Whip finish knot tying aid

A fixture for aid in whip-finishing a tying of a fly for rod fishing; the fixture including a stationary post upon a rigid base, a sleeve fitted on a top of the post and a stiff wire crank inserted transversely through the sleeve, one end of the crank having a handle for turning the crank, and the other end protruding from the sleeve having first a generally U-shaped loop and then a straight terminal end that is parallel to the sleeve axis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is well known to fishermen and others who tie flies for sport fishing, 
that it requires skill to whip-finish the tying, after the thread has been 
wrapped around the shank of the fishing hook and the hackle, as it is 
difficult to insert the tail end of the thread underneath the final thread 
turns so that it is hidden and locked from unwinding. Accordingly this 
situation is in need of an improvement. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore it is a principal object of the present invention, to provide a 
fixture for aiding in whip-finishing a tying of an artificial fly on a 
fishing hook. 
Another object is to provide a fixture which permits persons without the 
specific skill to whip-finish a tying of an artificial fly, with 
professional results. 
Yet another object is to provide a fixture which allows the work to be done 
much more quickly and accordingly would be ideal for mass production of 
fly tying. 
Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds. 
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may 
be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 
attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are 
illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific 
construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended 
claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, the reference numeral 10 
represents a fixture for aiding in whip-finishing a tying of an artificial 
fly, according to the present invention, wherein there is a flat base 11 
for being rigidly placed upon any flat working area. An upright post 12 is 
mounted upon the base, and a removable mechanism 13 is mounted upon an 
upper end of the post. 
The mechanism includes a metal sleeve 14 slided on the post. A crank 15 is 
inserted transversely through the sleeve, and is made of a stiff wire that 
is bent up into the specific shape shown in the drawing. One end of the 
crank is bent up so to form a crank handle 16 (as shown in FIG. 2) or else 
it is fitted with a freely rotatable crank handle 16a (as shown in FIG. 
2a). The opposite end of the wire protruding outwardly of the sleeve is 
first bent into a generally U-shaped loop 17, and then a terminal end 18 
thereof is bent at right angle from the loop so that it extends straight 
and parallel to the sleeve and in a direction that is opposite to the leg 
19 of the crank handle. It is to be noted that the straight terminal end 
18 may be tapered gently throughout its length toward the tip thereof. 
The central leg 20 of the crank extending through the sleeve is shown, in 
FIGS. 2 and 2a, to extend through a bushing 21 which is either held force 
fitted in openings on opposite sides of the sleeve or else is rivited over 
as suggested in FIG. 2b. The leg 20 is freely rotatable in the bushing. A 
collar 22 may be either affixed or loosely fitted on opposite ends of the 
leg 20, as shown in FIG. 2a, so as to prevent the bend 23 at the ends of 
the leg from wearing against the ends of the bushing. 
In use, the fixture is utilized together with a separate hackle clip 24 for 
being clamped along the gut or thread 25 that is used in serving around a 
shank 26 of a fishing hook 27 and around the pin ends 28 of fly feathers 
29 or the like. 
The steps in tying the fly to the fishhook, are shown in the generally 
successive stages illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6. Initially, as shown in 
FIGS. 4 and 4a, one end 30 of the thread is laid alongside the fishhook 
and fly extending parallel to the axis thereof, and then the thread is 
wrapped therearound so to form closely adjacent turns 31 around the 
fishhook shank and fly covering up the thread end 30. 
After a number of such turns 31 are made, they are held in place by holding 
them between the fingers of a person's hand, while the other hand then 
places an opposite end 32 of the thread along side the thread turns, the 
end 32 extending parallel to the end 30. An intermediate portion of the 
thread nearer the end 32 is then hooked around the loop 17 while an 
intermediate portion of the thread nearer the end 30 is then clamped in 
the hackle clip 24, as shown in FIG. 5. 
Next, the hackle clip is flipped a number of times around the portion 33 of 
the thread as indicated by the numeral 1 in the figure so that the portion 
34 of the thread thus winds up additional turns 35 around the fishhook 
shank, the fly and also around the end 32 of the thread, as also shown in 
the figure. It is to be noted that a tail 36 of the end 32 is left 
uncovered by the turns 35 so that later on it can be grasped and pulled in 
a subsequent step, as will be stated hereinafter. 
After a number of the turns 35 are made, it will be noted that twists 37 in 
the thread will thus have occurred at the loop; one twist for each turn. 
Then after enough turns 35 are made, the crank is turned so as to unwind 
the twists 37. Then the thread is lifted out of the loop 17, and the 
hackle clip 24 is removed from the thread. The tail 36 at end 32 is then 
pulled so that all the free thread adjacent the last-made turn is pulled 
tightly under the turns 35. The tail is then cut off at 38 by scissors 39 
so that no free thread hangs from the whip-finished wrapping thus 
produced, as is further illustrated by numerals 2, and 3 in FIG. 5. 
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and 
described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood 
that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details 
of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those 
skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.