Ok after making my first power wrapper. Looking to upgrade to a better one. I need to to be sectional as I do alot of ice rods. And maybe a few regular size rods. Most are I know. I was wondering what everyone would recommend. Was looking at the alps with the chuck upgrade or maybe the Pac Bay with the chuck upgrade. Any help and guidance would be helpful. Thank you.

G'day Chip I've had my Alps wrapper with the upgraded chuck for around 5 years with no problems other than replacing the drive belt once .I think you will find that the Alps & Pac Bay are almost identical . I've built almost 200 rods in the time that I've had it & would buy another if the need was there

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

Hi Chip, I have had Alps , Pac Bay and American tackle for about five years and have been reliable and parts with Alps and Pac Bay are interchangeable but would strongly recommend the chuck upgrade .

Regards Michel

If you PM me with your email, I will give you a detailed assessment of my Pac Bay/AMTAK power wrapper.

I have 2 Pac Bay power wrappers - 1 with 8ft bed (2 Sections) and 1 with 12 ft Bed (3 Sections) - I like the fact that I can go from wrapping to drying very quickly.

You definitely want the chuck upgrade. The original plastic chuck is just about useless.

Chip,
you may get an answer that better serves you if you list of the features you think your replacement lathe will have that makes it 'better'.

my list would be different to yours most likely, but would include:

Ability for the chuck to hold hard slippery(coated with epifanes varnish) wooden butts.
Ability to back up to three turns of a 1.25 inch diameter object i am wrapping without losing tension. More would be even better.
A thread feed that allows me to do Forhan tie offs/wraps easily where i chose to use them.
Ability to hold several spools of thread at once.
A feed 'nozzle' that allows two threads to be fed at once like on the top layer of a tiger wrap-without them getting crossed over.
Ability to free spool without belts needing to be taken off etc. Like a clutch that is by your work station.
The ability to lock the whole system up so you can work on tunnels or whatever.
Static work station: either rod travels up and down or whole lathe but i like to sit in one spot with lighting etc directed to where i am working.
Easy Dust removal : any design that optimizes this increase the quality of your epoxy work. Maybe easy to use dust cover?
Big, easy to see at 8 foot, marks to show every 90 degrees, like dayglo on black.

Hay Lou

What are you using With all that I would like to see it Got Picts

Bill - willierods.com

Bill: maybe you missed the wish list part?
its what i want: if it was available i would buy it.

What i got is a hand wrapper I built up myself which i use for 99% of all my work( satisfies: work station stays put, can do Forhans,can rewind up to 15 inches under tension,feeds two spools of thread at once) and an ALPS wrapper for reel seat/grip repairs(rethinking that due to dust it creates ) and long under wraps which i now do prior to installing hard slippery odd shaped grips.
Rest is done on a 12/36 lathe in garage and separate room with 18 rpm drying station.

Next wrapper i flat out build myself , for exact same reason i build my own rods.
Winter is coming and its a good project for that time of the year.

Hay Lou

I guess ya got to make one that has all that on it

When I made my wrapper I looked at at least 7 - 8 different wrappers And lathes
Tried to put all the features of all of them into one

Worked out pretty well

Of course I get to do Upgrades It does not looke pretty BUT works well

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, when i buy i car i do the same: spec for ferrari, bought a Subaru.
If i could build cars i would have a 4x4 Lamborgini with fuel consumption of a PRIUS.
But lists help you make a concious decision about alternatives.
I had a list and an ALPS was what i could buy that represented a good balance between features and price.
No buyers remorse, but you have to know what you want vs what you get so that statement can be true.

The way cars are made now

give me a 70 Comaro Totally rebuilt

Now ya can put a 4 Cyl in with a super charger and a little Technoligy
And as far as I am conserned Better then what is out today And better on gas !!
Then I am OLD SCHOOL Do not need a Computer in the DASH

As I use my wrapper - Lath I see things that I MAY be able to add on

And I did not pay A grand for it

Bill - willierods.com

Thank you all. I definitely have a direction now. Gonna do this kinda backwards. Due to limited funds. Gonna adapt the chuck to mine then piece meal the rest as soon as momma says I can. When momma is happy, the house is happy.

ok with the Alp's upgrade, what comes with it? Does the pulley for the dryer come with it? and if not is it available? With some bribery I could have my neighbor make me one. I would have to do the math to get turning speeds set. Which is no problem but much easier to buy one. I can't find what comes with it. Thank you.