Yesterday I went to a local tackle shop that use to build rods. I found some spools of gudebrod and fish hawk thread that seemed a little aged are they any good? Does thread get weaker withage? I also came across to wooden spools of thread with no names. One is marked 6778 NCP 1 oz. should i use these on guide wraps or not?

If they've been kept out of the sun and moisture, they should be okay. Remove the top layer of thread and you should be fine.

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Look for fraying and pull on it to see if it breaks easily if possible.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

I took some new thread and pulled it till it broke then I took this old thread and did the same thing. Just by my feel the older thread broke fairly easier than the newer thread. They both look to be size A. Should I wrap a guide on a dowel and pull test if so what should be the the break point roughly in pounds.
Yes that was the first thing I ddid it was dirty.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2011 05:46PM by Steven Franatovich.

Did you try what Tom suggested? You may have to pull off a few layers if it's that weak.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

Steve, If you can wrap at the tension you desire without breakage, your good to go.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

The strength of the thread is not solely based on a single thread, but the sum of all the turns used to wrap the guide.
I have some thirty plus year old Gudebrod that is as good or better than the newer stuff. Use it and enjoy using vintage supplies.

Always learning with
Ohio Rod Builders


Joe Azar

Steven if the thread aged I would do like Tom says pull off one or two layers of the tread untill you are back to a good color and test it for breakage and if it does not break you are good to go and for the other thread with the wooden spool that is Holland thread very good stuff and much wanted and you can tell the difference as Holland had a very distint darker clasic look to it over Gudebrod so if you dont need it to me I could use it.

Glenn McMurrian

I recently also found some very old Gudebrod that my father had. It has to be at least 35 years old. The first layer was very dirty and it was easy to break. I did the same thing and pulled off the thread until it cleaned up and it's fine. I didn't even lose that much thread before I got down to good thread. These were old 50 yard spools. Along with that, some of it was metallic and even that was weak for the first layer or so but came out clean and strong after pulling off 1 or 2 layers.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH