I'm looking to buy a new Pac Bay Power Wrapper/Dryer. Doe's anyone have suggestions about it. The pros & cons.
It's reasonably priced ,but is it worth the time you spend using it .Would it hold up to full day of wrapping every day .I'm not planning to do that ,but would like to know it can

can't complain for the price. except the butt ends of my rods always come out of the chuck (yes i purchased the deluxe chuck or whatever its called).

Thanks for the chuck advice. It does look a little flimsy.

I have the Flex Coat dryer with the rubber diaphragm.
The one solution I use for the butt end put the butt cap last. For the 2 pc, surf rods I put a dowel between the rod and dryer and a rubber winding check and some masking tape if necessary.

I have had no issues with durability. Russ Pollack uses these in his shop and seems to be happy with them. The only maintenance issue is that the o-ring drive belts wear out so have several on hand as replacements.

If you are working on turning lots of grips, I would suggest a different method. These units will wrap 1000's of rods, but not very durable for turning. I do use them for the occaisional turning task, but mostly limited to clean up or finishing grips.

Unlike others, I've not had any issues with butt sections coming loose from the chuck. I have the original chuck and use the following process:

Insert the butt section and rotate the plates to close. Ensure the butt is centered.
Grab the chuck "ears" and squeeze, while you are tightening the locking wingnut on the back of the plate..
Spin away.

If I forget the squeeze step, it does work loose sometimes.

Other than these minor things, I find the units very useful and can increase productivity, or at least make mistakes faster. :-)

Terry

I have a lathe for turning both eva and cork . I preffer to do it this way , if there is a mistake .I don't have to cut it of the blank.

I do want it for wrapping . I don't always have the hours to spend on wrapping . I won't be using every day but the peace of mind of having a reliable machine.

Thanks for the input Terry

George

Get the upgrade chuck, it is much better. All you have to do is either put a rubber band on the butt and the chuck will never open or put some cork tape on the chuck jaws, there is a good photo on that..

[www.rodbuilding.org]

It is a good wrapper. I both both style of thread tensioners. The large 4oz fit on the old style while I use the smaller spools with the newer style.

I have had it for 3+ years and no issues..

Got it
Thanks Ernie

As Terry mentioned above, we use the PacBay lathe as one of the primay tools in our shop. We also have four PacBay drying units, consisting of a morotized chuck and a rod support unit. Quite simply, we use these on every rod we build, most every day.

We've had enough experience with this equiment to be able to pass along some "tips & tricks", including "tuning" the lathe, but there's too much for the bandwidth here, although you could research various threads from, say, the last 12 months and pick up a bunch of what we wrote. Instead, just email me directly and I'll try to answer any specific questions you might have, plus offer some generic stuff.

I'll tell you that the PacBay lathe can be used for any of your motorized wrapping, plus shaping and finishing rear grips & foregrips in work, EVA., and finishing wood, although the shaping of wood grips is better done on a "true" wood lathe. We do have the "super chuck".

- - - look forward to hearing from you.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2008 11:50PM by Russ Pollack.

George, just wanted to pass on a little info. I've been using this style wrapper for over 10 yrs now. the head is the original 3 eared style , Yes they do have some issues. First I have found that the angled rubber which is glued the the metal ears has broken away several times to fix this I use a little bit of heated ferrel cement or arrow head glue. The other prob. I have found is that the rods do infact come loose sometimes. The easy fix for this is to simply wrap a few rounds of masking tape around the earsand even on the butt of the rod thus securing it for wrapping. I have never tried the new and so called fancy chuck, my old works just fine. Good Luck. Tom.

For the chuck, use a hose clamp. Won't come undone! I have the dryer and an extra stand and use it for wrapping and thread finishing. No complaints yet!

I have built several power wrappers.
One of the key things about a wrapper is the chuck.

For most of my wrapping, I use the wrapper motor that I have a keyless industrial chuck mounted on. That way, I take a dowel, either have it sized to fit the butt of the rod, or, I use tape to build up the dowel to fit the butt of the rod.
For my rod building, I generally put the butt of the rod on, after the rod is finished, so the open end of the rod works fine for this method. The nice thing about using the inside of the rod to hold the rod during wrapping is that there are no marks possible on the exterior of the grip.

I also use the Sherline - 3 inch chuck, which is the same as the delux chuck from Pac Bay - on rods that already have the butt cap in place. Now and then, there are issues with the rod slipping out of the chuck. There is also a slight possiblity that the chuck might leave marks on the exterior of the grip.

There are a lot of other options and if you like - drop me an e-mail at:

hflier@comcast.com and I will discuss them with you.

Take care
Roger

I have the pacbay and have also had chuck problems, even with the new chuck. I typically use a length of scrap rod and insert it into the btt of whatever I am building. I put a few wraps of tape in this piece and then chuck it into the inner part of the jaws. Once I am done with the rod I install the buttcap. Works great for me.

Scott Sheets
www.smsrods.com

I appreciate every one’s input on the Pac Bay Power Wrappers. I’m going order one with in the next week. Also buying the Upgrade chuck.
The chuck it comes with the wrapper .I can always use as an extra drying motor .

The Flex Coat Dryers I have . I manage to brake both motors. I found new motors from a surplus web site www.skycraftsurplus.com. They have a variety of motors and electric & electronic surplus.
The motors I used were 40RPM Intermittent . It has a gear box that runs about 10 RPM’s . ¼” shaft that fits to the Flex Coat Self Adjusting Chuck . It’s a strong motor I’ve use it on 2 -15’ surf rods with out any problems . The finish comes out perfect.

The bad part .It gets hot to the touch ,the heat can loosen the chuck over time ,and using it on a Flex Coat Dryer ,you need drill new holes.

Thank You
George

George,
If you are using a motor for continuous duty that is really rated for intermittent duty - get a fan.
I have a pair of back up dryer motors that I use from time to time that have the same issue.
I picked up a little 4 inch 110volt fan that I sit beside the motors. I plug in the fan at the same time that I plug in the motors and the wind from the fan really does a good job in keeping the motor cool.

Many of these motors are thermally protected, so that if they get too hot, they will shut themselves down. It wouldn't be a good thing to have a drying motor in the middle of a drying session - shut down. Say good by to the finish on that rod that stops in mid sesssion. Droops galore - here we come.

take care
Roger

Roger
I was looking for a little fan for the motors. I also use a timer for the motors.

Talk to you soon
George