I am wanting to know how to get started. Are there any good recomendations as to what I should buy for a power wrapper and dryer? It looks like there is a wide range from not to expensive to pricey. Any suggestions as to what should be looking at??

I'd build a rod or two before I started spending money on power wrappers and dryers, unless you're absolutely sure you plan to be in this for the long haul.

You can build rods without any sort of special equipment. A couple home-made wooden V-jigs, a spool of thread in a coffee cup and the strand run between a couple books for tension. I built several dozen rods that way.

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

I started about four years ago, coming up on my 70th rod, and I'm still using the cardboard box with V notches and the spool in a coffee cup with phone book for tension. I used to sit back in my recliner with a freshly epoxied rod wedged between my toes and rotating it while watching TV. I got epoxy in my toes one time too many and decided to get me a small drying motor. I'll still turn manually when using Permagloss. Take the money you would spend on the fancy equipment and put it towards building a couple inexpensive rods as Christmas/birthday/etc presents for nephews and nieces. You'll save enough to get some inexpensive reels too and that will help with learning the proper guide placement and test casting.

Thanks for your reply James and got a kick out of the Epoxy on your toes part. :)

What do you do with 70 rods??

Thanks Tom, sounds like good advice. I am pretty sure this is something I will enjoy doing (looking at retirement pretty soon) and love to fly fish. Based on the idea it is something I would stay with would you go with a medium price set up and then upgrade?? If so what would you suggest as a power wrapper and dryer. . . . . ??? Thanks Gary H

Check out the photo page under Equipment on wrappers

And here: [www.rodbuildingtutorials.com]

Bill - willierods.com

"What do you do with 70 rods??"
Mostly gifts. I only kept twenty five of them so there's still pleanty of room for more :)

"love to fly fish"
Pack rods, brush rods, float, you'll get hooked and wonder what you've been doing without dozens of rods to choose from to make for the perfect outing

Any of the machines sold by American Tackle, Batson Enterprises or Pacific Bay would be good enough that you'd never have to upgrade.

You might also look at the wooden wrappings from The Rod Shop, Inc. Their Eco-Wrapper has a great many fans. It's very unique.

If you want to be able to do about everything under the sun including light duty turning, then the Renzetti or Custom Power Wrap might be the ticket. But there's no use buying far more than you'll ever need.

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I built myself a wooden hand wrapper with plans that were in Rodmaker when I first got started. I used it for about five years and then upgraded to the Pac Bay RW3XL. I'm glad I had the handwrapper first, it was more than adequate for the job. The powerwrapper just simplifies things a bit for me. Over the years I added a drill press, scroll saw, bench grinder, wood lathe. etc. etc.

But, you don't need it to start. Start simple and learn the basics.

Scott Sheets
www.smsrods.com

Gary,
Since you want to do something, why don't you build your own power wrapper and dryer. It is not that hard and you can save a considerable amount of money.

If you have some machine skills it is a pretty easy job.

If you have questions, just drop me an e-mail

hflier@comcast.net

Take care
Roger

Is a power wrapper an advantage for your average fly rod build? Given the guide sizes it hardly seems worth it. I could see getting a small lathe (for handle/grips/etc) and sticking with a hand wrapper.

Russell,
Likely not.
However, if you get into building a lot of rods, your hands will really appreciate the power wrapper.
A good hand wrapper can likely wrap rods as fast or even faster than one who uses a power wrapper.
However, at the end of the day, the one who is using a power wrapper will have hands that are not tired.

Good luck
Roger

Start with a simple hand wrapper and for a little more money, you can buy or make a thread tensioning device to get away from books. Better thread control makes it easier to learn the wrapping process if you can be hands free and not worry about losing tension.

All the other suggestions are great. If you find yourself building a lot of rods and especially boat or surf rods with underwraps then you might consider a power wrapper.

Terry