Rod building is a hobby for me, and I'm still a novice. I want to get into doing some basic & later fancy wraps. I have done 2 so far. my question is: when I take my threads, how do I secure them to the blank? I used little pieces of tape, but then I have a mess of little squares of tape and they are stacked up all over the place. Is there a better way? Thanks

Hi Mark,
Use double stick tape on both sides of the wrap to hold your ends down until they are locked down by successive threads
or more passes of the same thread. Or what I sometimes do is wrap over my thread a couple of times at the start and then
go up the blank, then around a couple of times to lock it then back down back and forth until the next color or next pattern.

Follow?

Do you have the book "Advanced Custom Rod Building" by Dale P. Clemens or Tom Kirkmans Book?

If not, get one or both of them!! Later you will want Dale's other book Custom Rod Thread Art.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I 2nd the double faced tape. But I will add that you should use some masking to tape down a layer of paper towel before you start. Adding piece of a Popsicle stick under the double faced tape will make it much easier to remove all that mess when you are done.

Here's a link with pictures...... You should be able to navigate through the steps and many of the smaller photos will "blow up" if you click on them.
Oh, and you can SHOULD certainly substitute a thread for the light scratch on the blank if you are uncomfortable with that approach


[www.kensfishingrods.com]

I use 1 1/2 " masking tape once around the blank, over a tooth pick, then backwards one turn to have the sticky side up for the thread to stick to. When cutting it off be careful, of the blank.

Bill
If you subsitute a plastic soda straw from McDonalds or some other fast food place for the toothpick and leave the ends sticking out past the tape you can cut straight down the center of the straw with a good pair of scissors and not worry about the blank as the scissors will be inside the straw.