I just ran across this morning.

A $100 tool to prep guides and do other small work around the shop:

Sorry about the misinformation. Jay is correct. $80 for the machine and $20 for the belts. Total $100

[hourlyholidaydeals.com]

It could be a winner.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2020 05:01PM by roger wilson.

How can they make things like this in China and sell them so cheap?
Pat Retlich

Pretty sure the machine is 80$ and the strip is 20$ if i am reading this correctly.

Roger

It looked pretty neat. On an impulse I just ordered one. The bill came to $19.99 plus $4.95 shipping and handling total $24.94. I will give a report when I receive it.

If it doesn't workout I can use the components to build a line winder or something else. Either way I know I will have more than $25 worth of fun with it.

Thanks for the tip.

John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2020 11:35AM by John DeMartini.

What does this tool do to "prep" the guides?

John DeMartini Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Roger
>
> It looked pretty neat. On an impulse I just
> ordered one. The bill came to $19.99 plus $4.95
> shipping and handling total $24.94. I will give a
> report when I receive it.
>
> If it doesn't workout I can use the components to
> build a line winder or something else. Either way
> I know I will have more than $25 worth of fun with
> it.
>
> Thanks for the tip.
>
> John


When you get it let me know, I orderd one, and the only thing that showed up was 10 belts. Buyer beware please

Roger,
Thanks! You really do have a knack for finding deals. For only $20.00, if it proves to be junk, one is not out much. However, after reading comments from John D. = paying $5.00 for shipping although it says free shipping, Ron W = only receiving the belts, I will wait for John’s update after receiving the unit (or possibly just the belts) before I consider ordering one.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Guys its just the belt for $20 - the machine itself is $80, there is two options for purchasing make sure you read it. One is for the belts and the other is the polishing machine. The price changes to $79 when you select the polishing machine. If you ordered for 20 you will only get belts as that is what your ordering, not really buyer beware in this case, make sure you read what you selected before buying. They worded it clever to get the clicks to visit the page, but the purchase button clearly lists your buying options.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2020 04:39PM by Jay Burns.

Phil,
The same thing that my 1 inch wide belt sander does. It does it very well.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I made a guide holding tool with a piece of blank material and a machine bolt.
I made several of them to accommodate different sized guides.

i.e. smaller blank stock and smaller machine screws for small guides and larger blank stock and larger machine screws.

I liked to use a wing nut of the correct size on each of the machine tools.

Then, after fitting a guide in the tool - I cut off the end of the machine screw so that it only requires about 3 turns of the wing nut to make the machine screw tight to the end of the blank material and make the guide stable.

Also, I would grind off the head of the machine screw, so that the head was quite thin - so that the head of the machine screw did not protrude into the area where the guide foot was being prepped by the sanding belt.

I use about 150 grit sand paper and hold the guide as shown in the picture. This action causes fine sanding lines to be sanded into the guide foot. These lines tend to stabilize the thread and keep the thread from slipping on the guide foot.

Best wishes.

p.s.

I prep virtually every guide that I put on a rod - this includes very larger guides as well as very small guides. I put a near razors edge on the end of the guide foot, so that there is essentially no hill for the thread to climb as the wrap comes to the foot.

I respectfully submit that if one buys the right guides, Fuji in particular, the need for something like this is negligible. I sometimes will run a piece of 150 grit across the tip of the foot to help the thread climb, but that surely doesn't require a motorized "tool."

I also never prep guides for wrapping. At the very most I might rough the toe up a little with a diamond nail file to help the thread climb the toe easier, but not enough to remove the finish.
Norm

I've been looking for a belt sander. Sharp looking unit. One concern is that there are no safety shrouds/guards on it compared to most belt sanders. The unit in the video seems to "walk" on the table - though comparable tools probably do the same?

What advantages are there to this unit vs. this from Harbor Freight for $53? [www.harborfreight.com]

When I first started wrapping, I bought Dale Clements “Bible”, Advanced Custom Rod Building. While obviously dated, it contained a wealth of information, especially for a newbie like me. One of the aspects covered in the book was “dressing guide feet” i.e. grinding a gradual ramp on the end of the guide foot. It made perfect sense and doing so greatly improved the ease of wrapping as well as the appearance of my guide wraps. Later, I learned from two of the most respected contributors to this forum, Norman Miller and Jim Isling, that dressing guide feet was NOT recommended. I am a huge fan of anything Fuji, but the ramp on their guide feet, virtually all other brands as well, could certainly be better. This is the first and only aspect of rod building where I would differ from the astute opinions of such respected veterans as Norman or Jim.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

To each their own. Never really found the need to prep the feet on guides. Prepping removes the protective coat to help prevent corrosion. But that's just my opinion.

I do dress my guide feet. I don't go crazy just create a little more slope to get the thread to transition better. I have used a cordless dremel with a grinding wheel for extreme cases. But most of the time a few strokes of a file and I am good to go. Practice a bit with a file. Learn how to use one properly and you can do some very precision work very quickly.

All my recent builds have used Pac Bay Minimas. Probably the best shaped guide feet I have seen. The larger sizes still need a little work but not much. As for removing the protective coating well that may be the case. But what about that epoxy coating over the thread and in turn the guide foot. If moisture gets under there it will stay there for awhile. No coating will stop corrosion if it is exposed to constant moisture maybe slow down the corrosion but not stop it..

Thanks, Roger. I suspected that but I didn't want to miss something new. Since 1958 I have used a jeweler's file to prepare guide feet. No problems yet with this method.

I never file or grind guide feet either , haven't found a need to do it . The guides i have used for recent builds have been Fuji's RV, KW, KL, KL-H, KB and KT's and not only do they lay perfectly flat on the blank but have glass smooth bottoms . As far as the thread climbing up the foot , i actually wrap a little forward of the start of the foot and nudge the thread backwards while packing it to combat the slipperiness of the climb , no issues .

Another reason i don't file or grind them is because i don't know if i'm going to keep them or not , depends on all the test casting and tweaking i do . Sometimes i send a bunch back if i find them to not be ideal for what i'm doing and if they aren't pristine and unaltered they won't take them back. Most give you 30 days for returns and that allows you to compare and test guide types and sizes.

Whatever works for the individual , not a big deal.

Michael Danek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I respectfully submit that if one buys the right
> guides, Fuji in particular, the need for something
> like this is negligible. I sometimes will run a
> piece of 150 grit across the tip of the foot to
> help the thread climb, but that surely doesn't
> require a motorized "tool."

But buying "the right guides" can vary with what rods you are building and their intended purpose. For example: With ice fishing rods most builders stay away from guides with inserts to avoid additional ice build up in the guides in sub freezing temps, so Fuji guides are not a good option. Ice rod blanks are generally very narrow and springy, and guide foot prep makes it much easier to wrap tiny guides on small blanks. The tips on some ice rods are .030 inches or less, so I also grind the guide feet narrower for the tip area guides so the feet aren't 3 times the width of the blank. So for these and probably other builds, there are unfortunately times that grinding guide feet to prep them is necessary.