Griff’s head cement is gone, and a part of me has died. I’m in search of a replacement for the best head cement currently available for tying small trout flies.
Griff’s head cement has been discontinued, which was the best head cement commercially available for tying of small flies. Rim Chung is now using laquer and laquer thinner. I’ve gone to Veniards No. 1.
Lacquer-based Head Cements
Many other modern Catskill masters also use spar varnish as well as lacquers in their various forms.
The well known Western fly tyer A.K. Best, in his book, “Production Fly Tying”, advocates the use of common hardware store lacquer for its economy and fast drying qualities.
Many of the “lacquer” head cements you purchase appear to be a very small bottle of nitrocellulose lacquer that you can get at the hardware store for a whole lot less money…(like A.K. Best says). If the head cement is a pale yellow color (or clear) and smells like lacquer thinner, it is a good bet it is lacquer.
Griff’s Head cement – Griffin makes two versions, thick and thin. This is a very common product found in the US. A lot of my friends used this stuff because it was so readily available in our area. But it’s not thin like Griff’s.
TroutHunter Harrop Superior Head Cement is the next on my favorite list, but the cloudy color is less than desirable to look at in the bottle anyway, though the application of it seems fine.
I am also trying Homemade Thin Nail Polish Head Cement Recipe which is the 2/3 Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails, Clear Topcoat, with 1/3 straight acetone.
Veniard’s No. 1 is the closest I have found and my favorite so far. Rim has opted to just use lacquer from the hardware store with lacquer thinner. He says it is fine, as long as you dilute it and don’t mind the smell.
For a full discussion on the issue of head cement recipes and studies visit: http://www.drlogik.com/headcement.html
