Posted by:
roger wilson
(---.hsd1.mn.comcast.net)
Jeff,
I assume that you are speaking of this wrapper?
[
www.americantackle.us]
This wrapper, like most of the wrappers on the market will do a good job of wrapping. It has a nice 8 foot base, with a dual drive motor, so that you can use either the wrapper motor, or the dryer motor on the same bed.
Unless you are going to use the wrapper for handle work, you really don't need a motor speed of anything greater than about 1000 rpm.
The rod rests are of good quality, rubber coated, and will do a good job of holding the rods.
The 3-jaw chuck is the one that has been around for a long time, and is adequate, but there are better chucks on the market. You may find that you want to put binders around the chuck jaws on this chuck, to keep the rod in place as you wrap.
If you are going to be doing quite a few rods, the use of a dryer that can handle more than one rod is a good idea. The use of the quad dryer with 4 motors and stands will work fine, but if you are into bigger production, then the use of a drum dryer, where you can dry a dozen rods at one time with a single motor is an even better idea.
Although the motor on the American tackle dryer is fine, and the speed control adequate - very similar to other wrappers on the market - it is nice to have even better bottom end control, as well as the ease of easy wrapper reverse. These options are easily accomplished with a dc gear motor drive system and controller. As far as I know there aren't any commercial makers on the market that offer this motor option.
But, i do have details on how to make such a motor and drive system and if you want that information, I can mail that information to you at
hflier@comcast.net
Although the steady rod rests are fine on this wrapper, you might check out some of the other brand wrappers to see if you can find a wrapper that uses a cantilivered style rod rest. This is a rod rest which has a base, a single post going up the back of the base, and then a pair of bars that extend out from the back of the base which support the rod. The advantage of this style steady rest is the ability of a user to have ones hands under the steady rest. This feature is very nice when working with light action rods, especially those with light tips. One can have the steady rest quite close to the guide being wrapped, and one can have his hands under the steady rest as one is wrapping.
The nicest ones of this style will have a slot in the back post with the ability of the lower bar to slide vertically to allow for vertical adjustment of the rollers and to keep the rod level. Of course it always nice to have rubber rollers to cushion the rod when wrapping.
Some of the wrappers use the upgraded chuck which is a notch better than the standard chuck that comes on the american tackle wrapper. This chuck generally works all right to hold the rods. However, some folks find that they still have to make some slight mods to the wrapper to insure that the rod stays in the chuck.
Another option used by some of the wrappers is to use a commercial head stock from a commercial lathe, i.e. the Taig Lathe, with a 3/4X16 headstock shaft and the use of a commercial machinest 3-jaw chuck using the solf aluminum jaws. This style chuck has been used for many years by many of the upper end shops and is a very good long term investment in a wrapper.
So, lots of options out there, and it is up to you to decide on what works best for you.
You can also check out some of the wrappers and wrapper components that have been built by users of the forum in the picture section of the forum. Just do a search on rod wrappers and or steady rests to check out some of the other options.
Good luck
Roger
