This is my first post on this forum and I’d like to introduce myself.

My Name is John Jolley and I work as a CNC programmer at Renzetti Inc. in Titusville Florida.

We manufacture the Renzetti Rod Lathe and I would like to hear from those of you who own one of these lathes in an effort to continually improve this product.

I’m going to get some lessons from Andy so I can build some rods myself as I love to Surf Fish for Pompano at the Canaveral National Seashore.

I would also like to know if there is anything missing…I’ve had one request for a vacuum attachment to allow cork dust to be vacuumed up while shaping/sanding handles.

One rod builder that makes Surf Rods suggested rollers with dual uprights to support the heavier surf type rods.

I’m going to try and take some of the manufacturing pressure off of Andy so that he can do more design work as well as give him some time to go fishing…Smiles

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

I would also like to know how Renzetti can become a sponsor of the forum.

I would also like to let everyone know that there will be a Fly Fishing and Rod Building Fair at the Renzetti Facility in December.

I’d like to post some information about this fair after my sponsorship has been completed.

I appreciate your time.

Regards,
John Jolley

Renzetti is and has been a member of this forum since day one. Andy and Lily will also be at the International Custom Rod Building Exposition in February.

You'll likely get a lot of input from the many Renzetti lathe owners that frequent this forum.

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

You could lower the price...LOL

I don't have a Renzetti Lathe, but have one very similar.

Ball bearings in the rod support wheels would be slick...maybe throw it in as an optional upgrade. Have the reverse tension arm with the nylon spool on the 8 spool carraige as a 'click and buy' item and make it better and stronger.

With more enthusiasm for turning harder materials, for inserts, trim rings, etc...these days,make it so that a rodbuilder feels confident that he or she is getting a tool the will do ALL and not have the need for an additional woodworking type lathe.

John, I have one of your Renzetti's and I love it! One thing I've had to do recently is replace the o-rings on the uprights. I've been using the Lathe for about 11/2 years now, built about 40 or so rods and noticed the o-rings were flattening out, and starting to come apart. I work in the hydraulic field and know quite a bit about them. I would suggest a higher durometer (harder) rated o-ring for durabitity. I replaced mine with 90 durometer rings that I'm going to try out this week. There are many compounds available on the market today that could be an improvement over the current ones used. Other than that I'm extremely satisified.

Bruce Wetzel

A few modifications I've noted:

1) Michael Joyce posted a pic once of a mod to the thread carriage with a guide attached to the front of the lathe, so that the thread could be routed under and up to the rod instead of over and down...for weaving. Would be very nice if the unit had this capability.

2) Italo Busi posted a pic once of a mod to the thread carriage to accomodate larger spools of thread. Would be cool if the unit had this..maybe the newer ones do.

3) Tom Kirkman had an article on how to attach a dryer motor to the tail stock. I did this, then added a chuck to the 'sanding stone' end of the turning motor, and daisy-chained a belt to it from the step pulley, made the unit into a double-rod dryer. Maybe this could be standard on the unit.

4) I've drawn "center lines" down the middle of the rails for help eyeballing the alignment of guides. This could be a simple addition to the unit.

I'm not 100% certain of the vintage of my "renzetti" as it was inhertited, but I think its an earlier model - maybe clemens days as it doesnt have the adjust on the carriage...in any event, in addition to the above, I've added one extra support and have had to change the rubber o-rings. This unit is the nuts, and if I can ever afford it I will get another one day to increase capacity further.

oh yeah..

In addition to the 1/10 HP motor I have a 1/4 hp motor. I set it up so I can switch pretty easily. I mostly use the 1/4 HP motor now for turning handles, including light wood and acrylics, etc. No complaints here yet, though I wonder if the stock is going to weaken over time with the bigger motor.

I also had rigged up a vacuum attach, but it would be nice if there was a fitted accessory for it. Anything to help with dust collection would be a real plus.

If you can come up with some way to support the tip-top end of light rods better while wrapping the tip end, that would also be a big time saver for me. I've seen some pics posted of some ideas for this as well.

John,
I've got one and really like it. There are a couple of things, however, that I think could be improved a bit. I'm speaking strickly from my own experience, other builders might not think these items are a problem:

1. The rod support base and the carriage mount (to the lathe itself) could be thinner (not as wide). It's gets somewhat difficult near the tip or anywhere else for that matter when I am trying to wrap near a support. The bases hit long before the rollers and thread feed come close to each other.

2. Maybe incorporate two thread tension devices. Sometimes, when doing inlays and such I want different thread tensions. I know the thread spools themselves can be adjusted but there are times when I have to back off on them a bit because the tension spring gets amplified with the two (or more) threads feeding through it at the same time.

3. A third rod support should be included. I shouldn't have to spend another $60 to buy one after spending $700 for the unit. My American Tackle Wrapper has three and it was half the price.

4. Wider thread support posts. Two Madeira spools won't fit side by side.

5. Wider jaw opening on the chuck. Larger SW diameter blanks barely fit. I like to wrap masking tape around the blank butt area to protect it prior to putting on a cap or gimbal and there are times I can't do that because of the opening limitation.

Don't get me wrong, the unit is awesome. But you asked so here's what came to mind. Randy.

All good suggestions and more to come, but at least some of these can be achieve, or at least the same means can be achieve, by some simple set-up tips for the user. We may have to do something on lathe use in a future issue of RodMaker.

........

Excellent Input!

I've printed these pages and I'll take them to Andy and see what we can do about it.

Thanks,
John Jolley

Not done.....Renzetti Inc has a large assortment of fly tying vises with different pricing and qualities. I'd venture to guess that you guys could put out a great "wrapping only" lathe with a two spool carraige, thinner extrusion etc.. that would still have some Renzetti qualities, but be more geared toward a hobbiest in pricing. Food for thought.

Very good point Mike!! I don't even come close to being able to afford a Renzetti, even a used one.

Bill in WV

Michael, Andy and I have talked about that very same thing.

I gave Andy an old cast iron clamp on the edge of the table type rod wrapper for his collection and his exact words were, "I should make some of these" so we'll see.....Smiles

Regards,
John Jolley

Clamp it down on the kitchen or coffee table, and not charge an arm and a leg. If a builder gets into building with a Corolla or a Neon...they'll eventually need and want the Cadillac Escalade.

Bring all the New stuff, along with various components and accessories to High Point and see what happens...you never know. But a hobbiest in the market for a lathe would rather drop "X" amount of dollars on blanks and components and work off a cardboard box, than drop a bundle on the Cadillac of rodbuilding lathes.....some people love building their own stuff before they take the plunge.

Mike

NERB that types with a bar of Ivory soap in his mouth.

Make a base for the support rails to allow the whole works to be freestanding.

Make the hole inside the headstock larger so that you can fit a larger rod into/through the whole headstock assembly.

Put index marks on the rod supports to allow quick and easy rod centering.

Have a single mount for the motor and the headstock, with a quick release cam to allow you to move that whole assemble around easily.

Come up with a better way to tighten and untighten the chuck. If I had a dollar for every minute I've spent hunting around for those black tightener rods... Maybe just knurl the whole headstock.

Get rid of that 8 spool carraige and design a 4 spool carriage where spools are easier to exchange and where they are better protected from shop dust.

Great unit you have there though, it makes building rods so much more fun. I can't begin to tell you how much fun I've had with mine.