Hey guys,

Last week I was finishing two rods for christmas orders, and without even thinking I found myself doing something I had never done before to help get a PERFECT straight edge of finish against my guide wraps. After the actual guide wrap was coated, I took a piece of Size A thread and wrapped it around each index finger of each hand (as if you were going to floss your teeth). I then laid it in the wet finish of the guide wrap so that about 1 inch of it was soaked with finish. Then I gently rolled it off the edge of the wrap and proceeded to give the ol' Renzetti a few turns via the footpedal....VOILA! Perfect thin straight edge against the wrap! The beauty of this is that you can do the very same thing at the opposite end of the wrap (adjacent to the guide foot tunnell without disturbing anything. This (edge) next to the tunnel) has always been a problem for me to get to because the guide foot/frame seems to always be in the way of whatever tool I was using to make the finish edge. But with thread, you just roll it off the end of the wrap, give the blank a few turns, and your done. Need more finish? Just dip the thread back in the main wrap and roll it off the edge again. You can play around with different size threads for diffferent widths of edges. Works Great!

I'm suure somebody else has done this, but I hadn't seen it posted on this board, so I thought I'd share it!


Andy Dear
Lamar
210-865-3256

Andy,
That sounds to me like an outstanding idea. I am going to try it this afternoon. But boy am I going to be mad at you if I screw it up. Seriously, that sounds like the best idea I have heard in a long time because I often have the same problem that you described. Have you tryed to angle the thread a little so as to make the width of the epoxy at the edge a little wider?

Andy,
The little tricks of the trade never cease to amaze even the experts. It's good of you to pass this little technique on for us.
Your generousity for information can even surpass your good nature.
Thanks.

Rich Garbowski

Thanks Andy; I'll try it on the next rod!!!

Putter

I needed to make some color test wraps and tried Andy's idea - this works awesome! And I used the Plaid brand "Shader" brushes from Walmart that Ralph Jones had recommended to me and the combination of the two has just given me the nicest, smoothest, and thinest finishes I have ever made. Thanks guys!

Sounds like a really good technique. Thanks for sharing it.

Stan

got the thread. now all i need is one of those lathe things with a foot pedal. i think you could also use unwaxed floss, huh? on one of those little floss holders so i could turn the rod with one hand. i will give this a try.

what i had been doing is cutting up a coffee filter, folding it to form a straight edge, soaking in denatured alchohol, wrapping it round the blank next to the wrap and turning the blank to form a nice straight edge after getting epoxy on the blank. . pain in the butinsky.

Yeah...I had been thinking about those floss holders that are shaped like a horsshoe with the thread running between....that would be the ideal thing with or without a power wrapper.




Andy Dear
Lamar
210-696-6852

That does sound like a great idea, it's really tedious for me to get a straight edge at the end of a wrap with epoxy. I will definitely give that a try.

Andy,
Your technique sounded like such a good idea that I tried it right away and frankly I had a couple of problems with it.
1. The thread used to move the epoxy over seems to ship when it gets to the edge of the wrap and then goes to far. Maybe I am putting too much pressure on the thread.
2. With the amount of epoxy that I normally put on a wrap the thread does not seem to pick up enough epoxy to create a nice narrow bead of epoxy all around the end of the wrap.
3. I did not think ahead and had no place to set the thread with the epoxy on it. I suppose this can be easily solved with a little thought.

I normally use Flex Coat, both High and Low build but I would not think that the type of epoxy would make a big difference. What type are you using?

Can give us some more words describing exactly how you have used the thread or do you have any good advice on the finer points of using this technique?

Emory,

I use Flex Coat Hi-Build....I don't know how to explain it any better. I just wrapped the thread around my two index fingers with about 4" between the fingers (as if I was going to floss my teeth), then wetted out about 1/2", 3/4"...I don't really know? Wait, now that I think about it, the amount of thread I actually wet out is probably more like 1/4" or smaller...maybe that's the problem. Don't put too much or else it will squeege out on to the blank and will be not straight. You definately don't want to gob it up on the thread, just enough to wet it out,and create a perfectly straight line. Then gently lay it against the edge of the wrap and give the rod a turn or two.
The reason I came up with this technique is that: 1. I have never been able to get a "razor" straight finish edge, and 2. I HATE seeing the finish go too far over the edge. Some folks extend the finish like 2mm over the edge. I just think it looks more elegant if it just baaarreelllyyy goes over the edge...just enough to seal the edge and keep any moisture out.
One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the thread doesn't leave enough finish on the blank to leave a smooth transition up onto the edge pf the wrap, so I just use a spatula to "push" a bit of finish over the edge of the wrap to creat a smoother transition

I think questions 2 and 3 you can easily fix yourself, as for question 1....I don't know? Instead of rolling it off the wrap, how about just gently laying it down on the blank next to the edge of the wrap? That might keep it from shifting.

Andy Dear
Lamar Reel Seats

Andy,
Thanks, I am going to try again tomorrow. The minute I read your post your approach just made sense to me. I am sure that I can make it work. If I can not then I am going to bug you again.

Just try using shader brushes and you guys won't have to jump thorugh so many hoops just to get a straight edge.