Tungsten
- This topic has 5 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated Jan 31, 2007 at 3:03 pm by
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Maybe someone on the board knows the answer to this: is tungsten too soft to forge hooks from? It seems new tungsten beads or dumbell eyes come out every year, but I’ve yet to read where any of the major hook manufacturers are experimenting with it yet.
Bryan
Bryan,
A interesting question and l can give you some answers here, having the experience of being a technical director for the Partridge hook company in the UK, now owned by Mustad.
I see no advantage to use what you know as tungsten.
The process of hook manufacture starts with soft wire, as a rule of a high carbon content, in both regular and stainless steel.
The carbon content is also a related factor to how well or otherwise the hook can be tempered.So far as automated process is concerned this wire is a continuous length that feeds into the machine that there after carries out the process of , point, bard, bend, bow etc.
And that can only take place with soft wire of any type.Hooks produced by hand are manufactured a different way, but the wire is the same, it differs only in that it is cut to regular short lengths for the hand applied process.
The final and most important process is hook temper, for without that process being correct, the hook will be too brittle or too soft, neither of which are of use so far as fishing is concerned.
Davy,
Thank you for responding. What I was trying to get at is: could tungsten, because of its density, ever be used in nymph and midge hooks. I figured it might be one more way to sink a fly, and in the case of midge larvae and pupae, still retain a slender profile.
Thanks again for letting me wonder out loud.
Bryan
Bryan,
I am not so sure that it would make a great deal of difference here, but it is a interesting concept.
I would suspect that it would turn out to be very costly.
Lead and beads are a way cheaper alternative here.Davy.
Hi
Tungsten is available in sheet form- impregnated into a maleable and thin rubber like matrix- I use it instead of lead as a weighting option on patterns.
It,s a little tricky to use- soft wraps to set the strip on the hook shank and then over wraps and
Will,
Yes, the tungsten sheet is a real good alternative for the larger fly bodies, as you say it is not the easiest material to work with.
And you can pre shape it for body form. I use it often for stonefly nymphs and flies of that nature.Davy.
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