My wife wanted to know what to get me for Christmas , and I have been lurking on this forum to get an idea of what it takes to buld a rod ......Good ideas from everyone has been very much appreciated .....I basically bought the American Tackle machine that was on sale from Mudhole just before Christmas and she paid for it , so it came in my name ...... I've been very busy with other things that need to be taken care of ( Santa duties ) .....I finally got to open the box today to check out my new Wrapper ..... I've heard that many folks ugraded the chuck , but thought that the one that came with the machine would suffice for the time being .... Frankly , as nice as the rest of the machine's hardware was , I was taken back by how toy like the chuck on this machine really is .....The more I looked at it , and tried to use it , the more I was embarassed for the company that built it ..... OK , so on to see how everything worked ....I plugged the machine in , and sparks flew , and the curcuit went out ...@#$%& ? ......... I unplugged the Wrapper , and took a closer look .....About 3 inches down from where the power cord went into the wrapper , the wire was sliced !!!...... Understand that this machine was taken out of the box and immediately put on a kitchen table with nothing else in the way ......This wire was either sliced during shipping or when the machine was built ..... I spliced the wires together , and wire nutted them and taped them up , and turned the machine on ......All went well except the chuck ...... I'm sure hoping that the ALPS upgrade chuck will fit this machine , because I'm not even going to try using the one that came with it .... I give you guys that use this chuck and come out with a well built rod a LOT of credit .....I do look forward to building my first rod on this machine .... Thanks again to all of you for all the info that this forum provides ........Jim

I've had the same basic model for years and apparently I'm one of the few who used the standard chuck successfully the whole time. The only thing I make sure of is that when I mount a rod in the chuck, I squeeze the chuck with one hand while tightening the wing nut with the other. I've never had a rod come out of the chuck when I did this.

I know the chuck upgrade is definitely better and if I was turning cork on this I would probably go for it as well. For wrapping, I found I've never needed it. Your mileage may vary.

Terry

Hi Terry ,
Squeeze and Tighten huh ? .....I'll have to give that a shot .... Thanks for the tip ......Jim

Try a search on that wrapper chuck The first time a rod falls off and you have to redo it
It is worth getting the upgrade

Bill - willierods.com

Another good chuck design if you are just wrapping (not turning cork or wood) is the neoprene rubber chuck with a hole in it similar to the one on the Flex Coat drying motor. The neoprene grabs anything, just slip it in and go. No adjustments needed. Emory reminded me of this one, and it's what most of the production operations use for wrapping and finishing.

Terry

I have two of these and have been using them for years Without the center rod holder Did not need it Never Had A Rod come off
For drying
[www.rodbuilding.org]
But if you plan to use that one machine for several things as a dryer-lathe You will probable be better with the upgrade

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2012 09:58AM by bill boettcher.

Hi Jim, the Alps Upgraded Chuck will fit that wrapper and works like a dream. I switched all the wrappers in the shop over and wish I had done it sooner. Have Happy New Year!

Tight Lines and Bull's-eyes,

Get Bit Outdoors
407-542-7840
www.GetBitOutdoors.com
www.facebook.com/GetBitOutdoors

Jim,
Another thing that works well is to take a couple of heavy rubber bands and put them around the jaws of the chuck. It will be a bit tougher to open up, but as soon as you let go, the binders will snap the jaws shut tightly against the rod handle. Then, just tighten the nut on the back of the chuck.

--------
For long term use, I much prefer the use of the Taig 3 inch chucks. These are high quality machine chucks and do an excellent job in securing the rod.

The only thing that you may have to do, is to have a machine shop make you a different head stock shaft, if the shaft diameter or thread pitch is not correct for the Taig chuck on your wrapper.

[www.taigtools.com]

Or, you could use the Taig headstock:

[www.super-tech.com]

The choices are endless and it is really up to you and your particular needs.

Good luck
REW

Get Bit,
Since you indicated that you have switched all of the chucks in your shop, can you tell us the shaft size and thread pitch on the shafts of these power wrappers?

Thanks for the information.

Roger

Thanks for the info guys ....I think I will use the chuck that came with the machine and adapt it as a seperate dryer chuck ......I can use a lot of the advise here to hold a rod that is drying and no real strain put on it with rubber bands or whatever ..... I will then go to the ALPS upgrade to build with as it will probably double as a turning machine down the road ..... I would like things to be as solid as possible, especailly just starting out ......I want to feel good about my rod building experience .... Do it right the first time around !!.....Thanks again for the great advise ....I know I will have many more questions ....Jim

LOL !!.........I had a good laugh when I read Get Bit's reply about the ALPS upgrade chuck ....Then I saw his 10% off New Years ad and was ready to buy ......Then I looked again and saw that the ALPS Chuck was not included in the 10% off .....HAHAHAHAHHA......Just my luck .... :) ......Jim

Hey Get Bit ...How about free shipping to NY ? ......:)

The Alps chuck is great. I have two of them. They will fit right on your current machine. Just bolt it on.