Does anyone sell "kits" with several sizes and colors of wrapping thread? I'm just getting in to this craft and would rather buy a bulk kit than buy individual spools. I've been checking on @#$%&, and all I see is lots of 5 spools of different colors or lots of 12 spools of the same color in different sizes.

Thanks,
Bill in WV

Get hold of one the sponsors on the left and I am sue they would put together an assorment for you.

Mudhole has a kit of 30 spools of Gudebrod size A, one of each color.
[shop.mudhole.com]
You can use size A for everything.

I don't think that you would save by buying "kits" I'm sure that you will end up with a number of colors that you will never use. Unless you are going to be building really heavy duty salt rods, I wouldn't bother with anything other yhan size "A".

You will have to decide whether you want to use Nylon or NCP. NCP does not require CP to maintain it's spool color and it is rather flat, dull and looks like paint whereas Nylon with CP over it will be much more vibrant,bright. Without CP it turns dark and translucent. There are pro's and con's to both but Nylon is probably the most widely used.

Mike

Mike had it right: why buy colors you will never use? Pick and chose individual colors, and I agree, go with size A. The only downside is that if you buy only a few at a time, the shipping costs will kill you. You will want some metallics also, but I recommend getting Sulky Series 142 70XX at your local fabric store. One spool will last you a long time, so the cost of thread is really minimal compared to your other extravagances, of which there will be many.

Sooo, What your telling me is: these threads are not exclusively for rod building. I can pick them up at my local craft store? Are the sizes the same on these threads as opposed to sewing thread?

Bill in WV

William,

Fishsticks4U has really nice prices on the Rice, Mudhole has a wide assortment of several different brands. I've picked up a few things via @#$%&, but the best prices are just to the left here. I've got a monster spreadsheet here to prove it.

As you can tell from several of my posts I'm a threadaholic (hey, just coined a new word here, threadaholic. Fits me well). But I can honestly tell you some colors will never be used. I personally have purchased color kits for other things and to this day I still have some threads left from those kits that are still wrapped in their little plastic sleeve and will one day make great "learning" thread for a grandchild or even a great-grandchild, because I will never use 'em. A large part of them are yellow and orange.

I'm working on testing for my own several different brands here, but unless I know I can use it for something else I'm sticking to the smallest possible spool. The nice things about getting smaller spools to start is:
A. you can get a larger assortment of thread brands for the same amount of money
B. if you don't like it, you don't feel like a heel for putting a large spool on the back shelf to collect and feed the dust bunnies

Ohhh, and get size A. Trust me on this. (whistles softly while looking around innocently).



Cindy Harlow
Resident Threadaholic

Bill, You don't want to use sewing thread. They may be treated with silicone to slide through the gadets on sewing machines. Your wrapping finish will be contaminated by the silcone on the thread.
You should only use thread manufactured for rod building to build your rods. Stick with a couple colors such as black, grey, white, silver, and gold. If you find you like rod building and you would like to try other colors then consider picking up other colors.
Patrick Vernacchio

Bill: Patrick is right in general about not using sewing threads, but the Sulky Series 142 70xx metallic threads are an important exception, they work fine for rod building, no silicone.

As part of the rebuild / consolidation I went through the thread collection. Cindy, I'll give you credit for "threadaholic" but I deserve to be grandfathered into the club. I had 10,000 yard bolts of thread (those big suckers) that I thought for sure I'd use. Wound up putting them all in a box and hauling them over to the lady that does embroidery (shirts/hats)for me. I think I brought her 9 or 10 of them. They were "pretty" colors and worked nice (no addititives) but no one ever wanted them. Stick with a few colors in size A - when you find one that you use a lot of then look for the larger sizes. Keep you small spools and re-spool from the larger bulk spools for ease of handling (unless you are lucky enough to have a machine that will accept those larger spools). The way I respool is chuck the small spool into the wrapping lathe and feed from the larger spool. Not as neat as you'd get from the factory but it works fine.

Bill,
Give us a call at fishsticks4u.com We would be happy to help.
804-746-9711-804-9667577-SHOP
CAPT. RAY

Bill,
I understand your desire to obtain a kit. We don't offer a kit for the reasons listed by many others above. We sell 36 colors of threads in 3 sizes(I recommend "A"). You will save money by selecting colors that appeal to you. You can view the colors on our website or I can send a catalog.
Scott Reed
Jann's Netcraft
1-800-346-6590
www.jannsnetcraft.com