had just started to list some equipment. I found out that she had no idea what rods went with which reels, what tippet was, what this thing was, etc. I ended up giving her a hand for the next 3 hours sorting things out for her. She said her brother wanted to try fly-fishing and he was considering a rod. She gave me the sense that he may not do anything.

Long story short, her husband had 3 rod/reel combos. He had a Cabela's 4wt rod, a Cahill reel with an extra spool, another Cabela's small stream rod and a bamboo rod. I didn't take that out of it's sock but it definitely came from Cabelas. He has a Pfleuger reel that I believe was a Prestige. It was a beauty. The line was Dacron so I was pretty sure he used that on the bamboo rod.

I told her to contact the fly shop that I go to in order to be sure that everything is paired correctly. I said to take them there and have them suggest a fair asking price for them. I told her that I didn't want people to take advantage of her if she lists them.

I ended up buying two boxes of fly-tying books, a Deluxe tool kit from Cabelas with a vise, tools, etc., and the Cabelas starter material kit came with it. Even though the base doesn't fit, you can always use another vise I guess...

JG63 said:

This is one idea for a drying rack - I start by putting them on the outside for the color/clear coat to dry, then paint the eyes and put them on the inside - works great for Sally Hansen type finishes - if you’re going the UV route, buy a hand sized chamber from your local nail salon (second pic) to cook them all at the same time

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I've seen fold use styrofoam cups to dry flys. I'm sure I'll cook up something when I start to tie. That plastic container is a good idea for popperheads.

ledhead1944 said:

I've seen fold use styrofoam cups to dry flys. I'm sure I'll cook up something when I start to tie. That plastic container is a good idea for popperheads.

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Pipe insulation tubes or pool noodles too

ledhead1944 said:

I've seen fold use styrofoam cups to dry flys. I'm sure I'll cook up something when I start to tie. That plastic container is a good idea for popperheads.

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Until you drop it while loading into the UV chamber … ask me how I know 🙄