Hi All,

I am new to rod building in a sence of building complete rods. Over the years I have fixed quite a few rods and have throughly enjoyed the experiences and would like to persue building complete rods. I was wondering at what rpms does one wrap a rod and what rpm can one turn a handle? I would like to build a power rod wrapper as I have access to a machine shop. I was considering a combination wrapper - lathe, versitile enough to wrap rods yet robust enought to turn handles. I am trying to determine the type of motor that is needed to handle both operations. I have looked at many of the universal AC/DC motors in the 3000 to 8000 rpm range. and then calculated the pulley rpms and torque. It seem that with a AC/DC motor I will not get torque that I would need to turn handles. I am starting to look at the 24VDC motors that have the speed and the torque. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Scott

You will get a lot of opinions, but you might want to consider a separate lathe/area for turning. Some will differ but I would never turn in the same area that I wrap simply because my wrapping area is FULL of thread, components and who knows what else and when I turn (separate area) It ends up looking like a sand storm went through. On a side note, once you start turning cork grips, it only a matter of time before the wood and acrylic bug bites you!! If I had to choose, I would opt for a wood midi lathe and wrap by hand. I have a wood lathe and powere wrapper, but the power wrapper has never been used for wrapping, I use it for refurbishing cork/EVA grips on repairs.

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!!

Mike,
Thanks for the quick response. Unfortuately I would have gone that route if my garage did not have British cars in it. Running a lathe with all that dust would surely coat the cars. I am limited to space in my fishing tackle room....umm..... u gave me a great idea, maybe I can convince my wife to move her stained glass equipment to the garage........ just a little colder......lol. You have a good point about the wood and acrylic, I may have to create some more space somewhere.

If you are doing the whole thing in your Garage put your lathe on a platform with wheels so you can move it outside when you want to turn grips or whatever, weather permitting.

You might want to take a look at the motors that are used by the Renzetti to get an idea of what is required. Actually a little more horsepower than the 1/10 HP motor would be better if you really want to do grips and don't want to go for a separate lathe for turning them.

I've done exactly that. I got the small hobby lathe setup from Grizzley and simply mounted the bed on a saw horse. Since this outfit only weighs a few pounds I simply pick up the saw horse and take it outside to do my cork work. The wind blows any cork dust away. This is perfect for me as I detest cleaning up! By doing this outside there is no clean up required.

Jay

I want to thank everyone for their time and insight. I think I will purchase a small lathe. The point of all the dust and and mess that will occur in the wrapping area will create addition work for me and leave less time to have fun. So it's off to find a lathe.
I have spent the past three months reading many of the posts in this forum and find it a pleasure to have so much information at my finger tips. I hope, in time as I become more proficient in rod building I can help others as they have helped me.

Many thanks,
Scott

Scott,
I agree with the others on keeping the cork work and thread wrapping seprate.
I keep the "clean" glue and wrapping in my lower level work shop.
However, I do all of the "dirty" work - sanding and turning in the garage. When, I finish, I vacuum up the dust, and then use the air compressor to blow all of the dust out the door.

I tried doing the turning once in the lower level work shop. Never again - dust everywhere.

TAke care
Roger