I think I'm about ready to move up to a wrapper for speed. I would appreciate any advice on which brand and models to consider.....Thanks

Call Bob at Custom Tackle - he can fill in the rest.

Could you please let me know "speed" for what?

Bill, I turn thread on by hand and I've got several rods to build. Also I'm kinda new at this. I was thinking that a power wrapper would speed up the process. Open for suggestions......Thanks

I'm with Bill. What is it that you want a power wrapper to do for you? What ttype of rods do you build. There is wide range in capabilities (and cost) to choose from. Many builders don't use them. Depending on the rod types, you may only gain a minutes per rod. I have one and NEVER use it for wrapping. You need to consider just what you want from it before you can choose one, otherwise you may end up with an expensive tool that doesn't meet your needs. Try doing a search here for wrappers and select ALL DATES and you will get a ton of info/opinions.

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!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2006 08:25PM by Mike Barkley.

I use mine (Pac bay) for the salt water rods I do. I think I get a tighter wrap on them. Plus It drives me beserk to turn the rod by hand for those large OD blanks.

For the small freshwater rods, I turn by hand.

Ernie

Underwraps longer than 1/2 inch - all heavy duty bluewater rod guides - burning in True Oil on preformed cork - polishing out preformed cork with 220 or finer grit sticks - applying finish at approximately 150 to 200 rpm - polishing out scratched blanks with 800/1500 grit sticks on a power wrapper - all other guide wraps, chevrons, diamonds, Invisiline Weaves and trim work on V block stand. The real reason I keep it up front with a rod turning in the dryer in the shop is to let the customers think I know what I am going.

The chuck is the important issue when buying an ecomomical version of a power wrapper - spend the extra money for the metal one. If you build more that four or five a month inshore rods a month or do blue water stuff and do underwraps a power wrapper makes good sence. If you are a guy with a wonderful shop and believe in the old addage that he who has the best toys wins get two Renzettis and keep one in the box for spare parts be done with it!

Gon Fishn

Jerry I bought a Renzetti about six months ago and never looked back. I'm cranking rods out now i also have there turning motor and center as well as the tool rest and guide spacing tool.Itsd really well built and if your gonna be in it for the long haul its worth the expense to save the agravation alone The only negative i would say is there directions that came with the lathe are really weak if not non existent and they just give you everything and say figure it out. It took awhile but a little common sense and some late nights and i was off and running. Also i have the lazor guide alignment tool and it really is kinda worthless. Theres always something blocking the beal and once it hits the tallest beam(which is obviosly closest to the butt where the light is) it cant shine on anything elselower behind it.Also they didn't have the turning motor as its made by some other company and sai8d it would be here in 3 to 5 days. ten days later i called and they said it was on its way well it arrived after another 10 day almost a month after i ordered it and not once did they ever contact me to let me know what was going on.So product quality a 10 service a 2 sorry but brutelly honest. Also check out the do it yourself rod lathe in rodmaker 8 issue 4 its got all the ronzetti has and even reverse and a dryer motor built in and a fraction of the cost thats my two cents also make sure you have the space to handle a rod wrap machine its big and not really eassy to set up and break down all the time.any questions contact me at broderick6@comcast.net or my shop phone 239 877 1002

You'll save yourself lots of frustration, greatly decrease your build time, by getting into a Clemens or Renzetti lathe. True, they are not cheap, but they are also not lacking in quality and performance.

No RobG, I am not saying these are the only lathes that will work.....

Lou

Bill Stevens has hit it on the head. Learning to use a power wrapper is very frustrating. I can wrap guides by hand about as fast as I can with the power wrapper. Small guides (6, 8, 10 ) I can do faster by hand and they look a lot better to me! Long under wraps are the only justification for a power wrapper. I do use mine (A Pac Bay) for shaping cork. I build mostly ultra lite to medium freshwater rods. I could not justify a power wrapper for thread on the types of rods I build.

Ed Smith

Clemens has been out of business for several years now. Your top end machines will be the Renzetti and Custom Power Wrap which Anglers Workshop sells.

ronzetti is clemons if im not mistaken. And too a certain degree I have to disagree. True I don't think i'm saving a whole bunch of time with power as apposed to my manual days but I am a bit faster now that i have gotten used to the power even at those pesky little guides. Plus its all right there at my finger tips and when i walk away all i do is push the lever and lock the wheel. When i return there it is right there where i left it just unlock and go. It has taken some getting used to and at first i would have agreed with you all but given some time its worth it if for no other reason then the frustration factor has decreased alot leaving the fun back again. just one mans opinion billy

You are mistaken. Andy Renzetti designed and built the Master Rod lathe which was sold under the Clemens name for many years. Clemens is no longer in business but Renzetti, Inc. continues to make the lathe and their highly respected fly tying vises and tools in Titusville, FL. They'll be at the International Custom Rod Builders Exposition in February.

Power wrapping can be a time saver, particularly on long underwraps and larger saltwater rods. But it's not all about wrapping - the better lathes can do many other rod building chores as well. Are they absolutely necessary? Certainly not. Are they advantageous to have if you can afford to own one? Most definitely.

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

Mr. Renzetti's business used to be in Pennsylvania not from Clemens Tackle. When he started building rods it was only natural he would try to design and build a machine much like his vises and that sort of thing for fly tying, for rod building. He went to Clemens to see what they had and when he didn't see an upper end machine he began working on one. He had Dale Clemens agree to sell it and they colaborated on one. After a few years Clemens pulled the rug out and began having another machine shop make the Renzetti lathe. Mr. Renzetti got the shaft and just took his lathe and began selling it on his own.

The Clemens lathe that has been sold for many years after that was made by at least two or three different people from what I understand. And now if you need a part or something for one of them where are you? I wish I had stuck with the ORIGINAL as they are still in business and probably will be for a lot more years.

Jerry

I outwrap for a living, It is piece work. The faster I wrap the more money I make. I use a power wrapper that I built myself. I wrap everything under power. When you get used to using a power wrapper even the smallest guides can be wrapped faster then by hand. I'm on a break right now, just finished wrapping 10 Lamiglas rods and have 15 more to do today. If I tried doing it manually my hand would be sore from turning the blank. If you only do several rods a year turning by hand isn't so bad. If you are doing the volume I am a power wrapper is essential. The high end wrappers are nice and work well. For me the thread carriage and thread tension devices just slow me down, I use a bobbin to hold my spool and hold the bobbin in my hand. I wrap 100 to 150 rods a week and I just couldn't do it without my power wrapper. That said you can do just as good a job manually or under power, but it can be done faster under power. I can't spin the rod by hand as fast as I can with power.

Thomas F. Thornhill

Thomas F. Thornhill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I wrap 100 to 150 rods a week and I
just couldn't do it without my power wrapper.
Thomas F. Thornhill

Thomas,
Every time you post this I am amazed!
Have you ever thought on any given day how many people are fishing with a rod that was wrapped by you?
Absolutely amazing.

Bob

I estimate that I've wrapped about 75,000 rods over the years and about 15,000 of them had decorative wraps. So I figure that at any given moment someone is fishing with a rod I've wrapped. I've wrapped rods for so many different companies that I can't even remember them all. At one time I wrapped a bunch of rods that went to Japan, now I'm wrapping some rods that are going to Europe. So my work is all over the world now.

Thomas F. Thornhill

Thomas, That is really rolling the thread. Do you do the thread finish on what you wrap ?

Jerry,
Where are you located? Just about every wrapper made will be at the High Point Builders Expo in Feb and you'll be able to see them all in action.

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!!

Jerry

Outwrappers just wrap the rods and line up the guides. The finish is applied by the factory. When I do custom rods I have a friend that puts the finish on, I,m not set up to finish the rods at home.

Mike

I live in Washington state within 20 miles of Loomis, Lamiglas, Talon and Burkheimer factories and a couple of small companies that build rods for various companies.. I have seen most of the power wrappers made. The things I don't like about them are the thread carriage, the chucks and the belt drive. As I said before the thread carriage just slows me down, they are fine for the hobbiest who isn't in a big hurry. The chucks are made so that you have to put the rod in then tighten them down on the rod, on my chuck I just push the rod in and it's centered with no tightening. The belt drive is great until you have to turn the rod back because of an overwrap, on my wrapper my chuck is mounted directly to the motor. These may seem trivial to some but if something I do many times a day takes a few seconds longer it costs me money. Outwrappers have to be fast and a few seconds here and there may end up being an extra hour of work and you only get paid for production not time.

Thomas F. Thornhill



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2006 05:33PM by Thomas F. Thornhill.