I am building my first rod, Sage 596-4SLT. Gold reg. thread for the guides, for the ferrule and butt wrap I wanted to add 2 trims of gold metallic(2 or 3 turns) partway into the wrap. When I did a test of this, the gold met. tags showed through below the gold reg. when finished with the epoxy coats. My procedure was to masking tape the gold met. to the blank, then start the gold reg. over top, add in a couple of gold met. trim wraps then continue with the gold reg. and so on. Do I have to change my wrapping procedure to start and finish the gold reg., then start and finish 2-3 turns of gold met., then start and finish more gold reg., then start and finish gold met. and so on... so no gold met. tags are visible? My wraps were pretty tight and pushed close together. I do not like the look of this gold met. line visible below the gold reg. wrap threads. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, Gary.

You didn't mention what type of thread your using, but you may want to use "NCP thread". It won't show the tags like that. You won't get the translucent appearance with NCP though. You can also buy a liquid Color preserver that you apply like finish that will prevent the tags from showing through. Mind you that you will still need to apply finish after you apply lilquid NCP.

Kirk,
The gold regular thread was not NCP, I wanted the translucent appearance. I was hoping not to use a liquid CP.
Thanks, Gary

To keep the the tag end of trim bands from showing I use the nail knot technique. I wrap the main wrap, starting 1 or 2 turns off the guide foot, then add the metallic trim band on the outside edge of the main wrap using the nail knot techique and then outside of this trim band another nail knot "trim" band using the main wrap thread.

If you do a search on nail knot you should get a number of threads explaining how to the technique.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2005 01:37PM by Steve Rushing.

To avoid the tag ends, I tie "stand-alone" trim bands, and once you get the knack of it they are fast and easy to tie and practically fool-proof. They snug up well against other bands, so will work fine in the middle of wraps also, though you will have to start-and-stop for each color change. I'm copying below what I've posted before on this:

I've homed in on a really good method for trim wraps where you tape down the pull-through loop on the blank first, wrap the trim band over that, pull through (works fine for 3 to 6 turns, or more if you want, I don't), now you have tag ends on both sides of the trim. Pull them carefully until they come together, you can then apply tension, as much as you want, at 180 degrees from each other, 45 degrees relative to the blank at both sides (these angles are important), you now have a nice and snug trim band that you can move with your thumbnail into place, tugging at the tag ends whenever necessary to keep it together. Just before you snug it up against the main wrap, cut off the tag end flush at that side (I use an Exacto blade, change blades often). Then cut the other tag end.

Never fails for me now, almost never anyway. This was described on the board by someone else more than a year ago, don't know how to direct you to it. Hope this is clear. There are other subtle points in doing this that you will pick up as you go along.

I'm getting better at it and have tried a couple different methods. One is to lay one tag end out before you wrap the adjacent wrap over it. Then wrap the adjacent wrap over. Before the adjacent wrap is complete I tape down a couple pull throughs. One for the tag end of the adjacent wrap and then another for the trim wrap. Once I complete the adjacent wrap (remember I have already secured one tag end of the trim wrap under the adjacent wrap) I complete the trim and pull through the tag end into the adjacent wrap. If the trim is a band in the middle you can secure the tag end on the adjacent wrap on the other side by simply wrapping over the tag end. This takes a little more practive but can work out nice.

More often howver is a create a trim band as a standalone wrap 3-6 turns depending on what I am looking for. I will tape down a pull through before I start the wrap and start the wrap on top of the pull through. This is a little harder and you must keep the wrap tight so the tag ends are snug when you pull through. Follow Tom's directions above and you should have a problem. I add one additional step after I straighten and align and that is once I have the trim and adjacent wraps complete -- I brush on some CP to keep in place while I continue to work. Since I almost always use CP this is not an issue for me. If you don't use CP then you just need to be very careful while you continue your work. The nice thing about CP is that it doesn't take much to pull up a wrap if you change your mind. A little alcohol and it will resmooth out the surface.

Mark