Hair Stackers
There are many fly patterns that use deer and elk hair. These patterns also
require the tips of the hair to be perfectly even. Most animals grow hair to
random lehgths, and so patches of hair are never naturally even. A hair
stacker enables you to place all the tips of the hair evenly without much
hassle.
Take a small bunch of hair, and remove any shrot pieces and smaller body
hairs and fuzz. Insert the bundle of hair into the barrel of the stacker tip first
and tap the base on a hard surface. This will bring all the tips in line. To
remove the hair, turn the stacker horizontal, and seperate the stacker. When
you are seperating, apply a twist to the stacker. I find this helps keep the
hairs from straying. Grab the tips firmly, and tie them into your pattern.
If the hair is crocked, it will be harder to stack. If hair is greasy or
full of static, throw some talcum powder on the piece of hair to help
improve the quality. If you have problems with static, use a brass stacker,
as aluminum stackers have a tendancy to build static. Stackers are available
in a variety of sizes and designs. Select the stacker size that best fits
the length and volume of hair being used. You can also add some rubber feet
to your stacker to dampen the sound from tapping it when you are stacking.