Guides on a saltwater Cod Rod:

I ground/sanded the double foot guides so they will lay flat on the rod and also ground/sanded the feet so the thread would climb up nicely but the wraps look terrible!
I suspect that the feet have to be ground/sanded at a lesser angle because as I wrap up the feet the line "lags" behind the rest of the wrap but I don't want to weaken the guides by grinding/sanding more off of them.
Am I over thinking this or am I doing something wrong in the way I'm wrapping the heavy guides?
I spent 2-1/2 hrs wrapping 1 guide yesterday and to say I'm frustrated is putting it VERY lightly!

If I keep on like this the tread manufacturers will have to put on 2nd and 3rd shifts to keep up!

Tom

Tom

You wrote that the thread climbs nicely up the guide foot so I suspect you have ground the feet to about the correct angle.

Try lessening the thread tension and packing only the portion of the wrap opposite the guide until the wrap is fully on top of the guide foot ramp. The "lag" is part geometry (the thread up the ramp does not advance towards the guide center as quickly as the thread on the blank only) made worse if the wrap is not square to the blank.

Thanks Donald ,,,
I'll give that a try!

Tom
I would't lessen thread tension.
But tighter packing below guide and loser packing above will work.
I wouldn't be too concerned with guide foot strength if you ground to a lesser angle.
Don't forget to buff the prepped guide foot to remove any and all sanding grooves to allow smother packing and avoid shredding thread.
Regards,
Herb

Thomas,
When I prep guides, I prep essentially the full length of the guide foot. I shape the foot of the guides so it is essentially razor thin at the tip and climb gradually to the end of the foot. No sharp changes anywhere in the guide foot.

In contrast to the comment by Herb, I prefer to leave the sanding marks in the guide foot. I use a belt sander and I sand horizontally across the guide foot. As a result, there are fine groove in the foot, that catch and hold the thread tight to the guide foot and preclude slipping. When I wrap, I power wrap and keep the thread at a good angle, so that I do not have to go back and pack a wrap. If there is any space or opening in a guide foot wrap, I cut the wrap off and rewrap the foot. Because, Herb is correct. If one tries to pack or slip a thread wrap up or down a guide foot that has sanding marks left on the foot, the thread can potentially shred, and not move. But, this lack of movement is exactly why I leave the sanding marks on the guide foot.

Lots of ways to handle the issue.

Once in a while a grab a guide that I have not prepped at all, or not prepped enough. I start to wrap the guide, and after about a minute, realize that this is going no where fast. I mark the guide location with a piece of masking tape, remove the guide, prep the guide foot completely, tape back on and take the next 30 seconds to wrap the guide.

Under ordinary conditions, it should never take more than a minute or so to wrap a guide - excluding trim wraps.

Be safe

Thank you all for your help with this,,,,
As usual I find that it's not one specific thing I'm doing wrong but combination of things that add up to a disaster.
I found that the "grooves" that were left after grinding the guide feet were way too deep and the thread was jumping into the grooves causing a very poor wrap.
I went over the guides with a 1" medium grit disk in my Foredom Flex Shaft and that solved that problem.
Being new at this,setting thread tension is a hit and miss thing for me thus I had the tension way too tight causing more problems with my guide wraps.I loosed the tension which made the wrap not only look a lot better but also made it easier to turn the rod by hand.
I packed the thread along side the guide feet tighter then the top of the feet and with a combination of all of the above managed to get a fairly nice wrap on all of the guides!!!

I gave all the guides and tip top a coat of Pro Kote and will give them a second coat this afternoon!

Roger mentioned doing a guide wrap in a minute or so,,,,my minutes last hours! LOL

Thanks again,,,
Tom

Thomas,
After you have a few hundred guides under your belt, the speed will be quicker.

Take a look at time stamp 4:18 with respect to wrapping speed:

[www.youtube.com]

Be safe

Roger,,,
I have a very long way to go to be able to wrap a guide that fast!
I'm wrapping by hand and doing all of this solely as a hobby.
I've been into a lot of different things during my 10 years of retirement and only dreamed of doing when I was working.
It's been a good 10 years but I'll never be able to accomplish everything I want to do!
The rod I just finished is an old saltwater Cod fishing rod I restored for a cousin and now I will finish building my first freshwater spinning rod for a grandson who is also in on the build!
Right now speed isn't as important to me as quality is and maybe one day they can work hand in hand!
Thanks for your help and interest,,,,
Tom

Thomas,
Many years ago when I first started building rods, I wrapped one rod by hand.

After that, I said that there had to be a better way. I started to build various power wrappers and all of them worked. Some worked better than others.

The system that I use now, works very well for the rod building needs.

One of the pleasures of this occupation is the ability to enjoy the occupation in so many different ways.

Take care