I started laying out my first butt wrap using Dale Clemens book.He recommends using a divider to scrip the blank. Wont this weaken the blank?Also wont the scrip lines show thru?I also have Toms book and he uses white ncp for layout but i dont know how that would be done on multiple axis's.What do you think is the easiest wrap for a beginner.It is amazing I think I have bought ever piece of literature on butt wraps and I am still struggling.I think this is something that i need to see first hand.

Sam: I feel your pain. I'm doing my first one also, and am making some progress, but had to abort and take apart my first two tries, the third one is going a lot better. Keep it simple to start. Do a search for "butt wrap" for the last week and you will see some great replies to posts I made, by Tom K, Bill Stevens and others. One of the comments was "nothing beats seeing someone doing it", and I'm working on arranging that. I'm doing an open diamond pattern, but was also told an open chevron might be easier to start with.

Sam,
I would suggest a basic diamond wrap. That will give you an idea on what's going on down at the butt and give you a bit of confidence in trying something more involved afterwards.

It can get very frustrating to attempt a very involved wrap only to see in the end after many hours that points don't line up, seams are wavy, gaps and overwraps, etc.

For marking points and such, I use a white out pen. Easy to use and easy to see.

The best pen I've found to mark points is the Pentel.

Nothing like seeing someone do it - Tom, do you live in New Jersey?

Billy: Wish I did live near you. Nope. Born and raised in NYC, but have lived in N VA for 40 years now. (But the bass are a bit bigger down here.)

Ok, I admit this is as cheesy as it gets, but for some real simple spacing for like diamonds or chevrons, I have taken a ruler and made a straight line down the middle of the paper and then marked off the desired spacing on the paper. Then I folded it along the line and cut very tiny holes in the paper. Then you lay this out still kinda in a v along the rod where you want to mark you cross overs and mark with a pentel or china pencil. You will have to adjust it accordingly when you do the 180 degree axis. I just make about 3 or 4 wraps and then I take a straight edge and make sure that all my crosses are in a straight line and measure to be sure that I still am accurate on the spacing.

I know it's cheesy but it works and is pretty accurate if you do it right.

Ok, I admit this is as cheesy as it gets, but for some real simple spacing for like diamonds or chevrons, I have taken a ruler and made a straight line down the middle of the paper and then marked off the desired spacing on the paper. Then I folded it along the line and cut very tiny holes in the paper. Then you lay this out still kinda in a v along the rod where you want to mark you cross overs and mark with a pentel or china pencil. You will have to adjust it accordingly when you do the 180 degree axis. I just make about 3 or 4 wraps and then I take a straight edge and make sure that all my crosses are in a straight line and measure to be sure that I still am accurate on the spacing.

I know it's cheesy but it works and is pretty accurate if you do it right.