I had a disaster happen, and i would like to avoid this in the future, and see if there is a miraculous way to salvage my wrap.
I did an open wrap, with 2 chevrons pointing toward each other on a surf rod above the fore grip. There were 4 of these images where the 2 chevrons met up and were pointed in at each other on the top side of the rod. on the under side, there were two full images, and i put the base wrap so that it cut in half the butt end and tip end images. These chevrons started with black nylon C (pac bay) and faded into metallics D (gudebrod), ending with gold. So, the 2 points of the the chevrons meeting in the middle of the image were gold metallic.

I used black nylon C in the base wrap for 5/16", then inlayed gold metallic for 3/4", then black nylon for 5/16, then inlayed copper metallic for 3/4", then black nylon 5/16" to end and make everything symmetrical.

I cut the threads and tapered them after about 3/4" of the base wrap was put down. I put considerable tension on the base wrap, compared to the chevrons.

When completely finished and beginning to apply CP, i noticed my black nylon in the wrap was loose on the downward facing chevron. It was pulling out from under the base wrap. I think the ohter is somewhat loose too, but i just walked away at that point.

It just occurred to me writing this that I used pac bay C (they don't make D) and Gudebrod D metallic. was my base wrap not able to pin down the black nylon C because the D metallic is more elevated ?
I was also wondering if where i started my base wrap, over the center of the chevron image, where threads lay on each other, had somethign to do with it?
Or is it a problem combining metallics and nylons?

If anyone has a suggestion on salvaging the wrap, i'll listen, but i can't imagine any solution not wrecking it. I thought of putting another base wrap further in and pulling the black nylon tight again, but that would just wreck the thing. I'm almost certainly gonna tear it down and start over...
Thanks in advance for any comments. JIm J

Two things to consider - first yes it is possible that the smaller thread was not bound down firmly due to the larger thread next to it. Generally if you will use a good amount of tension on your tie-off thread you can alleviate this entirely.

CP will sometimes cause thread to stretch a bit. I will put a drop or two of CP on each pattern center or crossing and let that set, then apply CP to the entire wrap on the next go around. This can help keep things in place a little better.

As far as salvaging what you have now, about the only thing I could recommend would be to flatted the wrap as much as you can towards the outside, then make new tie-off wraps starting just beyond where the current tie-offs are, and remove those as you progress with the new tie-offs. No guarantee how this'll work for you, but it may be worth trying before you toss in the towel and decide to start from scratch.

...............

Jim you gave a fairly detailed accounting of what you did, the only thing that I would suggest is that maybe you did not have enough tension in the threads when laying down your chevrons. If you laid them down loose then applied CP over loose threads, that could have compounded the problem.

Without seeing the threads firsthand, we're just going by what you consider to be loose or tight, which might be completely different from what I consider loose and tight to be. For me the proper thread tension in a cross wrap will be tight enough so that when I pack or burnish the threads they stay where I put them because they are under tension. If they are at all loose, or for lack of a better word "squishy", when I try and pack them they are too loose and I would replace them with threads under greater tension. This goes for the tie offs as well, but if I understand you correctly your tie-offs should have been sufficiently long enough to hold them even if they were a bit loose.

I have to think you laid your cross wrap threads down too loosely.

OK, I think you are both right. I went back after the CP had dried, and the threads had tightened back up considerably. amazingly, actually. Can't believe how much the CP caused them to loosen. anyway, i checked carefully that the wrap threads were still being anchored by the base wrap. very carefully. They did seem to be. I applied the high build finish, and packed those threads in a little as it set up, and it looks pretty good. just a little gap in the outer most threads at the very base. overall, quite a salvage compared to how it was looking right after i applied the CP. the thread was actually loose to the point it detached from the blank, not just that a gap had appeared. there was AIR between the thread and the blank. After CP dried, it was flat on the blank again, but just a little bit loose and gappy.

Lesson learned. I will tighten it down a bit on the cross wrap next time. The first one i did was too tight. this one, a little loose. next time, just right, i hope.

Tom, you're idea of laying another base wrap, tightening, then extending the basewrap, was a good idea. Looking at it, i think i could have gotten that to work. it was going to be my weekend project. But, it was salvaged in the end. Thanks again for input, John and Tom. Appreciated!

You can also when putting on the CP Just drops and you can pack or push the threads together AS IT SETS Just putting on drops and packing the threads as it sets Not coating the whole wrap Drops where needed packing Then it sets and tends to keep the thread together

But

You have to do better on the tension
Don;t know the wrap
If you did a base and then another wrap over The base could have been CPed let dry and gave you a surface to wrap over

Bill - willierods.com