I bought some maderia thread from a local craft store. looked nice but after wrapping with it I am finding tiny fuzzies and hairs sticking up in it. I did not really see this until after the finish was put on. now I will have to strip and rewrap. is it the thread or something I did? tension is through two discs on a flex coat hand wrapper. any ideas? this was my first time trying maderia.

Ask Billy Vivona, he is a big fan of that thread.

Is it Madeira polyneon thread. I have been told that other varietys like rayon get a lot of fuzzies

CKR

Hi Edward,
I use a lot of madeira without a problem. Firstly to follow up on Chris's reply have you got polester thread (polyneon 40 or 60) or have you got rayon. Rayon is a no no for rodbuilding due to the problems you are experiencing. My thread tensioner acts on the spool and not on the thread and I don't have issues. Check your disc's to make sure there is nothing on them that is causing the problem. If posible do some test wraps without going through the disc's and see if the problem persists. I suspect you are using rayon thread and that is always going to cause an issue.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

yes looks like rayon is what I got. will get the right stuff this time. thanks.

As an alternative solution for just this rod, instead of stripping it, just attack the fuzzy bumps with a razor and apply a very thin topcoat of finish. If you don't like the result, you can always strip it down and redo it. You might save a lot of time and effort.

Agree with John, although I would use a knife only on the major ones, then use fine sandpaper on the rest. Inspect carefully before refinishing. I think you can salvage the job without taking the finish off and rewinding. Keep in mind that for such a major redo, it is likely that it will not come out perfectly, so the John Powell method, in my opinion, has a higher probability of yielding a good job.

You can also try sanding the first coat with 400 dry I have done this with good results

Lightly just knock off the tops of the fuzz

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2013 10:55AM by bill boettcher.

One way to check on future thread purchases is to use a very strong magnifier and very bright light.

Then, take any prospective thread - and while holding it in the bright light under the magnifier, pull on the thread about as hard as you can - just a bit less than breaking the thread.

As you do, look for any fuzzies that pop up off of the thread. If you find that fuzzies pop up with the thread under tension, do NOT use this particular spool of thread for building a rod. You will have issues.

A good rod thread can be pulled to the breaking point, without any evidence of fuzzies popping up.

Once in a blue moon, this issue of fuzzies can happen with any type thread. So, it is not a bad idea to check every spool of new thread this way to be sure that you have not purchased a spool of thread that will give you issues.

In many years of rod building with many different spools of thread used - I have been fortunate in only finding one spool of thread that worked this way. Fortunately, I discovered the issue before much damage was caused, and I immediately threw the thread into the garbage after finding the issue. No point in letting the thread sit around the shop to possible be used for a future build and causing issues again.

Be safe