I came across some Gudebrod thread on wood spool 1200yds
How old would it be?

I think I was still getting some wood spools from CalStar a close as 2 or 3 years ago. Not sure but then I got them in wood spools in the 60s too.

I was still getting Gudebrod on wooden spools somewhere in the late 80's or early 90's. There was also a period where the spools were made from something that was similiar to a dense styrofoam material.

Tony, If it sounds like a good deal.....To make it worth your while, and if possible, take a close look at the quality of the thread. Unspool a foot or two and check for color, strength, and "fuzzieness" (for lack of a better word).
Light will quickly bleach the color out of thread if left out and exposed to light. Pull on a good length of thread. If it breaks easily, pass it up. I just experienced a major problem with thread that is barely a couple years old. I wrapped a rod blank with thread that was full of fuzzy threads. I came across this a couple of years ago and was successful in burning off the fuzzies to end up with a nice clear finish. However, this is not the case with this rod. Just after the first soaking coat applied, I knew I was going to have trouble. Each wrap is now finished with epoxy that looks like I embedded each wrap with dozens of spikes. No amount of slicing or trimming will resolve this problem. I am going to have to completely re-wrap this rod over the next few days with a new spool of good thread to finish it to my satisfaction.

Good luck,

Patrick



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2007 06:24PM by Patrick Vernacchio.

In the early 90s I bought closeout from a going out of business sale lots of Gudebrod thread that I still have a good amount of. It is all on wood spools. I haven't had trouble with it breaking while wrapping.

Patrick I was going to suggest burning off the fuzzies prior to finishes but I see you already tried that. usually that takes care of the problem.

Lou

i have a few spool on wooden spools and they are fine....they have them for sale at one of the tackle shops i goto that builds custom rods and such for $1 a spool and its all the colors they no longer need/use....$1 a spool for 100-900 yard spools cant beat it and the thread looks brand new

A while back I got a "great deal" on a box of wooden spooled Gudebrod NCP White in size D on @#$%&. All seemed great until I was wrapping under power and the thread started to fray. Turned out that it would fray every few feet. Now I only use it for building up narrow arbors for fitting reel seats, etc. If you cannot inspect the thread before buying be prepared for the possibility of some hidden problems.

"Ya' pays ya' money and takes ya' chances"...

I still have lots of older Gudebrod thread on wood spools, I've had some of it for years, others are less than a few years old, but I can't say when they quit making wood spools.
As far as having any problems with the older thread, all of mine is stored in drawers, away from heat, light, and dust. Some of the real old thread isn't as clean or fuzz free as the newer stuff, but I figured that was just the norm for the older nylon. I have several colors that I bought in sealed boxes, so it would be safe to assume that it was made that way. None of it is so fuzzy that a coat of FC High Build won't cover it, it's just not as smooth as the newer NCP colors. I mainly keep the old stuff around simply for repairs, they come in handy matching an older rod. I've bought out a few older shops as well, which has given me a pretty good selection of the older colors. I have never had any strength problems with any of it, but I don't suppose any of mine has been exposed to anything that could have aged it on the spool. I could see that there would be a problem with old thread that may have been kept in the sunlight or extreme heat over the years.

I would guess that the best way to determine the age is to go by the label on the spool if there is one. Looking at all of mine, there have been several labels over the years. Most of mine are laying loose in the drawers though, they seem to drop off pretty easy, or get worn off on the spindle of the wrapper.

Lou, I did that. I'm pretty sure the spikes were the result of burning off more fuzzies than I could even count. One or two on each wrap ain't so bad, but they're literally all over on the whole circumference. I need the wrapping practice anyway. :>)

Besides, It's better to do the wraps right rather than spend more time correcting errors.

Thanks

I have had no problem with the quality bar one scarlet red which was not in a sealed box all the rest where but it is strong and no fuzzys I havn't caused my self the label is quite old looking though but at 2.50 aus for 200 yds is good value can caust up to 9.00 for 200yd roll here

Gudebrod started using plastic spools in the late 80's. The first ones were not as strong as needed and many spools broke while still in the box. I was building rods in a tackle shop then and we sent over 100 broken spools back to Gudebrod from just that one shop, I wonder how big a bath they took replacing them world wide? It was in this time frame that National Thread [ Merrick] came on the market and their claim to fame was "We use wooden spools" Jesse