I've never wrapped with silk but understand that it is the traditional thread used by bamboo rodmakers. How does silk compare to nylon in terms of strength? Would you use the same size or go smaller?

I am looking to finally do a Hardy fiberglass blank which is a deep amber and saw this nice silk in the Angler's Workshop catalog in Granger Green (yellowish olive). I don't see anything exactly the same in nylon.

Is there anything special one needs to do in order to wrap with silk? E.g., I hear a number of tyers of full-dress salmon flies use cotton gloves when working with silk floss.

Thanks

-John

If you decide to use the silk, also order a bottle of Al's Color Rite CP from Angler's, it designed for silk. Silk is a fine wrapping medium and is more than strong enough. I have about 3 spools of Angler's silk it's good stuff.

I think silk is harder to work with. you will have to make sure you burnish it well and pack it. you must keep your hands very clean and free of oils and contamination. it seems to be more difficult to properly color preserver. if you don't use coor preserver it will go very transparent but the green may get kind of washed out. give it a try but do some wraps and experiment with finishing on the butt section before you commit to the whole rod.
for a CP if that is what you are going to do, i have had good luck with olympic water based urothane, with spar varnish as my final coat. you can also use epoxy. make sure the CP is dry and use three thin coats of the olympic.

Silk is funny stuff to use, it will fray easily using certain thread tensioners, I use a shot glass and a thick book when I wrap with it. (like in Clemens book) (shot glass for the thread,,, and after the wrapping, a dual purpose shot glass is best when using silk) You get a very fine finish with silk. And silk is like a magnet with lint or any dust particles.. so you got to watch and clean them off befor you use anything to preserve the color or to finish the wrap.
Silk also comes in different sizes.



Tight lines
Art

I use both silk and nylon. I use nylon most of the time for others' rods. However, I typically only use silk on my own rods, and then, I only use pearsall's gossamer silk. I like the java brown, burgundy, and dk. green. I figure that if I'm gonna' mess with silk, I might as well just use the gossamer. When properly burnished and finished, you end up with a very low profile wrap. I don't ever try to color preserve the silk, as it's a very tricky business.

The one problem I've had with silk is getting my epoxy to completely fill the tunnels. Well-packed gossamer silk is extremely tight, so much so that it's really difficult to get the epoxy down into the tunnels. Others swear that it can be done, but I've only had mixed success. Consequently, I usually do a first finish coat with permagloss or something else really thin. If you have the patience, you can go ahead and finish the rod out with permagloss. I don't have the patience. I usually let the PG dry for a day or two, and give it a coat or two of LS Supreme to get the final depth I want.

Many of the comments relate more to 6/0 silk than the heavier grades. I like 2/0 silk, dark colors, no CP. Nylon A is the equivalent of a 0. 3/0 is a little tricker, especially when climbing onto a guide, but I sometime use it for the smaller RECs. 6/0 is insane, but will create the clear wraps some want. 2 coats of Klass Kote epoxy paint to finish. Or one coat 840 and one Klass Kote. The Granger you describe may require CP, but try it without on the butt.