I have posted this twice now and for some reason it disapears. I am thinking maybe it is because my user name was not my whole name, I thought I just needed a signature. Its fixed now though, so if I am doing something else wrong, please let me know what it is.

Is whis wrapper any good? I am thinking about getting one, but havent read much about it. It seems the Custom Power Wrap is very popular, but I dont really want to spend that much money. I would like to stay around the $300 range, preferably less. I have been wrapping my own rods for a couple years now, and am tired of my old hand wrapper. I am looking for something that will hold my rods steady while I do the buttwrap, and spred up the guide wraps. The American Tackle wrapper also claims that I can turn cork grips on it. Is this really practical on this machine? I am ready to start creating custom grips, and figured that I needed a special lathe for this, but if this is really doable on a power wrapper, that would be great!

Thanks,
Rich

Hi Rich,
I have the amtak power wrapper and I think it is a good investment for the money. When I bought it, I thought it would save tons of time but I find myself popping the belt off all the time to hand wrap. The only time I really use the power feature is when I do long metallic underwraps on buttwraps. I have turned cork on it and it does a good job. I hated cleaning up the cork dust afterwards though as it seemed to linger in my basement for weeks, so I bought a standard wood lathe for the garage to keep all the dust away from the wrapping area. Honestly I dont think I will ever really get into using the power wrapping feature, I feel more comfortable hand turning but I'm kinda slow. The rod supports are pretty good, there are 2 types out there ones better than the other. The chuck system does an OK job but seems to loosen up, mostly for me on bigger butts, I would invest in the upgraded pacbay chuck, huge improvement. For the price of the machine I think it is a wise choice for the novice rodbuilder, it will last you a long time and be quite useful.

Good wraps,
Scott

Richard,
There's just barely enough power to "shape" a cork grip as long as your in no hurry. I wouldn't use one to turn cork all the time, for that as you for one thing have no tool rest or any of the other nice features of a lathe. Also the base looks the same material as the Custom Power Wrapper so you should be able to use some of those accessories at a later date. The CPW has more power, built for the long haul, and a much nicer chuck. The Pac Bay and Batson wrappers all look like they came from the same source also. The Pac Bay chuck upgrade is worth twice the price of admission.

Per the rules listed above and on top of each new registration box, you must use your first and last name as your user name. You should be fine now.


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

Which of the sponsors sell the Pac Bay chuck? Thanks.

Try Mark at @#$%& he has them, link to the left. Mudhole usually carries them too.

i use a pac bay rodsmith3 the good one, and havent any problems, i turn cork with out any problems

I'm happy with mine! Got the Pac-Bay chuck upgrade too!

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

As far as I can tell, the American Tackle, Pac Bay and Batson are all pretty much the same machine. You definately want the chuck upgrade (Bob at Custom Tackle includes the chuck up grade on all that he sells) I have the Pac Bay and it is a fine machine but is never used for wrapping. I occasionallyuse it to sand the handles on repair jobs. It was one of those "toys" that I thought I needed and ended up not ever using. What kind of rods do you build? I don't build heavy or salt water rods and I don't do underwraps, which I think is where the biggest advantage in power wrapping lies. A power wrapper will shave a minute or two on a guide, but I'm retired and have minutes to waste! You don't do decorative wraps under power. Keep in mind that an 8' lathe bed can be a real space gobbler. I prefer my hand wrapper as I can always have my work in front of me where on power wrapper, the rod is locked in place and I have do go to where the guide is and take my foot pedal with me. On my 15 year old home made wrapper, I just slide the rod down so the work is always in front of me (laziness is another attribute of retirement)

I am not trying to talk you or anyone else out of a power wrapper, just make sure that it's for you

On a side note. Personally, I would never sand cork at or near my wrapping station. For the same amount of money, you could get yourself into a midi lathe and accessories that will open up a whole new world for you. Working/playing with cork, wood, acrylics, etc is an addiction in itself!!!!

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!!

Richard,

One difference between the three Imports mentioned is that Pac Bay has upgraded their thread carraige to a model that places the tension on the spool itself rather than the thread. If you're going to work with metallics much, it's a big plus. Also, we stock the wrapper both with and without the upgrade chuck.

There is a promo currently on either model that will get you a free stand alone dryer. The Pac Bay units can be viewed here --> []

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

when sanding cork i use a shop vac placed behind the sand screen for dust removal

I started with a hand wrapper years ago and it served me well when I was only building the occasional rod or 2 for myself.

I use the Pac Bay wrapper now for all my wrapping of any length or style and it works pretty well. I do use it occasionally for some minor grip cleanup or light sanding/finishing, but it's not useful for much heavy duty turning work. I added a PSI turncrafter pro lathe in the garage for my cork work.

I also haven't had the problems that some have had with the standard chuck. It seems to hold fine for me as long as I remember to grip the jaws with one hand and tighten with the other. The chuck upgrade would be a good thing if you have trouble keeping the chuck tight. Also the new upgraded thread carraige is a good thing which I may have to get. I get too much variation in the tension when I try to run multiple threads for trim and adding and dropping colors.

As a power wrapper, I would recommend it. If you want to turn grips on a regular basis, I would not recommend it and suggest you get a dedicated lathe.

I did see one of the Pac Bay/Amtak wrappers on sale for $250 at one of the sponsors.

Terry

Of all the wrappers we sell - Flex Coat, American Tackle, Gudebrod, Mud Hole, Renzetti and Sully - the American Tackle wrapper out sells all others 10 to 1. Bang for the buck it can't be beat for the beginning rod builder. As beginners grow in this hobby we agree - purchase a separate wood lathe for turning cork & EVA and if your building hundreds for rods a year get the Renzetti. But for less than $250 the American Tackle wrapper is a great starting wrapper - Mud Hole currently has a $50 off sale thru the holidays on the American Tackle wrapper, follow the link below:
[shop.mudhole.com]

The American Tackle wrapper was the first with the upgraded rod supports. If your rod building hobby grows, purchasing the Pac Bay upgraded chuck is a good investment to the American Tackle wrapper. These chuck upgrades are available at:
[shop.mudhole.com]

An analogy we use is buying tools to work on your car - you can get a Husky tool set, you can buy a Sears Craftman tool set, or you can buy a Snap-on tools set. All the tools will fix the car, but unless if you plan on fixing your car alot or going in the car repair business the economically priced Husky set will work just fine.


Regards.
Team Mud Hole Custom Tackle
Web: [www.mudhole.com]
Email: sales@mudhole.com
Toll Free Phone #: 1-866-790-RODS (7637)

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Thanks guys!!

I found the info on the wrapper very helpful. However it has risen more questions! Mainly, I found myself wondering if I really needed (or wanted) a power wrapper in the first place. I only build a few rods per year, and for me, the longest part of it by far is the butt wrap (and layout), and guide placement. If I was doing a lot of big rods with underwraps, the power wrapper would be a must. I build mostly bass fishing rods, so the use of a power wrapper isn't mandatoy. I was really looking for something that would hold my rod steady, with nice thread tensioners. I am currently using a rig that I bought on @#$%& from a guy who makes them out of wood at home, the standars V-block type. It is actually pretty nice, the thread tensioner can slide from side to side, and the base is about 3 feet long, and the rig came with 2 extra V-blocks that sit off the base for longer rods. I am sure many of you have seen them, as the guy has been selling them for a while. (I also bought a separate rod dryer from him).

I guess what I am really looking for is a really nice manual wrapper, with a good tensioner and something with top rollers to prevent the rod from falling off every time I make a move a few inches off center of gravity. Does such an animal exist?

As far as these "cheaper" power wrappers go, the deluxe Pac Bay sounds good because of the chuck and the thread tensioner. I was really wondering about turning the cork on these, and I think I will probably go ahead and get a lathe for this, to keep the mess outside! How large of a lathe should I get? I am new to the handle building, and haven't read up on it much. Do I build the handle, then install it, or do I build the handle on the rod and then turn it down? I really got to get with the program here, as I am getting to where I have figured out all the little "get the bubbles out" type of problems, and am even having pretty good luck with some of the more advanced designs in Dale's "Custom Thread Art" book. These rods need pretty handles!

For the record, I am a bit embarrassed about this, but I am a machinist by trade. I still have access to the machine shop and materials, but my current job is mostly behind a desk and I guess I have just gotten too involved with it (or just too lazy) to head to the shop and build a fine wrapper system. I really should be ashamed of myself!

Any of the "Midi Lathes" , Jet, Rikon, Turncrafter Pro, etc will do a very good jo at a decent price. I havea Turncrafter Pro from PSI and love it. I do cork, wood, acrylics on it and it's an addictive hobby also. The very first thing that I would do is click on Lamar Fishing on the left and get Andy Dear's great DVD on Turning for the Rodbuilder. It covers the whole thing, even equipment selection.

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've just started using the American Tackle power wrapper. The thread tensioner is similar to the one on the Flex Coat hand wrapper except for the addition of a spring loaded trailing arm. Tensioning the spool would be nice but the tensioner works well and I haven't experienced fraying of metalic thread (yet?). I find that I can place and align guides quicker and more accurate on this wrapper than the hand wrapper setup I have. I also find that once you dial in the motor speed that the power wrap function is smooth and it frees up another hand. I find that I'm able to wrap a rod in much less time than with a hand wrapper (mainly fly rods so far) and that I need to mess with guide alignment less after wrapping. As for moving my chair around to reach each end, I place the wrapper on my drafting table (which is the same height as a nearby filing cabinet) and move it left and right as needed - it just slides nicely on my drafting table, with the end resting on the file cabinet when needed. It's been a joy wrapping the last two 8' fly rods I've done on it. The only thing I don't really like is the speed of the drying motor. It's ok for drying the finish but a bit slow for applying finish - oh well, that can be changed.

As for turning cork, since you don't have a tool rest you won't be able to true up a handle assembly by using a roughing gouge or skew. You can however use the unit to sand cork. It should have enough power to do that well, just choose sandpaper and grits that will do the job - don't force it, let the grit do its job. You will need to fix up some sort of dust collection. I would go with a decent mini-lathe (Jet variable speed) for turning cork. Personally, I have a great, large capactity, woodturning lathe that I use for cork - it's kind of overkill for cork but it works great.