I've read a couple different guides on a tiger wrap, and some have different information than others. One says that on your top wrap you want to use a hair dryer to heat it up a little so that your threads will sink in a little. Another doesn't mention this step. How necessary is this?

Also, do I want to use color preserver on either layer of the wrap?

Clint,

To be honest, I never heat up the thread for it to sink in deeper. Most instructions will actually ask you to create separation from the under and over wrap. This is why some people tell you to put on a couple layers of epoxy on before you put the over wrap on. I, however, when short on time, skip this step and my tigers turn out fine. You just end up with less distortion.

A neat treat I saw someone else do was wrap the over wrap with 80lb monofilament line instead of thread. Works well but not to my taste.

Tight Lines,
Austin

If you're not having trouble with the top thread moving when you unwind the sacrificial wrap, then there is no need to apply heat. Otherwise, it's a good technique to help lock that thread in place so that it doesn't move.

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I finished the top wrap last night and put some color preserver on it. I then removed the thread and it looked pretty nice. However, this morning the pattern is much more subtle. I'm guessing I put too much CP on and it got onto the epoxy.

Is there an easy way to remove the color preserver that's on the epoxy of my bottom wrap? I've already removed the thread because I wanted to rewrap it, but I can feel the CP on the epoxy

What you experienced is normal. The effect would have come back once you applied the epoxy top coat. CP won't harm it in any way.

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Oh really.. that's a shame. Live and learn I suppose.

Is there any good way to clean off the bottom layer epoxy so that I can try again?

Alcohol may take the CP off without harming the epoxy.

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So this is my first attempt: [imgur.com]

I just did it on the gap in my split grip, and I'm actually pretty happy with how it looks.

I would like to know how the color choices would affect it though. For this I did black and white on the bottom and blue on the top (obviously). Unless you really look hard you can't see any black on my wrap, which is good I wanted it to be white and blue. Is this because your eyes don't notice the two dark colors without specifically trying to discern them? If I had used a lighter color on top, would I see more black than white? If I had used say blue and white on the bottom and black on top, would it look black and white?

Black and white or black and metallic silver will give you the best contrast with any colour on top. Do a test trying out different colours and combinations to see what looks appealing to you without having to use epoxy. Wrap say a couple of inches of your bottom layer, then cover it with clear packaging tape and do your top layer and remove your sacrificial thread(s)

Jersey, Channel Islands. (U.K.)

Clint I recently posted a similar question and before seeing the same information from Tom did the same thing! Sorry you had to go through the same trouble! Second time lost the effect again in the CP, but epoxied anyways per Tom's advice, and it looked phenomenal. These guys know their stuff.

It changes when you look from different angles. I can't say for sure, but it seems like this effect would be lost without the epoxy layer in between top and bottom. The tiger would still be there, just not the shift with viewing angles.

Clint I recently posted a similar question and before seeing the same information from Tom did the same thing! Sorry you had to go through the same trouble! Second time lost the effect again in the CP, but epoxied anyways per Tom's advice, and it looked phenomenal. These guys know their stuff.

It changes when you look from different angles. I can't say for sure, but it seems like this effect would be lost without the epoxy layer in between top and bottom. The tiger would still be there, just not the shift with viewing angles.