OK this is just something I can't wrap my head around so I'll ask the REALLY DUMB question.
I'm looking at getting a power wrapper to speed up production.
What I cannot get a grip on is that since the rod is now moving fast. what prevents the thread from either stacking up on top of itself or from just spirialing up the guide?
When hand wrapping I have complete control but I feel like I'll lose that with power, except the speed control.
Thanks for replying to dumb stuff!

You have to move the thread carriage as you work your way down. For the most part where I really use the power on mine is if I am doing a long underwrap for a butt wrap. For most guides I really don't need the power, but when I use power, you ease the carriage as it wraps and I make sure I have the thread angled back just a bit to keep the threads tight.

I have the Pac bay one. There is a master speed control to limit the top speed, and then a variable speed foot pedal to fine tune it. I leave mine in about the middle and control the speed the rod spins, from barely moving to hauling, depending on what I am doing! The thread carriage on mine actually moves itself up with the thread, I usually hold it back a tad to get it to pack tighter.

Tim,
Which modelPac Bay wrapper do you have?
Thanks

It's something you'll learn to do. Once mastered, you'll have a feel for how much angle to put on the oncoming thread and how fast to move the carriage. Like anything else, it just takes a bit of practice.

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Tom is right on. I got my power wrapper over the past winter. The first few times I used it I wanted nothing to do with the power part. Now I use it to wrap even micro guides. Once you get used to it, it is so much easier than hand wrapping, at least for me.

Scott Sheets
www.smsrods.com

I thought of buying one also. I am going to the expo and thought I would see it happen in person because I can forsee the same thing. I don`t build that many rods that I need one, it`s just that I want one.

Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

I thought of buying one also. I am going to the expo and thought I would see it happen in person because I can forsee the same thing. I don`t build that many rods that I need one, it`s just that I want one.

Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

I think it is the RW-3XL, heavy duty deluxe chuck, full 8' 3 piece aluminum channel bed, not the lightweight one. I've had it for a couple months and love it! The only prob I have with it is that with UL blanks, I generally can use the power feature on the first 2 guides, maybe 3, from the butt, and then the blank becomes too flexy and I tend to loose thread tension since the blank flexes so much. No biggie, I disconnect the drive belt/O ring and just wrap it by hand, still using the thread carriage. The thread carriage works nicely as well, and I can finally use the J Metallic threads from Robinson Anton on the open ended spools!!!! Makes underwraps a breeze, easier to level, etc. I actually took the rubber chuck pads off and put double sided sticky tape on the chuck jaws. Seems to be able to run for 16 hours or so w/o loosening the chuck!

Tim -
Move the rod supports closer to where you're working on the guides as you move up toward the tip to support the rod flex and "wrap on". Moving the rod supports is faster than hand wrapping.

I've had several power wrappers, I have two Pac Bay wrappers now, one from Amtak and two old home made wrappers.
The best part about the newer style wrappers is the roller carriage and horizontal spool tensioner set up.
My PacBay wrappers are the RW-3XL models, two are set up with an extra section for 12' overall length.
I actually bought two extra sections to set up only one at 15' but ended up doing two of them at 12' since I was seeing a lot of 9 and 10' one piece rods and only the occasional 12'.
I pretty much only use the Amtak wrapper now as a cork lathe and spare drier on occasion since I don't like the thread carriage layout.

The two home made wrappers are old, one came from a local tackle shop that sold out 30 years ago, that was my first wrapper and it no more than a copying machine motor, a belt and felt padded V blocks. The other one is a small unit set up for strictly ultra light rods and anything short and light.
Someone made that out of hardwood and it's powered by a sewing machine motor. It uses soft rubber wheels to guide the rod.

Once you've used a power wrapper, you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. I run several since I like to set up for one rod and see it through, that way I don't have to keep adjusting for different rods and back again.
I have a small drying box but it's not long enough for the big stuff. 7' 6" tops in the box, everything else gets dried on a lathe or on a wall mount drier unit.

Speaking of the Expo, it's the only place where you can see nearly ever power wrapper made. About the only exceptions are the Flex Coat powered units and the Custom Power Wrap machine. The Renzetti, American Tackle, Pacific Bay, Batson Enterprises and several others will be on hand, along with wood lathes from Jet, Delta and Rikon.

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Both the older and newer style thread carriages for the Pac Bar unit actually track by themselves, provided you do the following:

1) make absolutely sure the carriageway is clean. Use denatured alcohol, acetone, or one of the goo-gone products to get it just as clean as you can.
2) make sure the carriage guide wheel grooves are clean
3) put a little bit of fine oil on the carriage guide wheel bearings. Not much, just a drop.
4) put a little bit of VERY fine oil on the carriage guide wheel grooves.
5) Use a relatively low speed. Continously pack the thread as it goes onto the rod. The posts above are correct, you will get the feel for the thread tension, speed, and such after a few tries. If the thread does double back over itself, simply stop wrapping and unwrap the overage, rool back the spool to take up the slack, and start from where you were.
6) only when the carriage crosses the seam between the base sections do you need to coax it with a little bit of finder pressure from behind, pushing it just a little bit to get the wheels past the seam. But most times, the placement of your wraps doesn't line up with the seam so it's not an issue. If you have a wrap that lines up with the seam, use the powe wrapper to get up to where the carriage stops, hand-wrap the space youy need to get past the seam (moving the carraige as needed) and then once you are past the seam, continue with the power wrap.

You can indeed use the power wrapping feature to wrap guide feet, but it's better done with large guides. The teeny ones toward the tip are usually too small to mess with the poer setup- just do these by hand. The trick of keeping your rod supports closer together eliminates most off the flex in the rod and gives you a more uniform, smoother wrap with less thread tension than if the rod bends, but this is true whether you're power-wrapping or hand-wrapping. Also, we generally don't use the power-wrapp[ing feature if we're doing inlays into the wraps on the guide ffeet, because this is small detail work and it's better to do it by hand, at least for us.

- hope that helps
Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

Gary,
I have designed and built several different power wrappers over the years.
After using them, I simply won't go back to hand wrapping for anything.
The big advantage of power wrapping for me is the absolute control that I have over the rod and thread tension.

My current power wrappers are DC bi directional variable speed wrappers that start and stop on a dime, can reverse direction and will lock the rod at any position.

If I have to stop in the middle of a wrap - I stop and when I come back, I pick up where I left off.

A good wrapper allows you to turn the rod at any speed from 1 rpm up to several hundred rpm. If you are fortunate to have a reverse on your wrapper, you can easily flip a switch to back up to correct a mistake.

The key thing about wrapping on thin portions of the blank is to keep one or more of the rod rests, near - but not too near the guide being wrapped. This will make the area stiff enough to insure good tension on the guide being wrapped.

Again, experience and practice helps with this as with any other new skill.

I had just cleaned up the shop yesterday but had the need to wrap a couple of guides. So, rather than take the power wrapper down, I decided to wrap this very light action ice rod using the hand wrapper blocks.
I supposed that it took me three times longer to do the wraps, because I have been so used to using the power wrapper and the ability to use both hands to work the thread and handle any flex in the blank.

Lesson learned.

Any questions, just drop me an e-mail at hflier@comcast.net

Take care
Roger

Roger:
Is there any place I can see this wrapper you talk about ?
Thanks

I moved the supports closer, but I still find it easier to wrap them by hand. I was putting the tag end of the trim threads under the regular guide wrap, along with the pull out loop, so the combination of those plus the flexing blank caused problems! I didn't want the trim thread to be getting rolled over by the wheels on the rod supports.

There are lots of great answers here. If you can get a chance to see a true rod wrapped at a factory do it. I own both a Renzetti and a PacBay. If I am just power wrapping no facny stuff, no trim bands. I put the thread carriages away and hold my thread spools in my hand and wrap away like the rod manufactures do.
Good Wraps Bob