I noticed this morning that the fiberglass rod looks like the neck of a porcupine.. I ordered another already, but theres 3 good splits... I cant see 3 form overnight from wear and tear.. I mean i do use the thing a heck of alot... I managed to finish the job i was doing, thankfully no issues...

My question.. Hiw the heck am i going go get it out of there for the replacment? I would assume the same way you take a tip top off, but the base is plastic.. (The instructions said to epoxy it in) and does anyone have any ideas for a temporary tensioner until the one from mudhole arrives? I can feel the ich... Come on man.. Just one more rod.. Thats all i need... Lol

Could try a soldering iron for some localised heat. I used some high tensile fencing wire on my home made job.

I guess i could use anything really for a tensioner...all it has to do is resist i guess.. The threads are on a threaded rod with springs to keep tension on the spools..

Im not so sue using a solder iron would be suck a good idea.. The whole frame is plastic..

Cut flush and drill out. If hole gets bigger maybe wrap end of new rod in the ad before glueing in. Hot glue next time perhaps.
Good luck.

Yeah.. Its amazing what logic can do.. Its 4am here.. Im not thinking very hard about this.. Thats a fair idea.. Im honestly ready for a diffent rig.. The CRB aluminium base plates with a power wrapper would be nice... I just cant see spending that kind of money for something so simple... But its time to start looking into a "more advanced" setup i think..

I am just starting out and have only put new guides on a light spin rod and built 1 15kg stand up rod. Have built all my own rod stands, hand wrapper, variable speed dryer and a few other bits and pieces. For me it has been a wonderful learning and creative experience. So much to learn. Have fun

Im mesing with some sort of rod atleast 5 hours a day.. My wife isnt happy about it.. But it is what it is.. I seem to really realy enjoy doing restorations.. I am currently spining a diawa for a friend.. Have 16hrs. Wrapped up in the whole project.. But man does it look good... I think im going to need 2 coats of epoxy on this one though... Stupid double feet guides... I have rebuilt/built probably about 16 rods now.. Simple guide repairs, to full restos.. It is incredibly addicting... Theres something about taking a rod next to death and breathing fresh life back into it.. I find it very rewarding.. I have a MHX build sitting, waiting for the daiwa to finish, after that its the 2 microspins.. Good times... Good times..

Interesting discussion. Any pictures?

Thanks John

I sent you an email with 2 i redid

Are you talking about this wrapper?

[www.mudhole.com]

All kinds of wrappers have been built with a tensioner wire made from piano wire.

I don't know where you are located, but if you have a hardware store handy, just go over to the hardware store and pick up a piece of music wire that has roughly the same flex as your current fiberglass rod.


==============
Some examples of various sizes of music wire:
[www.acehardware.com]
Check each size to obtain the correct amount of flex to use for your application.
======================

And:
[www.hardwareandtools.com]

============================


Then, just chop off your fiberglass rod, drill a new hole in the base to accomodate the new piece of piano wire. But before you put the wire into the base, use a pair of round nosed pliers to form a loop on the end of the wire to run the thread when wrapping.

Drill the hole in the base a touch smaller than the piano wire. Then, use a pair of pliers to push the wire into the base.

----------------------
If you want to use fiberglass and don't want to wait, just pick up an appropriately sized fiberglass ice fishing blank and use that for your flex member.
-------------------------


--------------------
But, there is another option that is used by many folks.
Cut off the piece of fiberglass and go wrap your rods. You really don't need the fiberglass rod or any other sort of flex piece between the thread and your rod.

I work with a rod shop that has a half dozen hand wrapping stations. None of them use any thing between their tensioner and the rod. Thousands of rods have been built on those stations.

I have built a dozen or so different power wrappers over the years for myself and have never used anything between the thread tensioner and the rod.

For a tensioner, I use the classic spring and disk tensioner that are used on millions of sewing machine around the world to generate the billions of articles of clothing that are produced every year. Nothing extra between the thread tensioner and the sewing machine needle that puts the thread into the material.

---------------------------------
For example:

This is a picture of the thread stand and tensioner and thread arm that I have used to wrap hundreds of rods.

[www.rodbuilding.org]


This is essentially the same spring tensioner with disks that I use on my current wrapper thread stand.

[www.mudhole.com]

I personally prefer not to put tension on the thread spool, but rather - on the thread itself, in the identical fashion used by sewing machines.

Note:
I do NOT run metallic thread through this tensioner. Metallic thread simply doesn't work well.
But that is not a problem since the only metallic thread that I use are for trim wraps and I hold that thread by hand in the 1-2 foot pieces that I use for trim wraps.

----------------------

from the hobby shop spring music wire just bend an eye or hook will last a lifetime

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Wow, that was one thorough and well put together post roger... Thank you...

I have 3 spare fiberglass tensioners on thier way... But will either do the piano wire (as i like to reverse) or figure something out... Like i said.. Ive been looking into diffrent options.. Thank you very much

For removing the old piece, just remembered my dremil torch has a excellent heat gun attachment.. Thing sounds like a jet engine when you fire it up lol that should work.. Assuming the glue has a lower melting point then the plastic.. And im 90%sure it does...

Anthony,
Another option is to drill out the old piece.
Cut the piece off flush, and then use smaller drill bits to drill the remnants out of the base.

I would not bet that the glue melts at a lower temperature than the fiber glass. It may, or it may not.

p.s.
If you turn the wrapper over, is the hole for the fiberglass rod all of the way through the base board? If so, just use an appropriate sized smaller rod and a hammer to drive the current piece of fiberglass out of the base. A finishing nail setting punch is likely about the correct size.

The whole does not go all the way through.. Its ok though crisis averted.. I used a pair of dykes, with rubber covering the jaws.. Gently rocked back and forth a little, and used then to pinch and lift as you would do to remove a electrical staple.. Didnt cut the rod, came out smooth.. My bigger concern was slipping with just my fingers on the fiberglass.. I know i know... Im not a fan of gloves though... Lol but man that would have hurt getting a shard that size in the hand.. I slipped it back in for now, ill jse it til it explodes or the new one comes.. Got alot of rods to work on.. Thanks for the input guys...

I know alot of my post could be remedied by just doing whatever from the get go.. But you never know, one of you guys may have had a simular issue at some point and found a better way..

I use four strands of 174 lb. stainless leader wire sort of twisted and bundled together with a tiptop like open loop at the rod end and a closed loop at the base end with a screw thru it into the base. I do not have a CRB wrapper. It's the same wire I've been making hook keepers from. (as per Norman Miller's instructions) It sure don't look good, but it works quite well. Let me know if you want to try it and need wire in a hurry.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2018 05:57PM by Lynn Behler.

Anthony,
Can you just try and experiment and do some wrapping without using the fiberglass rod? Just run the thread off of your spool directly to your rod and wrap away. Let us know if you have any issues using this method with no spring relief between the thread and the rod.

As I stated earlier - millions of rods get wrapped every year with no spring member in between the source of the thread under tension and the rod with excellent results.

[www.youtube.com]

Check out time stamp 10:40

Good luck

Like Roger, I don't use a tension rod either. If I see that I need to back up, I just turn my thread spool backwards as I turn the rod backwards.

I dont see why it would be a problem.. I have excellent thread control from tying flies.. Thats acually one of the most important things in fly tying.. Thread control.. You can do anything as long as you control your tention, spacing. And placment.. So i should just use my bodkin i guess lol

That rod causes more trouble than it's worth . I don't use mine and haven't since my first build . Set your tension and like David said , back it up and roll your thread back if you have to back up .. BTW , if you're having trouble with the tip top wrapping give me a shout through email or pm and I'll tell you what I stumbled on , works great on crb wrappers . Better yet do a youtube search for this ,
Easily Wrap a Noodle Rod Tip Top . Good luck .