Hook Kit in Action
by Royce Stearns

December 2 - Ronn has finished the hardening process and now they await the Black finish... and here they are.

Rcubed (The only Reinhold, Ronn, Royce hook in existence) is in the lower left corner. You're asking what was he (Royce) thinking Those are the ugliest shapes I've ever seen! I did play with a number of different shapes, and tried to discover what I could do. These are a bit radical but a whole lot of fun. My next batch will be a bit more traditional and consistent I promise.

The first fly tied on my own bend ... fun

November 27 - finally got the irons over to Ronn's for hardening and Japan. I gave up on my forge attempts this time .. I'll give it a go next time. I have a pretty special hook in the bunch - Ronn gave me a blank from Ron Reinhold, so Ron cut the barb and ground the taper, Royce shaped the hook and finished the point, and Ron hardened and Japanned the hook. The Hook is titled Rcubed.
November 15 - The first step was grinding rough points and tapers, and that was fairly easy as the hook wire is pretty soft at this point. After trying a number of different "non-marring" bending tools, I came up with a block with a number of holes and brass posts that I can move around as needed.

So my tools I've settled on so far... a few jigs and templates that I tried first are in the upper left corner.

Starting the bending and constantly comparing it to my drawing ... I'll generate several shapes that are close to my drawing.

It's really pretty easy to control the bend in this tool because the whole wire is at the same temper


Two bent

Now Three very different shapes ... it will be cool to get these back Japanned and ready to strap on the feathers. the top one has a bottom taper ready for the gut to be mounted on the bottom of the hook. I think I'll forge one to give it the antique look.