How does everyone keep there wraps the same length from 1 side of the guide to the other? Do you measure and then count wraps? What do you mark your blank with? Do you have to remove your mark or can you wrap over?
Thanks for any help.
Jack

Hi Jack, I think everyone is different on this. Some dont want much extra thread and some like a lot. Just remember there is more weight with more thread and finish. I usually end my wraps 10mm from the end of the guide feet and then maybe put a trim band on the edge of that. Predominently I build saltwater stuff so weight isnt much of an issue. There are a wide variety of ways to mark the wrapping area, scribing, ink, pencil and tape are just a few ways people can accomplish that. To tell you the truth in the old days most of use did it eyeballing it. Take a spin around the photo gallery on guide wraps and your will see wide variations. The way one wraps his guides can almost be a signature of his work too. Good Luck

I use a couple different ways to do this depending on what mood I'm in at the time. One is to use a divider with at least one sharp point. Set its width at the length you want your wrap to be, or the length from the end of your guide foot to the starting point of your wrap. Set one side of the divider either where your wrap will end or at the end of your guide foot depending on how you set it up. Now the sharp side should be where you want your wrap to start. Make a very small scratch in the finish of the blank. Be careful not to scratch all the way through the finish. Do this on each side of the blank and you'll have two consistent lengths.
Another method I use is a simple tool I made from a piece of stiff clear plastic, like the stuff some toys and electronics are packed in that you can't open without heavy equipment. I cut out a tapered piece of this material about 4 or 5 inches long and maybe a couple inches wide at its widest point. This would be shaped like half an arrowhead or like a triangle with one side 90 deg. to the bottom. Make a series of marks across the width perpendicular to the straight side. As you move toward the bottom these marks will be getting longer. I numbered the marks on mine just for reference. Now you can either pick one of the marks to use as a guide for both wraps, or you can make one wrap that looks good and then find the line on the tool that matches the length of that wrap and use it as a reference for the other one.
I also eyeball the length of the wraps at times but that can be rather deceptive as the diameter of the blank changes.
Hope this is helpful.

Mark Boggs

Springfield, OR

Doc posted pictures of a bunch of guide wraps with offset center trim bands. Really bizarre to look at if you're used to seeing this center and even. Doesn't matter I suppose,as long as the wrap style is repeated.

I'm from the "old school" that Doc mentioned. I just eyeball it most of the time.
Sometimes though I will use my calipers and either put a slight scratch with
the sharp edge of the caliper or use a china marker. Easier to eyeball it!

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

I build mostly light & ultra-light spinning rods & fly rods. I wrap 4 or 5 turns of thread and the next turn starts up the guide foot. If I add a trim ring or two they are in addition to that first 4 or 5 wraps. I don't mark it, I just eyeball it. When I replace a guide or restore a rod I copy the original wraps. Those, I measure. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.

To POSITION the Guide Wrap's START-STOP:
Mark off the Tip to Butt boundaries with a thin strip of TAPE.

To DETAIL Guide Wrap's THREAD WORK
(Under-, Over-, Trim-, Accent-, Inlays-, etc):
Hold up to the Guide a SKETCH on an INDEX CARD.

Provides a visual record for the NoteBook
and later reference. ... -Cliff Hall+++
P.S.: Can also use a 6" RULER for simpler wraps.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2006 12:03AM by Cliff Hall.

I'm with Cliff on this one. I've used index card for years. It's simple to do and you have a constant record of what you've done in the past.
Fred

Fred Crum
Dixon, Ca.

I am kinda minimalistic on the guide wraps, 1 turn around the blank and up the foot we go. I also keep the trim wraps to 3. I usually build light action walleye rods and or fly rods so all that extra weight adds up.

I've got index cards as well. Take some time putting together, but really cut the time down and make it so much easier to be consitant. I also use Dividers preset to teh length I want to wrap each foot, this way the guides with shorter feet don't have different length wraps

I do the first guide from the tip top. Then the top guide wrap a little smaller.
Measure with a compass with two sharp pointers.
As I go down the rod to the butt as the blank gets thicker the wraps get maybe one MM longer. Depends.
With double foot guides I do one side first then when doing the other side the compass tells me how long to do it so both sides are equal.

I use index cards...or sometimes I will extend the wraps past the foot of the giude the distance equal to the width of the packing tool I use. Makes the wraps smaller towards to tip but on lighter rods I like this scenario. I do trim wraps based on the number of turns. It is a good quick reference.

I like to wrap as close to the end of the guide foot as possible. I feel like this reduces weight and is less likely to crack at this point later. It also makes the wrap lengths look very nice along the blank. JMHO

Ronnie

Over the years, I've arrived at this same conclusion. Like Ronnie, most of my wraps start just one or two thread winds from the end of the guide foot.

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