Just finished wrapping my first two butt wraps, an open diamond and an open chevron, following directions in Tom K's book and following looking at examples (while they were there) on the photo page. (Bill Stevens, your LSU rods gave me good ideas for simple but effective wraps!) Not unhappy with the results. Where do I go now? How do I find info/examples of more complex open wraps? How do I do a closed wrap (haven't a clue)? Is a closed wrap an oreder-of-magnitude more difficult?

Most particularly, should I get Clemens books, both of them or only one, if so, which one? Thanks

A closed wrap is just a continuation of an open wrap. You simply continue wrapping until the background is completely closed in.

The only difference lies in the set-up of a closed wrap. Because blanks are tapered, you'll find that one end of the wrap closes before the other end. So, you have to adjust the distance between each center. There are various methods for doing this. The Clemens Book, Advance Thread Art would be a good place to start.

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Tom K, thanks for the reply. Question: In a closed wrap, does the "last thread" have to fit exactly into the remaining open spaces, or is some overlapping or "running -over" permissible? Probably just newbie worries, but is there a risk of doing the whole wrap only to find at the very end that it won't work out?

Tom,for it to be Right the last thread should fit perfect.I only had this happen once.Usually I`m packing on one end a burnishing on the other to make the fit proper.There is a formula for layout in the Clemmons Thread art book.The book is informative but may require several readings before you get the jist of how it works.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

You might be able to burnish threads so that they fill out the area, but you don't want too many threads as overlapping cannot be hidden - it'll stand out like a sore thumb under your epoxy.

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Tapered offset spacing is what the technique is called - to compensate for the taper of a rod blank.

Yes, ideally the last thread(s) should fit exactly in the last space left when the wrap is finally closed. This is why I choose a darker color, ie black, for one of the colors in closed wraps. Some overwrapping is possible with these darker colors without it being noticeable. You cannot get away with it with metallics.

Lou

Even with lighter colors the overlapping is not notiecable unless you post a picture on the net 5 times larger than the wrap is in real life, or someone relly loks close. TEH epoxy build up will "hide" the hieght of the threads.

Custom Rod Thread Art is the book you want, make sure you focus on the first 6 chapters as this is the most important section in the book. Tom, aren't you from New Jersey? THere will be some NERDs classes on Thread Art before the Winter ends, I hope.