In seraching, I've seen several guys using threads form the "sewing stores" bought locally. Which of these are usable for wrapping guides and trim, and is it a good/common practice to do so?

DR

You have to be very careful! Some will rot, some have lubricants in them that will cause havoc with your finish. Some are too weak and break easily. It's a crap shoot compared to Gudebrod rod wrapping thread which is ideal for wrapping rods. There are some brands that are known to work. Maderia and Sulky are two I know of. Maderia has some really nice colors.

Most stores have polyester thread and it's not the kind used for wrapping guides. Now if they have silk then you can use it on bamboo rods and some do use it on other fishing rods. But what we use alot of is nylon thread as it's stronger and doesn't have little hairs that stick up like you mind find on polyester thread.

Good Wraps,
Neal's fishing Products

Sulky and Madeira threads have been used with good success, it is an embroidery thread that has to be strong to be used in the machines. The metaliics are beautiful and much easier to use in my opinion. I just bought some silk from Gutermann and Sulky to try. I'd stay away from cotton, polyester and any thread with a silicone coating to make them smoother running, this will cause fisheyes in your finish.. You just have to buy a spool for $3 and give 'er a whirl to see how it turns out. Than get on the horn and let us know how it went.
No one is as smart as all of us.

I've been playing with sulky thread for quite a while now, and I've figured out how to get it to work to some extent, but it takes more effort than Gudebrod A. The sulky is thinner, and really can give you fits with keeping its color and not blotching. You have to pack it well, and then add LOTS of CP to get it to come out nice. I'm not sure why, but I'm needing to put on up to 6 coats of 811 to keep things from getting splotchy. Same story with the FlexCoat CP--a lot of coats are required. It doesn't seem to matter if it is dark or light thread, either, it will all discolor if you don't CP well. The metallics are a different story, and are easy to use.

I must be fortunate or lucky- I don't know which. I 've been using Madeira Polyneon 40 wt. for some time now. I use it for guide wraps, butt wraps and weaves. I've never had it fuzz on me. The colors are beautiful- they sparkle. I use 2 coats of 811 and never had blotches. I will say this though, it's got a little more stretch to it. So you had better use a little more tension and pack good. It packs good just like Gudebrod- in fact I just wrap it- burnish it and apply CP. I've always used CP with Madeira, so I can't say what would happen with out using it. They say that it's been treated with silicone to aid in embroidering- hence the use of CP. The only problem that I have found with Madeira is that when you set up your threads for weaving with double stick tape it does not stick well at all. My wife had a clear roll of laminate tape laying around -I tried it and it worked beautiful. One more thing, if you end up with your pull through thread on you guide wrap showing , you can't flame it like you can nylon, it disintegrates and you loose the whole wrap.Hope this helps.

Sounds pretty good.......I did some looking and found 100% Nylon in a few colors and bought them, also bought a few Sulky Metallic colors for trim work, and they do look very nice. No savings money wise, but it's just nice to be able to touch and look at the colors locally.

DR