I've been working on my new rod wrapper on and off for a while now. Roger Wilson built me a power supply with both hand and foot controls and I've finally received my new semi-custom large-bore headstock and chuck and am getting ready to get it all assembled and I've been considering changing from a stationary wrapper and sliding seat arrangement to a fixed seat and sliding wrapper arrangement. I've tried some searches here but probably haven't entered the correct parameters to get any results; I'm pretty sure someone has to have done something like this before.

I'm thinking of a stationary seat, thread carriage, foot and hand controls, While having the wrapper bed, motor, headstock, and rod supports mounted to a sliding carriage. In this way, all my tools and supplies would be always at hand (and not at the other end of the rod I'm working on) and I would always be sitting directly in front of my computer screen (where I can more easily view all my build notes, thread/weave patterns, etc). I'll even be able to watch a movie or two while I do some of the more tedious tasks.

I'm wondering what you all think of my idea? Potential good and bad points please...

And if you know of any pictures of similar wrappers built before, could you please share a link to them?

Thanks all.

Should work, but some thoughts:

I would think long rods would be a problem. Moving the head stock around, you would need a long space to do that in and long or single piece rods would be an issue if you don't have a long space to work in.

I would think you should want to lock it down when you are wrapping to prevent any vibration or walking around.

I like rolling around on my chair, and don't seem to have an issue with tools, etc running away from me. I've considered a tool caddy attached to the thread carriage but not much need to implement that. Apparently I'm still doing okay. It does seem like a lot of work to solve a small problem, if it's a problem at all, but you do what makes it fun.

Terry

John,
This was my first version - I had sets of rollers separating three smaller work tables on which my wrapper base rolled. Very simple but it worked well.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

My current wrapper which uses this base, now has rollers on it. I put two skate board bearings on each end of the wraller bed. I have a 20 foot long wrapping table, and I just slide my wrapper from one end to the other as needed.
For the times that the wrapper rolls too easily, I use a pad slid under the wrapper base, to act as a brake to keep the bed from rolling when I don't want it to.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

All of my tools, foot control, and thread stand stays in one place. I just roll the rod wrapper past my work station. It is a lot easier to just roll the wrapper up and down as needed, rather than sliding up and down the rod, moving all of the tools, and other things with me.
By staying in one place, where I have plenty of leg room, I also can put things under the rod bench in the places where I don't sit or stand. Thus, I can use the storage space under the rod bench, where I don't need knee room.

I use the standard skate board bearings for many of my tools. The skate board bearings are of very high quality, but very inexpensive because of the millions of skate board bearings that are sold every year. Generally these bearings are 25 cents or less when I buy them 20 at a time.

Roger

Terry, I can dedicate the needed space to accommodate the largest rods I build, about 10.5' The headstock I had built for me has a bore large enough to pass grips through th chuck and headstock so on most builds I can hold the rod in the wrapper at the front grip area and not the butt cap area. For most intents and purposes this will shorten the space needed for a 10.5' rod down to about 9'. I'll also be able to move most of my wrapping supplies into cabinets below the bench to either side of my seating area.

It shouldn't be too difficult to plan and construct something to affix the wrapper if needed so that shouldn't be a problem.

Roger, what, if anything, did you find wrong with your first wrapper that you improved in your second wrapper?

John,
My first wrapper simply used a 1X8 which was just fine but had a bit of flex in the base. Really nothing wrong with that either since the wrapper was sitting on a flat bench.
Then , I separated the benches and used roller stands between the table so that I could roll the wrapper bed back and forth in front of me.

You are right in that you generally only need the ability to move the rod about 6 feet, or three way off of a center point. Forget about the power unit on the end of the rod, forget about the handle etc.
So you are only concerned about the actual part of the blank that has guides and wraps on the blank. Then, take and divide that distance by 1/2 and basically set up your work station on the part of the rod bench where this occurs, when you have move room for your wrapper at each end of the bench.

In the winter time I do a lot of ice rods, which don't need a long wrapping bench. So, in the winter time, I just use a 6 foot long wrapper base made of a 1/6. This also works well and the shorter length makes it even easier to move.

However, as time went by, I wanted a stiffer more stable bed, so I made a wrapper bed of a u shaped aluminum channel that is two inches high, and 4 inches wide. Initially I used the roller stands to move the bed back and forth in front of me.

But, I then upgraded my rod bench to be a single 20 foot length of counter top. Nice and clean and without seams. I initially used solid pieces of fiberglass dowels as rollers under the wrapper base to let the wrapper roll up and down the bench.

But, then I added skate board bearings on each end of the wrapper bench to more easily accommodate the bed movement. I am in the process of adding 4 more rollers on intermediate points of the wrapper bed to take care of the situation, when the current rollers run past the end of my bench on a long rod.

The one thing of note is that with the very easy movement of the rollers in the bench, I need to have pad under the wrapper to act as a brake for the wrapper so that it doesn't roll up and down the bench as I wrap a rod. I just use a folded towel under the wrapper bed near my work station to insure no movement of the bench while wrapping.

After going through this progression, I would do the same final system in a heartbeat. Much much easier to have the rod roll by my work station as I work on the rod - rather than moving myself and tools and thread up and down the rod.

The only real shop requirement is that it is nice to have a rod bench length that is twice the length of your wrapper to give you the move room.

Since I use a power wrapper with foot pedal and switch on reverse, the power unit with the headstock moves back and forth with the rod. The foot pedal and reversing switch remain stationary in front of me, so the only thing that is moving on the bench is the power cord that runs from the power supply to the power unit on the end of the rod.

Simple and straight forward.

Be safe
Roger

Thanks Roger.

John,
I have had some issues with my sliding rod wrapper due to a warping of the bench top surface over time and use.
As a result, I went and picked up some more bearing mounting bolts to mount more bearings on the long rod wrapper.

I now have 8 rolling bearings on the rod wrapper to keep the wrapper off the surface of the bench as it moves from one extreme to the other extreme of the rod bench.

But, since the power wrapper now moves so easily on the ball bearings, that I think I am going to have to fabricate a more permanent brake to lock the wrapper in place as I work on a particular spot on the rod.

I believe that I will make a very simple brake that will consist of a threaded rod with a knob on the top. I will thread the bed of the wrapper and thread the rod through the wrapper bed u channel. Then, I will just put a felt pad about 3 inches in diameter on the end of the threaded rod to act as a brake when not wanting the bed to move. The felt on the bottom of the threaded rod will keep from scratching the rod bench and will insure a good stable brake for the wrapper that may be easily dialed in by the turn of the knob on the end of the threaded rod.

The U channel is made of 1/4 inch thick aluminum so I think that there is enough material to form threads to support the brake rod.

Be safe
REW