Gentlemen, I have just really started building rods and have only completed about twelve in the past eight months or so. I am very pleased with the results, except for one thing: the cross-over line (top and bottom on a single wrap) do not line up nice and straight like the pictures posted by the masters on this site. I know it comes from packing the threads at all of the corners and points as I progress on the wrap. In the pictures posted by the much-more experienced rod artists on this site, the lines are straight as an arrow. Mine get "crunched" and are therefor a little "wiggly". Any suggestions? Thank you in advance.

A few things:

1. Are they straight to start with. Use the NCP thread concept to get everything started straight.

2. Do you verify everything is on the correct axis after placing first crossings while NCP thread is still in place. Check all axis both top and bottom and adjust before removal of NCP alignment threads. Note listed item 7.

3. Are you in the habit of packing in only one direction? This will shift the bands. Pack in both directions and work on a bench or table that has an overhead light. Learn to use the light beam that is reflected on the blank from the light to continually watch for the alignment. This is a straight line that reflects down the axis of the blank. You can easily sight the line through the center of the reel seat and through the thread crossings.

4. Do you verify visually periodically during the completion of the wrap.

5. If you do your wrap and tie off when do you apply something. If a period of time and handling is done before you apply finish, i.e., wrap a set of guides and handle the rod for alignment you can shift bands due to improper handling. It is a good practice to apply CP to keep everything in place.

6. Consider altering the amount of tension you use.

7. Some blanks with a lot of taper are pretty slick and thread can easily slide. Consider using an underwrap for background color. I think it is easier to do an underwrap and apply matching color chevrons than it is to attempt to do a closed wrap. The chevron threads will stay in place when you put them on top of an underwrap.

8. Work at keeping the crossing axis straight - it is really noticible
and important to a good looking rod.

Hope something noted here helps.

Gon Fishn

Bill,
I am very impressed. That is a great list. I thought you did your best thinkin when you were fishin....
Have you gon fishn lately?
Dave

Bill, Thank you for that advice. The axis are nice and straight. It is the crossovers that get whomperjawed from packing. When you say, "Adjust the tension", are you thinking tighter or looser? Seems to me, even though it makes it harder to move the threads around, that tighter wraps would require less packing and may make straighter cross-over lines(?). Again, tks, JC

Check, then check again, when you think it's nice, check it again.
Also when putting on CP or Clear, baby sit the wrap a little while, the threads may move on you and you will have to adjust before it dries

My general rule of thumb for tension:

Metallic thread: Too much tension and it will "jump" back to where it started from when you try to move in a direction to pack. There is quite a bit of stretch in the metallics and I like to have just a slight amount of that stretch in the thread while pulling down the axis.

Nylon: I want it to stay put when I pack.

Weather @#$%& Not Gon Fishn

Bad Part Better Half Has Me Applying "Paint" in Kitchen. Good thing is that I did not have to wrap with thread before I started.

Gon Fishn

Thread on the kitchen walls -- now there is a concept. You can do the glasses, they are round

Very nice post Bill S. I have a question- what is the NCP concept you mentioned? Sounds like something I should be using. In an ideal world, we could do all rod building and repairs on those @#%#$ days, fish whenever there was a nice day, and the kitchen would be self painting. "Clean the bacon grease off the wall, honey? No, thats the new paint concept! Give it a few weeks, and we'll have a marbelized surface!"

Crossover points not lined up - Do you mean they are jagged? Are the main patterns of the wrap straight? Are you wrapping bands of thread?

/\/\/\/\/ - do you mean like this?

Yes, Billy, exactly. I am wrapping single threads, however. But, you've got it, they are "jagged".

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks, JC

Is it that noticeable when the epoxy is applied? I used to worry about having a nice neat straight seam where the threads cross over, and I used to wrap 1 thread at a time. Now that I understand how to wrap mutiple threads at one time, I do not even worry abotu teh jagged threads, as long as teh colors line up you really cannot tell, unless you post a close up pic of the wrap on teh internet, lol.

OK, you're wrapping 1 thread at a time, are you going on all 4 sides of teh pattern before making the next pass? What I mean is if you go UP the blank on the right, you come back DOWN on the right. The next step should be to go UP on the LEFT side, then DOWN on teh left. Then back UP on the Right & so on. This should form a nice even seam.

How are you packing the threads? This should neaten it up even further. If it's /\/\/\/\/\ then you should be able to move the threads so they are straight or close -------- like that. HOWEVER, a lot of times I would have the seam perfectly straight on all the repeats, but here the thread from one repeat met the other repeat - well it wasn't quite straight and it would a little bit odd. Honestly, not one person notices or cares.

Billy, thanks. Your advice will help! --JC