Gents

I'm building a four piece 9ft 4wt from Elkhorn. It's a moderately fast action rod that I intend to use for nymphing.

The first stripping guide has a large 'hump' at the end and my thread slips off onto the blank when I try to begin the wrap over the foot. I tried starting at the guide itself and wrapping toward the foot but the same thing happened.

Would you recommend I grind the end of the foot so I have more of a taper? Is there a better way? I use a Dremel to debur the bottom of the guide so I guess I could use it for the top as well. I just don't want to damage the foot.

Thanks, in advance, for your help.

Gene

You will need to shape the foot so that is has a very thin edge where it meets the blank. You can do this with your Dremel or a file.

You certainly can, in fact it is done by all custom builders. We always grind the guide feet.
I use a fine cut knife file. Grind or file the toe of the foot down to nothing so the thread will creep right up the toe without leaving a gap in the thread. Be sure to remove all burrs after grinding. On black painted guides, I always use a black Magic Marker to color it back after grinding.
Somewhere in the Photo section is a good before and after photo of a properly dressed guide foot.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

I always use 400 grit for my fly guides, and 220 for my spinning guides, taper the foot from the top, then de-burr the bottom to form a nice ramp for the thread.

An example that Steve Cox posted

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Another example.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

The shallower the ramp the easier to wrap.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

Also don't forget the under side of the guide. A round file to shape so it fits the blanks roundness. Also after filing I hit them with maybe 400 sandpaper.

Bill - willierods.com

One trick that I've learned over the years: after filing/grinding/shaping the guide feet, I like sealing them before I wrap. On guides with black frames, I like black nail polish; on chrome or silver guides, I like clear nail polish. You can buy both at any chain drugstore. A bottle costs a buck or two, and will last about forever.

I do this to prevent saltwater corrosion. If you're fishing in freshwater, this might not be an issue, but it's still a good idea to use black finish on black-framed guides, because the raw metal can show through a guide wrap otherwise.

Gene,
I use a 1 inch wide vertical belt sander. Normally, I use about 150 grit paper on the sander.
I sand down the guide until the end of the guide is nearly sharp enough to shave with. Then, I hit both the underside and top side with a round file to insure that there are no burrs on the guide.
Then, it is trivial to wrap the guide.

I also use a black permanent magic marker to color the black guides and also nail polish or similar to seal silver guides.

Take care
Roger

There is also a sweet little grinder (3 1/2" wheels) from Harbor Freight for $40. Comes with grinding and polishing wheel and you can hit both top and bottom of the guides. This sits on the end of my bench and I use it constantly.

The pictures posted are excellent examples of perfectly filed guide feet. The narrow, blunt but thin end is what you are trying to achieve. The thread just crawls right up the guide and leaves a very nice transition at the end of the foot. If you try to do this without prepping the guide feet it almost always results in a cracked finish area where the sharp transition occurs at the end of the foot.

Take the time to prep the feet before you wrap. It will look much more professional. We've all listed a number of ways to cut time out of this task and they all work. Use the one that is best for you.

Terry

Thank you, Phil

Gene

Thanks, Jay

Gene

Thanks, Andrew

Gene

Thanks, Chris

Gene

Thanks, Bill

Gene

Thanks, Roger

Gene

Thanks, Terry

Gene

Thanks, Chris

Gene