I'm guessing everyone has there own thoughts on what power wrapper to start of with but I'm ready to take the plunge and get one. I thought about making one but it makes me kinda nervous. So what a should I start off with I don't really want to spend over $400 but I do want something that will last and perform. Would even entertain the thought of buying used. From what research I have done it looks like ill want an upgraded chuck.

Kenne

There are must haves and got to haves, that said I used the existing chuck on my first wrapper a long time before there was even something to upgrade to with acceptable results, you can always upgrade later if you have to. When I upgraded I gave my old chuck to someone who was building his own, last time I was at his place he was still using it, I bought a Pac Bay unit and later upgraded to a Custom Power Wrapper from Angler's Workshop when I started shaping much more cork and EVA.

Kenneth,
Unless you want to do some grip shaping on the wrapper, you don't need a wrapper that turns much more than 800 rpm or so.

I personally wouldn't consider doing grip work in the rod shop because I don't want dust and dirt from the grip work in the rod shop. Rather, I prefer to use a wood lathe with accessories for all of the shaping in a separate building from the rod shop so that there is no chance of getting dirt on or mixed up with things that they shouldn't mix with.

I also prefer the ability to reverse the direction of the rod, for easy mistake correction and to also use the wrapper for finish application.

I just have a preference to wrap with the rod turning one direction, but I apply finish with the rod turning the opposite direction.

Finally, the ability of the wrapper to be able to turn reliably at 1-5 rpm, makes thread starting and precise wrapping so much easier than using a wrapper that does not have very low speed excellent control.

Good luck

I bought the Alps wrapper and have never been sorry.
Great chuck.

In that price range, the Alps wrapper with the upgraded chuck is a good value. Get Bit Outdoors had them for Black Friday / Cyber Monday in various forms and packages, and I think they had them again in a recent mailing at attractive discounted pricing. You might want to check with them to see if the promotion is still ongoing.