Which one is "better", silk or normal (nylon?) wrapping thread for fly rods? What are pro's and con's for a beginner?

Hi Hans,
if you have never wrapped a rod before I'd stick with regular nylon like Gudebrod or similar.
I havnt wrapped many rods but using nylon is close to a free ride. Silk on the other hand is a different beast. I'm currently wrapping my first rod with silk using Pearsalls Gossamer black and white hoping for a translucent look once finished. Silk - this one anyway - is much finer/thinner than nylon and is more prone to breaking if you are not carefull with you thread tension - I hold the thread between my fingers. Strangly I found that the black is not as strong as the white - maybe a bad reel of silk - I dont know.
I found out I needed glasses when I started wrapping with silk - good eyesight and good lighting is necessary to keep the threads close.
I do it this way:
First I wet the silk thread on the first part of it - this advice was given to me and gives the silk a better grip on the blank - thank you Mr. Boyd :-)
Then I wrap carefully keeping the threads as close together as I can - finish of the wrap - then inspect it using a magnifiing(?) glass and even more light to find the gaps. The threads are then pushed together using the round barrel of a thread bobbin.
They look nice when dry but I'm redoing them for the 3. time tonight - I wasnt happy with the length - this weekend I'll be varnishing them - maybe I'll need professional help monday :-)

But if its your first I would stick with nylon....silk is more difficult but of course not impossible even for a beginner.

Peter



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2005 09:39AM by Peter Mulbjerg.

The big deal with silk is that you can get it in smaller diameters. The smallest you can get in nylon is A, which I think is the same as size 0. You can get silk in 00 [2/0], 3/0, 4/0, and 6/0. The gossamer is 6/0. Personally, I like 2/0 silk as it finishes out a bit better than the A nylon. I wish I had a source of 2/0 nylon as silk can be a bit fuzzier.

I use both. For almost everything, I use "A" nylon. It does a great job, and is incredibly consistent. For my own rods, or situations where I want ultra-low profile wraps, I use Pearsall's gossamer (i.e. 6/0) silk. I haven't messed with the larger diameters of silk, because I always figured that if I wanted larger diameters, I'd just use nylon.

Gossamer silk--when finished correctly--is the most beautiful of all thread wraps. It looks poured on. I still haven't figured out exacly how to finish it perfectly. But, even when it's a little imperfect, it sure looks good. When wrapping gossamer, you have to have great lighting and decent eyes. And, you must be patient. Imagine wrapping a guide on with hair--gossamer is only slightly larger diameter. It takes awhile--even with just a simple single-foot guide. But again, the results are worth it.

Hans. 6/0 is difficult to work with. But a 2/0 or 3/0 (with good lighting and some magnifying glasses) can give you very nice wraps with only a little more effort.