I was looking at photos of guide wraps and saw a photo recently posted by Joe Brava of a "bad guide wrap"

A comment was made that it was caused by "poor packing"...not sure what that means.

So I posted a photo of a bad wrap I just had (all of the guide wraps turned out this way) and was wondering where I went wrong.

Two coats of Gudebrod CP....first coat of "lite" epoxy and wow......

I see Joe's problem was also silver trim and red wrap......any one else have this happen?

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I am thick skinned so fire away.

Noel: Took courage to post that and I applaud you for doing so! Can't tell for sure because the resolution of the pic didn't allow me to blow it up larger, but that looks a lot like some of my first practice wraps a couple of years ago. The threads seem to be stretched real tight, far too much tension applied to them, and so tight that you couldn't pack them up against each other, there's a lot of what looks like bare blank showing through. ("Packing" = pushing the wrapped threads against each other with a thumbnail or a tool so that they are tight along the blank - as opposed to across the blank - so that no blank shows through.) Try some practice wraps, without guides at first, on an old rod blank, apply only enough tension so that the thread is just barely firm against the blank, then practice snugging (packing) the threads together until you have a uniform, solid expanse of just thread. Then practice it with a guide. The guide when wrapped with correct tension should be able to be moved a bit under the thread.

Threads must be pushed or packed against each other snugly and evenly. If they're not, then you will get dark blotches when you apply color preserver and then finish. Not the color preservers fault. I can't tell from the photo. It's not clear enough to really see but poor thread packing and even tension do make for lousy looking wraps.

Each wind should be packed against the one before it and after wrapping you need to burnish the wraps with a hard round tool, pushing along the wrap in one direction only. This helps push all the threads together.

Noel,
The problem is probably your first name!!!!! Bad "ju-ju" happens to me all the time!!!

Man it feels weird talking to someone else with the same odd name as your own???
Noel (The other one)

Tom & Mike:

Thanks guys for the tip.......this was on my second rod that I've built. The first one came out fine.....guess I thought I had this figured out (like my golf game....one good round and then reality sets in). I'm 64 yrs old and thought I needed another hobby : ) I have three more blanks to build and will pay better attention on the next one. Better reread Clemens and watch Doc Ski's video over.

Noel:

There are four of us in our family with this name....my father, myself, son and grandson.

Noel,
As I viewed an enlarged picture of the wrap,I noted "ridges" in it. My experience tells me the same as what you have already been told. Thread tension and packing are the culprits. As you gain experience,you will gain better understanding about these factors. You already see their effects. As far as tension goes,I detected some inconsistency there. Hence,the ridges. As for a correction of this,a simple tension device will do wonders to improve this glitch. As for packing,do it as you go along. I do this with my thumnail,however you may find the inexpensive plastic tools sold as burnishers to be helpful in this area. Then when the wraps are completed,burnishing them yet again.
Best wishes,
Chuck

Noel;
It also looks like the finish penetrated the color preserver in places and contributed to the problem. You may ned to put more coats of c.p. on before your finish.
john

Noel,
You can completely eliminate the problem that you are having by not using color preserver and putting the epoxy directly on the wraps. Some prefer the translucent appearance that you get without color preserver.

I can't tell that you have a packing problem, but it looks like your CP was not uniform. Thus the mottled effect. Plastic burnishing tools are a great help for packing the thread. The ridges look like brushed on epoxy. You need to put on a lot more finish using a spatuala, enough so that it sags from the bottom. You wick away the sag after slowly turning the blank a couple of times to get a good coating. Lesson learned? Practice on a discard section of blank or on a handle section that will be covered with a grip.

Many thanks for the comments......I appreciate them. I talked to my "mentor" and after his asking me to explain exactly what I did, and how, and when, and with what...............I am embarrassed to say that I may have contributed to the problem by thinning the CP (just a little) with some Walgreen rubbing alcohol
To put it plain and simple it was poor workmanship on my part and, although, I am not doing this to sell and make money I do want to be able to use the rods in public. I appreciate the quality of the work displayed in the photo section by the professional and hobbyist alike; my goal is to some day post a photo worth looking at.

Thanks