I am finally getting to the point of putting guides on my dads ice rod for his christmas present and I am using double foot snake guides for guides. I decided to go with these so I could do a nice decorative under wrap to match the weave. Having never done any sort of under wrap before I am not sure if I am suppose to epoxy them before I put the guides and over wraps on or just epoxy them all at once?

I put finish on my under wrap before I put the guides on just because it makes it alot easier to just have to put finish on the over wrap and not have to work under the guide.... just my 2 cents ... im sure other people might do it different but just makes it easier on me ...

Brandon Clingerman

Hi Scott,
I just put cp on the underwraps and then finish on both. The cp helps to keep the underwrap together and makes it easier to get the overbind packed properly. On a light weight rod I doubt it's necessary to add unecessary weight. I got away from underbinds a bit but I'm having a rethink as I think they add a lot to the way a rod looks and the small amount of additional weight isn't much of a penalty to a much better look. You can put more than one coat of cp if required. I don't have a problem packing the overbind without finish. The only time I'm liable to put finish on an underwrap or first overwrap is for a heavy ( over 50lb ) game rod. However do whatever suits you best.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Col,

Thank you. I agree especially on an ice fishing rod the weight you are adding with an underwrap is so negligible that it seems silly to not do it on double foot guides. I did some test wraps last night and did notice that is can be a huge pain to try and pack the over wraps but I didn't CP the unders first. I will try that today and see how it turns out.

Thanks

Scott

You can always do a "false underwrap" which is nothing more than a wrap that fills the space under the middle of the frame. This may prove to be slimmer, neater and easier for you.

...........

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can always do a "false underwrap" which is
> nothing more than a wrap that fills the space
> under the middle of the frame. This may prove to
> be slimmer, neater and easier for you.
>
> ...........


thats not a bad idea Tom.

Here is an example of a false underwrap...the look w/o the bulk.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I do a lot of spiral wraps and like to put an underwrap on the spiraling double foots since I usually follow them with smaller fly runners and dont mess around detailing those.

In the end do whats best/easiest for you but I like to wrap the complete under and then, without CP or finish, wrap the guide on top.

If you follow your underwrap thread with a packing tool as you wind it on, then burnish the whole wrap really well there shouldnt be a problem with the overwrap threads cutting into the under. I wrap pretty darn tight too.

Bulkiness is a product of finish amount, not threads. I've seen some pretty bulky guide wraps posted without underwraps. Excess finish is the culprit.

Not every finish job turns out perfect but here are some examples of my work with underwraps done in the way I described above. My reasoning for not coating the underwrap is that I want the finish to soak through the over and underwrap down to the blank creating a uniform lock. You may not see it that way or agree but thats what makes sense to me.

All of these are A over A

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Whatever you choose to do, have fun and detail those guides up. Underwraps look great!