Hi guys,

I'm currently finishing my first butt wrap (fish wrap - 30 hours!) on my rod and I have a question.

I know lots of people say to use CP to lock in the threads before cutting off the masking tape. However in my design, I've used NCP black, metallic silver, metallic gold and metallic blue. So my thread choice doesn't actually need any CP and I'd prefer not to use it if possible.

So my question is, can I apply a thin coat of epoxy finish instead of the CP before cutting off? I think it should be ok, but I've heard of other people saying that the threads swell up a bit and I'd hate for the wrap to get pushed/pulled out of alignment due to the epoxy. I normally apply at least two coats of epoxy anyway (first coat still leaves the threads visible, the second covers it all) for guide wraps etc.

Thanks.

I often put a layer of finish on my butt wraps before applying tie off wraps

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!!

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to. I use CP but only to the point where I am going to start my tie off, that allows me to kinda taper the threads with a razor and they tend to lay down better for a smoother transition. Also dump the masking tape for these complicated wraps and use double faced tape, if you are using masking tape on a closed wrap like that you can save a lot of time going with double faced tape. I use just plain old 3M double sided carpet tape.

I think you could do it. I've also heard of people using a few drops of super glue to hold things in place. Not sure about it and haven't done it, but maybe it's worth some experimentation.

I just tie off as usual without any CP or finish. No problems yet. Knock on wood!

None needed if your set up will allow good thread tension for the tie off band. I use no CP before wacking and find that 1/4 inch band with good tension will easily hold everything in place. I make the 1/4 inch band burnish hard with the plastic tool to mash everything in place to lock. Just be careful and do not cut the tie off thread by accident before you are done.

Gon Fishn



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2006 08:26AM by Bill Stevens.

Just make sure you have good tension on your tie-off wrap and after 5 or 6 revolutions you can begin trimming your pattern threads with no ill effects.

I think the advice to use a few drops of CP to hold the wrap in place is more to keep the threads from swelling and coming apart when you apply a full strength coat of CP than it is to keep them in place while tying off.

..............

What were you doing that took you 30 hours? Seriously. Post what took so long so we can help you get that time down to 3-4 hours.

It seems I don't really need to add the epoxy layer first but I think I'll add a really tight tie off and then add a thin coat of epoxy anyway as I would have to anyway.

Billy, It took a long time to do because of a number of factors. Firstly, it was the first ever butt wrap that I've done (I used to add a nice binding in the same colour scheme as my guides), and I didn't have any instructions on how to do it, so I looked at some fish wraps on the photo site and disassembled them to figure out how it was done (I don't have the Custom Thread Art book). So that part took a while (I still count it as time spent on the wrap). I added the eyes of the fish first, then added the body. I then started adding the tail to work backwards towards the head. The eye consisted of a diamond of black thread surrounded by gold thread. The body is a two tone consisting of silver and blue (blue on top and silver underneath with the tail in reverse colours). The fish are surrounded by all black thread.

The second reason is that I don't have the proper rod rollers etc and I've used a makeshift rod support that is doing nothing for my back and eyes. Inadequate light makes it harder to see where everything is going, so I have to take my time to ensure I don't get any overlapped threads etc.

The third reason is the size of the wrap. The diameter of the blank where the wrap is started is around 32mm (1 1/4 in) and the point where it stops is around 31mm, so its a fairly large blank. I'm using all A sized thread also which when filling in the black has taken me the most amount of time so far. The blank is black, and with the black thread makes it very hard to see where I've wrapped and where I haven't.

For the body colours I wrapped two threads at a time, but with the black ones, I found I couldn't wrap more than one without getting crossovers etc. So I think that's the slowest thing for me, wrapping the single thread up and down the blank to fill in the black areas.