[James Laraway]

Anyone make their own ? If so a lot of the commercial ones use some sort of wire as the 'core', but has anyone any idea what sort of wire ?

thinking about making some up for streamers etc

[Hamish Young]

I asked this question of someone last year who said he was using a dubbing brush maker.
He said he simply used a light galvanised wire for big stuff, occasionally some stiff mono (not so successful) for lighter stuff but his main core material was simple round fly tying wire.

[James Laraway]

i have lots of ''cheap' tying wire so will give it a go.

i have lots of 'flash' material that i would like to use for streamers so rather than dubbing loops i thought i could do a job lot of 'brushes'

[Rob Brownfield]

Use silver "bead stringing wire" for the bigger brushes. I have only done Pike sized ones but you can get different grades of this stuff in hobby shops.

[Derek Roxborough]

Now When I saw the original heading I thought it wis about getting yer flees caught in the whins, easgach 1

[Fred Hay]

The dubbing brush I use is made out of wooden dowel approx 20mm dia and approx 120mm long.   
Flattened on one side with a velcro patch 20 x 40mm stuck on the flat and a similar patch stuck  on the opposite (curved side) works well for all bodies and hackles. 
Easy to make from a piece of dowel.  Maybe sounds complicated but it's not - unfortunately don't have a photo but could add if interested.  Remember to use the the spikey part of the velcro not the looped side.
Alternative is to use a brass wire brush - used for cleaning guns - they come in various sizes from about 6mm dia up to 20mm dia
or use an old toothbrush

[James Craig]

The dubbing brush I use is made out of wooden dowel approx 20mm dia and approx 120mm long.   
Flattened on one side with a velcro patch 20 x 40mm stuck on the flat and a similar patch stuck  on the opposite (curved side) works well for all bodies and hackles. 
Easy to make from a piece of dowel.  Maybe sounds complicated but it's not - unfortunately don't have a photo but could add if interested.  Remember to use the the spikey part of the velcro not the looped side.
Alternative is to use a brass wire brush - used for cleaning guns - they come in various sizes from about 6mm dia up to 20mm dia
or use an old toothbrush

I've done something similar;

I cut a strip off of an old credit card (ok, a Nandos loyalty card) and glued a patch of Velcro to the end. It's a bit 'simple', but works well for scruffing nymph bodies and hare's ear etc. It also cost virtually nothing.

James