Hello everyone. I am new here and basically new to rod building. I am 33 years old and live in Pennsylvania. I am an avid trout fly-fisherman but also fish ponds, lakes, and rivers for bass, panfish, catfish etc.. Hoping to be able to contribute to the site as I learn more about the hobby. So far, seems like you guys are very helpful with each other from the posts i've read.
My question is, what kind of wrapper would you reccomend to start with? This will probably be a Christmas gift. It doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. I'm only planning on building a couple rods a year.
Also, I did build my own rod once before in 8th grade, so I'm not completely new to this but that has been years.
Thanks ahead for any help



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2012 09:24PM by Tom Kirkman.

Lee, are you looking to but a power wrapper or a hand wrapper?

Sorry, I should've specified. Just a simple hand wrapper. If you look on that website I posted, when I made one years ago, I used something very similar to what they call the "basic" model. Looking at that or something along the lines of their "economy" "standard" or "sx dual". Thanks

Flex Coat HW1. Hard to go wrong. [www.flexcoat.com]

Lee

Our Small Business Kit includes all the basics for getting started. This kit includes tools, supplies, and instructional materials, everything to get you started. Specifically the kit has our hand rod wrapper and also comes with a gear motor for rotating your rod while curing.

Of course, there are many choices out there, and please, do your research, but this is how we do it.

Here is the link:
[www.flexcoat.com]

Also check out our videos on rod building:
[www.flexcoat.com]

I hope this helps

John

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

Thanks for the replies. That stuff looks great but where are the prices? My girlfriend wants to buy me a wrapper and some other stuff for Christmas. We set spending limits, so I need to know how much it cost.

Almost all rod component suppliers sell Flex Coat products. Many of them are sponsors of this site and located on the left hand side of your screen.

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

Ok thanks very much

Get Bit Outdoors has a great deal on a wrapper and everything you need too build a Batson rod kit (SP841 blank) that would be great for a lot of the fishing you like to do. [www.getbitoutdoors.com]

get a sully's or the eco wrapper for a hand wrapper. I like features from both and switch between the two depending on my mood. I prefer hand wrapping to power wrapping, but you dont need a wrapper to get started. put your thread in a glass and run it through a telephone book for tension as you hold the blank. it is how i started and probably countless others.

A hand wrapper is pretty easy to make yourself. Check the photo pages (search using wrapper). Eric Viburs made a really nice hand wrapper and he has posted lots of photos of the wrapper.

Good point
Then spend the money on guides seats and things you can not make yourself

Bill - willierods.com

Lee, I very much agree with Ken and Bill. Very adequate 'hand wrappers' can be easily made! Then a few of the 'must have' tools can be bought with the $ that would have been spent on the wrapper. Unless you are building many, many rods a year, a power wrapper is really not needed. I prefer, pardon the pun, the very 'hands on feeling' of a hand wrapper. Some very essential tools you might want to have purchased: Good lighting, thread tensioner, basic rod drying chuck motor, good reamers set.

Lee, Flex Coat produced a DVD (I think originally it was a VHS) that can be very useful to the beginning rod builder. It will show you some very interesting short cuts that can save a lot of money. There was a time when Cabelas offered a package for beginners that included a wrapper, drying motor and stand (but no chuck), an assortment of tools, and said DVD. It was just over $100, IIRC. I don't know if they still offer it. If that isn't available, the Flex Coat kit is your best bet, IMO. You can also get a basic chuck directly from Flex Coat that isn't often offered by their dealers. It's around $15 plus shipping. Finally, one of the most important pieces of equipment I use is a combination magnifying glass/fluorescent light. It's a large lense surrounded by a circular bulb on a swing arm. You can find them in most office supply stores.
Slainte,
Hunter

From ghoulies and ghosties,
and long leggedy beasties,
and things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord deliver us!

If cost is a concern, I would gear my choice towards making sure that I had a dryer for the finish. My first wrapper was a cardboard box and I have wrapped rods sitting down with a rod on my lap. The wrapper really doesn't have much to do with the quality of the finished product. A rod dryer is nice because then you don't have to sit there and keep turning your rod. I now have a flex coat hand wrapper and a power wrapper. It all depends on my mood as to which one I use. I know this really doesn't answer your question I just wanted to point out that if I had a choice between a wrapper or a dryer, I would choose a dryer to spin the rod while the finish is curing. I can always cut some "v's" in a cardboard box, use books to put tension on the thread and make a diposable wrapper.

Thanks everyone for your info and suggestions. I'll keep you posted about what I decide.

Comments deleted



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2016 05:21PM by John E Powell.

Lee

Where in PA do you live?

Rog

I live in Mifflinburg

Lee,

Welcome to the world of rod building .You said you only plan to build 2 or 3 rods a year, well don't spend to much time at it .I had a rod that had a guide come off so I tried to fix it . Well that started a new obsession "Build a better rod than I can buy" well that was 2yrs. ago. What I am saying IS it will be come a passion that will grow ,I started on my dining room table now I have a room with all my stuff for rod building in it. No one comes in that room unless I say they can. My wife makes me keep the door locked when I'm not home . ,It is an Art form that is dying so learn from the masters that are on this site,. Check out ROD MAKER MAGAZINE found on the left side of this page.
Ok ,I guess I got carried a way, but I love what i've found.
Richard Curry
Linegrabber Rods
MAYSVILLE GA.

What is life without fishing ?