Carry on the tradition

In 1982, Steve Jenson met with Wayne E. Moore of Mountain Home, Arkansas. Mr. Jensen was introduced to and mentored in the fine art of exquisitely hand crafting wood fly tying bobbins.

During the next two years, Steve spent many hours with Mr. Moore, watching him work and learning his techniques in the crafting of these heirloom treasures.

Wayne Moore passed away unexpectedly on April 17, 1984, at the age of 70. During the thirty plus years that Wayne built his bobbins, his designs evolved through a series of modifications. Steve carried on the tradition of crafting these bobbins, and likewise, his own designs, based off Wayne’s, changed over the years. Although the design had been changed, the techniques Wayne taught Steve did not. Steve proudly carried with him the respect for fine woods, the insistence for detail, and demand for accuracy.

In 2008, Steve Jensen, passed on to me this tradition by inviting me into his home and spending the time to mentor me in this craft that was passed on to him.

The wood working aspect came easy for me, but there was a bigger part of the puzzle that was a little harder to overcome. The brass tensioners, spindles, and spools were an obstacle that would take a decade to overcome.

This past year, I enlisted the help of a friend, Nathan Metzger, to over come this last hurdle. We spent months tooling up with a metal lathe getting all the proper chucks, tool posts, live centers, and measuring tools, in the attempt to manufacture these ourselves. Nathan had to make accurate mechanical drawings from an original. A few alterations had to be made. Then, machining the parts with tolerances within One one thousandth of an inch.

To Nathan, for helping with this, I am truely grateful. The tradition of crafting the exquisite bobbins has had new life breathed into it.