Well, I have my first problem that I don't quite know what to do with.

I wrapped my guides as I always do, same basic tension, Gudebrod nylon black, and as I was wrapping I noticed that the thread seemed to have more fuzzies than normal, actually more than I have seen. I flamed the wraps to burn off the fuzzies and thought I'd be okay.

When I began applying finish, it raised more fuzz right up! Now I have little afros around my guide feet. I thought I could smooth it out with another thin coat, but now I have pimples on the wraps like you wouldn't believe.

So, what do I do now? I've not had this problem with any of my builds. I have two coats on, they can stand a third, or maybe even a fourth. My thought is to wait until the finish is fully hardened and sand carefully with 400 grit. There are too many to slice off with a blade. Then recoat and pray.

What do you advise? I don't really want to rewrap, as I have a lot of time invested with thin second color wraps that were a real pain to accomplish. Besides, without CP, I don't know if I could do a good enough job of unwrapping without damaging the blank.

About all you can do it apply enough finish to cover them. But in the meantime, you need to figure out what's causing your thread to fuzz.

If it looks good on the spool, check your thread routing hardware and tension device. If that looks good, check your hands for rough, cracked skin that may somehow be in contact with the thread.

...

If I get fuzzies, I will put one coat of finish and then when it dries I cut the fuzzies off with a razor blade. Then I apply a second coat of finish and you can't see any marks whatsoever.

I am a somewhat twisted individualand have been known to use 12wt COTTON (no-no) thread on jobs when I end up with a quick and dirty, need to get it on the water in three days sort of situation. MAJOR FUZZIES.....I coat the thread with several treatments of Future Floor Acrylic (I use it as CP) and then sand off the fuzzies starting with 320 grit sanding pad and finishing with 600 grit until area is smooth. This will not take as long as it sounds. I then add two more coats of Future to assure thread coverage and then finish with Spar Varnish the next day.

I have a drying cabinet which makes the process pretty quick on the dry time between coats of cp.

All things considered, it is most likely a problem with the thread or tension method that is causing the fuzzies in the Gudebrod. I do a lot of farm work and can have VERY rough hands at times which can make the fuzzy problem a real pain as Tom mentioned above.

Derek
Rohnert Park, CA

I had the same problem on a rod I did last year with some red Rice thread I had. I ended up applying two coats of high build epoxy and let the last coat dry for a couple of days. I then sanded the wraps with 400 grit Wet sand paper. This will knock the "pimples" off. Try to sand the entire wrap until it is smooth to the touch. The wraps will look frosted when you are done but this will go away when you apply an additional coat of epoxy. The only thing I will caution you on is not to go too deep into the epoxy when sanding as this will give you all new fuzzies to worry about. The last thing I would recommend is throwing away that spool of thread and getting a new one. If you have wrapped rods before and not had this issue and your wrapping equipement looks in order (ie not rough surfaces or sharp edges) it is most likely the thread itself.

Good Luck.

To me it sounds like you have a rough area in you thread carriage somewhere. What type of thread carriage and tension device are you using? Tom and Glen are right on the mark. Do you kkep you thread covered when not in use, thread could be contaminated
Good Wraps Bob

Thanks, all! First, my conditions:

My method of tensioning is through a book. I know, bush league beginner stuff, but it worked fine with the first fifteen rods. That will now change. It was a new spool of thread, but it's old trash now. I clean my hands with alcohol before I wrap, but I don't think rough skin was the problem, since I don't touch the thread except at the beginning and end of each wrap, and the fuzzies are throughout.

What I did:

I sanded each wrap with 320 grit. With two coats of finish already on it, I was careful not to sand too deeply. I had to slice a couple big pimples off. They are now smooth, without thread showing.

I want to clean the rod before I coat again. Is isopropyl alcohol good enough, or should I use something else? I fear fisheyes, since I never handled the wrap between coats before, or have gone so long in between.

Dave

If you are using a bobbin to hold the spool try a different one. I have had bobbin to this before, and now all my bobbins have the ceramic insert to reduce the fuzzies cause by a plain non-ceramic bobbin.

Lou

To me the problems sounds like the "new spool of thread". I too have experienced fuzzy spools. No equipment problems, no rough hands problems, no contamination problems, no nicking problems....simply a fuzzy spool from the factory. I mark them "FUZZY" with a marker and use them for odd jobs like tie-off pulls.

It happens.

Jay

I don't think you should clean the wraps with anything. That will introduce a whole pile of new problems. A bristle brush can be used to clean all the dust or use a vacuum cleaner wand held next to the wrap. I've used tape to trap dust before finishing but still think brushing the stuff off is the best way to go.

I've had this exact thing happen before also. I checked everything, and all was fine except for the thread. Under a very bright light, and looking very closely, there were millions of tiny, tiny fibers sticking out at right angles to the thread. I hadn't seen them before I wrapped a whole rod. I ended up doing what you did--more coats and lots of sanding. From now on though, I check every spool of thread under a bright light before any of it goes on a guide wrap.

Dave,

I still use the book method myself when I wrap. I've found that the book pages can become a problem at times as well as a bad spool of thread. I've solved that problem by using a plastic sandwich baggie in between the book pages, then placing the thread into that fold and closing the book. It produces a smoother tension than the pages of the book itself with less friction and wear on the thread. I haven't found any contamination problems using this method , and it does protect against contamination problems from the book pages.

I hope this helps some.
Randy Wilinski

Dave,

I usually clean the wraps with alcohol between every coat of epoxy, especially after sanding. You want to get any sandpaper grit off of the wraps. Just make sure that after you are done everything is dry and lent free, before you epoxy again. I've never had any problems with fisheyes doing this.

Hope this helps.

Randy may have solved your problem. The fuzz may have been caused by the book paper.
Good Wraps Bob

Randy, that's a good idea. I have on occasion seen paper lint on my threads when I wrap, and then thought that I should break down and build a proper thread tensioner. I may just go that route.

Anywho, here's an update. I sanded (good thing it's a matte finished blank!), wiped with a clean dry paper towel, blew of any residue with canned air, and recoated. I had to do a second new coat on a few wraps and on the label. No fisheyes, the finish is crystal clear and mirror smooth.

Thanks a bunch to all who have replied. I know what changes to make, and better yet how to deal with another problem, should it pop up again.

Thanks especially to Tom K, this board is the best!

Dave