Hi I am doing research on tooling to get started in rod building. This is not something that I want to do as a profession but just as a hobby for my self. I am an avid wood worker and have some hand eye coordination skills, I spend about 60 days a year on the water fishing and had an Aha moment a few weeks ago after receiving a new center pin fishing reels as a gift. I have been online looking at the tooling and was hoping to get some advice, once again only at a hobbies level but do plan on doing this for many years so I am looking for middle of the road. Any suggestions would be most appreciated! Thx Todd

Avid wood worker, so you can build your own hand wrapper. They're very simple to build. What I did was look at the various hand wrappers available and I built mine with some of this and some of that, from each one. I personally would either build or buy a rod dryer. You can build your own using a rotisserie motor from an old microwave, or you can buy the parts at somewhere like Mud Hole, and fashion your own. Once again, it's very simple to make your own. You can get a lot of the miscellaneous kind of stuff from craft stores. Mixing sticks, single sided razor blades, brushes for applying etc ...

I personally would get one of the kits that contain a burnishing tool, a pair of snips, and a thread pick. They're cheap and economical and will come in handy. A roll of masking tape. Other than thread, thread finish, (I'd suggest buying it in smaller quantities since you will have it around for a while and it will yellow, so you aren't throwing out good finish) rod bond (it's an epoxy for gluing up reel seats, grips, and the like .... and some Isopropyl alcohol 90% or better to clean up your mess, and you're good to go.

David above gives you some good basic information, and I agree with the idea of starting by building you own hand wrapper. If you unhide your email, I can send you a photo of my latest version (#6).

It is also easy to start with a rod kit so to learn some of the building process.

Additionally, there are lots of videos online that you can watch can an idea of the whole process, as well as the tools and their uses.

Phil/ Dave,

I changed my settings, it should be unlocked. That’s why I went on this forum, it did not cross my mind to build one myself. I would appreciate any photo’s of ideas. Thanks again for the advise!