I have been doing a lot of practicing lately on my butt wraps and while I am starting to get things figured out with basic diamonds and chevrons. Not having anyone close to me that I know of to learn from has really steepened the learn curve on doing this and while Billy's book is good I am a firm believer in gathering as much info as possible.

I am wondering if you guys would be willing to share some of the little hints and tricks that you use when doing butt wraps. Not asking you to give up and proprietary techniques or anything like that just some of the trick you use when figuring and setting your layouts, laying down threads, packing etc.

Everyone of the wraps that I came up with like the Fish, St John's cross, Spider, Eagle, etc. came about by dozens of hours of experimentation. There is no easy route!!

Mr.Vivonas' book has just about every trick and technique you'll need to get started.another fine thread layer is steve patterson, who has some different techniques.but just to emphasize what randolph said,you learn your own by doing,i incorporate many techniques picked up over the years by looking at other artists photos on this site and others,unfortunately there is no short cut to lessen the learning curve.

www.southriverrodsllc.com

Here are two things that I've learned.

1. Don't wrap the threads too tight. This will make it difficult to move the threads when it comes time for packing. When you get it right you will be able to move multiple threads at once when you get the right tension. This will help in speeding up the process.

2. You may need to try different tools to get one that works the best for you when packing your threads. I tried many different things until I can across Billy Vivona tool. Make sure you ask for direction on prepping the tool.

I hope this info helps, I'm thinking this might be what you were looking for.

I have some more ideas.

3. I was introduced to a jelly pen for marking the centers. This works great, good visibility and can be wiped off in in the wrong location.

4. When following a pattern make sure you keep track of the steps and mark them off as you complete them. This will help in keeping your place when you get interrupted or taking a break.

Chester

May your line be tight and your beverages be cold!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2013 10:05PM by Chester Kiekhafer.

I agree with you guys that there are no shortcuts to learning and by no means am I looking for one, I like the practice and laying down threads. I guess what I meant by tricks and hints are those little things you a have learned along the way that have made a big difference in creating yur layouts or packing threads or what have you that took your wrapping from being either good to really good or frustrating to finally seeing the light and now you are getting good looking wrap consistently. I will continue to work my way through and figure out my own way of doing different things like we all do believe, I'm to stubborn not too haha.

Chester had it right when he said to not make your cross wrap threads to tight. It will make it nearly impossible to pack and you will get gaps between the threads. Keep notes of what you do so that if you like the pattern you come up with you are able to repeat it at a later date. Take pictures of your work. I put a couple of layers of blue masking tape at the end of the foregrip and then cover that with double stick tape. Do the same think at the other end of the wrap on the blank. This gives you a cushion for slicing through the thread without damage to the grip or blank. When the thread is cut, peel off the tape and then use your razor (I use a scalpel) to feather cut the butt wrap.

I wonder, does anyone do their butt wraps "before" they glue on the foregrip?

I know a guy that does it pretty much from the glare of a flourescent lamp and feel. He uses a thread bobbin and rotates the blank by hand. He seems to know/feel where the thread should go and doesn't seem to really need layout marks.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

That certainly sounds unusual to me. I would have to see it done, especially on a blank with very much taper. It just seems back asswords.

ASk specific questions, and people will give you tips and tricks. I always go out of my way to answer questions like that. Some of the points addressed in this thread:
1. My book does not have ALL the tips and tricks that I use. I have added a TON more info in the Rodmaker Magazine articles I was writing. My book gives you the basics and gets you a solid base to get started and for those who have been doing them, I tried to throw in enough tips that they can get some useful info as well. I wanted to keep things clean and easy to understand.
2. PAcking tool - I am not a sponsor so please remove the link as per the rules of the site.

Best advice I can give on packing in addition to the tension....once you are able to complete a few DEc WRaps, start packing LESS. When I started I would pack threads every other pass, I spent an inordinate amount of time packing. Once I learned how tight to wrap, and how to wrap multiple threads at one time, I began to wait longer and longer before I pack, 5, 6, 7 passes. I have posted several step by step progressions of wraps on Facebook, one in teh last week. Here is a link to one of the pics which Ihope shows up: [www.facebook.com] This is the first itme I packed the pattern, you can see how many threads i have laid down.

more packing - about halfway to 2/3's of the way through the wrap, you should pack. MAke sure that the open areas are symetrical (look at my pic). This ensures that as you get to the end you will be able to close without too much of a problem. YOu want everything to be square as opposed to rectangular, and you want the space to be almost the same. IF oyu have one area which is bigger than the other, keep a mental note, and each time you pack....you pack the area with less open space harder and tighter to increase the open area; and the space which is wider less so you don't open up more area. I hope this makes sense, its' been the best tip I can give on how to close a wrap other than Taper Offset Spacing.

4. I often do wraps prior to installing grips. It's a bit of a pain to deal with sliding grips over the wraps/epoxy, but I like the look.