I spent last night packing a fishscale wrap. I am using one of the Gudebrod plastic burnishing tools. It was tough going - the point was almost but not quite small enough to get in between threads. My hands hurt! Anyway, in Clemens book he shows a metal tool with a blunt point. Are these available anywhere? What does evrey one use for packing?

Cheers,
Michael



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2005 08:20AM by Michael Hackney.

There is a handy dandy little packing tool that you can buy at a Sally Beauty Supply store. The thing is a small chrome plated Cuticle Pusher that has a spade foot on one end and a pointed end on the other. It is a good size that can be used on flat chevron edges with the flat end and the thread crossings with the other. Be sure that you take some emory cloth and smooth the edges on the end to prevent blank scratching. The cost for this thing is less than $ 2. They also sell one that has a plastic flexible end. These things coupled with a dental pick are all that I use along with an ice pick for rolling.

Gon Fishn

Another option(almost as cheap) is to check out the clay sculpting tools available in the art department of most craft stores. There are a number of different shapes (two per tool), usually mounted in wooden handles and selling in the 3-4 dollar range. These tools are also useful for working epoxy paste (such as when molding a taper to meet a cork grip for the no-winding-check, thread-wrapped superfine look (artist's pallet knives are also useful for working epoxy paste).

You can also shape a popsicle stick. Soft wood, easy to hold and will not harm thread, or blank

Now I don't feel like such a nerd. I am starting my second rod now but on my first I raided my wife's nail polish bag. I came away with a cuticle pusher for my thread tool.....and here I was thinking that I was a caveman. She was shocked to see it laying under my wrapper along with a good plate covered in tin foil and epoxy! The thing is it worked- really, really, well, just looked odd.

What do you think when the check out person at Sallys' sees an old man checking out with cuticle pushers, cutical Tweezerman Nippers, emory boards, nylon nail polish sealant with uV protection, fine glitter, facial treatment loop removal tool, hair shaper handles and Personnal Razor blades. They check out the masking tape stuck to my shoes and shirt, epoxy all down the front of my shirt and metallic thread under my fingernails. Not one of them has had the guts to ask me what I am doing with all that stuff. Bob M. will be in trouble if they ever start taking mail orders!

Gon Fishn

And don't forget your local sewing and knitting shop! Knitting needles work too!!. If you want to do the Forhan locking wrap, pick up a small darning dohickey with the little hook at one end. Oh...and pattern marking white pencils....thread spool racks.....Sulky metalics.....

HI,
That small cuticle pusher is called an orange stick and you can get them in any drug store and the darning dohickey with the little hook at the end is a corcheting needle available in craft stores, I use one when I do weaves and it picks up threads very well. If any one asks you think about how you can dazzle them with your brillance.

FYI That darning dohickey can also be used for picking out backlashes in a reel.
not that any of us would get one but you can pass it on to your partners.

Am I missing something here? I use the rounded portion/back of the burnishing tool. Rubbing the tool in one direction is what packs the thread. I can't imagine picking at individual threads. The plastic Gudebrod works just fine for this purpose.

Billy V set me up with a triangular, pointed stainless steel tool. It was way too sharp, but after some light sanding, its perfect for fine packing. My rodbuilding mentor Roy Brauer, intoduced me to shish kabob skewers (100 for $2). Not only can you BBQ, but you can also pack thread, and mix epoxy, and.......

I got all my wrapping hand tools from my dentist. They keep a drawer full of old tools that just sit for a while until they chuck them. They were more than happy to give them away to me. Now, I'm always asking if they have any old stuff I can look at before they throw them.

Ask, the worse they will do is say no.

Tim

Thanks folks, that gives me enough ideas to find something useful.
Michael

One more to try - fly tying bobbins - the type that have couple of prongs to hold the spool of thread and a hollow tube to poke the thread through. I have one which has a little lip on the end of the tube, and it is brilliant for getting in between threads or pushing them together when required.
Dave

I pack with a hard plastic tool similar to a dental pick, used in the high vacuum industry for o-ring removal, along with the standard thread tool.

The thrill is not in the kill

geez, all I use is the plastic cap off a ballpoint pen. Guess I'm Low-tech.

Shanon

Ya know all those plastic paint brushes from Walmart that ya buy and through away? I save a few and file the ends to differnent shapes for packing. Cheap and don't break thread and I can shape them into anything I want to pack what I need to pack.

I used to use those Scott, but found that because they were round I would have to turn them every time I picked it up. The popsycle stick was flat and was at the right angle every time I picked it up Go figure?

I only used the back, rounded side of a single edge razor blade I used for cutting the thread ends with, for the longest time. Worked for me for more than a couple of decades. Course, I did break down in the past few years and buy a Gudebrod plastic thread burnisher since I had a few bucks laying around unused at the time.