Looking for an online source of Dental bands to use for holding the rod guides while wrapping. Any help would be appreciated........

Thanks

Jim: Have you tried surgical tubing? Mudhole has various sizes. Works great for me.

GO TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ORTHODONTIST. I BUY THEM FOR $1.00 PER BAG. I BUILD SMALL DIAMETER RODS AND I BUY THE SMALLEST SIZE THEY MAKE WHICH HAS A CHIPMONK ON THE PACKAGE. I USE AS IS FOR THE LARGER END OF THE ROD AND AS THE TAPER GETS SMALLER I DOUBLE THEM. I TRIED TO BUY FROM DENTAL SUPPLY HOUSES BUT THE SMALLEST QUANTITY i COULD FIND WAS IN THE THOUSANDS.

I tried this idea a year ago and athough it seemd like a good idea, it was a real hassle having to slide all those rubber bands down the blank and then cutting them off you have to be very careful. It seems for me anyway that tape was faster and easier.


Dave D.

i found some on @#$%&.

to cut the rubber bands off, use a pair of tweezers and small sissors. grab the band near the guide and pull away from the blank and cut with the sissors. works for me.

you can find a perfectly fine substitute for dental rubber bands at your local department store, even drug store. those little pony tail hair tie bands, some in rubber, work just as fine i believe. well, from what i recall of dental rubber bands from my youth. it's the section where you usually find hair combs and brushes. a couple of bucks for a bag of a hundred i'm guessing. if you have a little girl, you probably know what i'm talking about.

i'm with dave though. seems a hassle to work any bands down the length of a blank. i use tape or flex coat's guide adhesive stick.

eric
fresno, ca.

Various elastic devices for temporarily lashing / strapping / holding line guides on the rod blank while working up your line guide layout (for casting or load testing) - using Dental Rubberbands, O-Rings and Surgical Tubing, etc - were recently discussed pretty extensively in response to this Post:

o-rings ... Jim Benenson ... Dec. 8, 2005 ... [www.rodbuilding.org]
"I read a tip somewhere that o-rings are good for temporarily attaching guides for static placement. They're cheap and easily available. The ones that I bought may be lubricated with (the evil) silicone. Are they safe to use? If it's silicone, what will remove it? Alcohol? Laquer thinner?" - Jim Benenson.

Note: - Mud-Hole Catalog 2006, page 100, at the top, has LATEX Surgical Tubing in 3-foot lengths for $4-5 per coil, in three different diameters.

-Cliff Hall+++ Merry Christmas
[www.rodbuilding.org]


Sugical Tubing for holding guides ... Fernando Torres ... 01-03-2005
[www.rodbuilding.org]
"I have seen many posts about using surgical tubing to hold your guides in place. I have been using strips of masking tape so far with minimal problems. My question is: Do you cut the surgical tubing in strips or in rings and use some type of needle nose pliers to open the rings when placing on the blanks?" Thanks, Fernando Torres



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2005 06:17AM by Cliff Hall.

Thanks for everyone's help.....this board is great!

Merry Christmas,

Jim

Try elastic thread available where ever thread is sold, don't have to slide it down the blank, just a couple turns around the guide and a knot. I wrap the guides with it if I am going to to test cast the rod..works great.. and it is cheap and easy to get.

I use rubber tubing and also Dental rubber bands, they work great. I slide
them over the tip and roll them down the blank until I have them where I want
them and just slide the guide feet under them. I wrap up the guide foot about
half way and touch the rubber band with a razor blade and they usually fly off.
It's alot easier adjusting your guides then using tape and having to reposition.
Good luck however you do it

I ran out of surgical tubing the other day and went to the auto parts store and bought windshield washer tubing. Works great and you can buy in in very small sizes. Great for testing guides on the blank.

Big John
Rio Hondo, Texas
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting

Check out www.reefscuba.com. They have a wide size range of amber latex surgical tubing at decent prices, and very good service. Stan

Go to any hobby/model shop. They have tubing in various diameter that is used fo model airplane fuel lines, etc. It is very inexpensive and a cutting board and razor blade and you can make a years worth of "rubber bands" in no time at all!
Like John said, they work great!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!