Does it hurt to wrap over the tape that is holding the guide in place on the small micro guides, I dont have much room to tape and then start the wrap, tried glue stick but that did not work out that well.Thank you.

Keith Langford

that is truly a different way of doing it I , would use rubber bands like mud hole sells , I would not do it , but who am I ?

William Sidney
AK

I use #14 or16 rubber bands. Cut in half then wrap a couple of times around the foot and tie a overhand knot. Wrap up foot and when get to the band just snip the knot and the band flies off. Works for me. I have those bands for lots of stuff. Wrap premade rigs like that after they are coiled. Live bait bridles etc.

I use the Flexcoat Guide adhesive for wrapping It takes some practice but it does work. I use rubber tubing for static testing.

For tiny guides and small rod sections, I use tiny ortho bands. I will place about 3 more bands on a rod blank before attaching the guides so that if an extra one is needed, or one breaks before the job is finished, there will be a spare.
I took a conventional pair of dykes or snippers and ground the points down to a very thin sharp point. This allows me to use the dykes to snip the band, when I have 4 or 5 wraps on the guide holding it in place before I finish the wrapping.

[www.amazon.com]

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Then, when going further down the rod, I use dental bands:
[www.amazon.com]

[www.amazon.com]

[www.amazon.com]

Also, the use of the bands allow very easy guide spacing adjustment as needed before wrapping.

Good luck

Keith,
No, I never use guide glue on a rod.
No, I never use tape to hold the guide in place and leave it there under the thread. A good way to have a poor fitting guide in the final finish.

I have used 1/8th inch painters striping tape for some micros. Other smaller micros - require the use of the ortho bands for even less width to be in the way of the thread wraps.
But, if I do use painters striping tape, I remove the tape after there enough wraps on the guide to keep it from falling off the rod. Then, I will finish the thread wrap and tie off loop.


Good luck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2020 11:45PM by roger wilson.

I use the orthodontist bands too. I bought about a bazillion off of a common website for next to nothing.

Mike,
Copy that. Same source - same cost comment.

I would not wrap over tape. I don't think you will like the look and it cannot be as secure as wrapping over just the guide. One way to make tape work is to cut it into about 1/8 inch strips . Not a piece of cake to get it and the guide onto the blank, but with practice it can be made to work.

Another method that I've had mixed results with is to start your wrap, get it about 1/10 inch long, then capture the guide foot under your next few wraps. When you get about 5-10 wraps on the foot, slide the guide out with the tip of the foot remaining captured by the wrap. This too isn't foolproof, but you might be able to make it work.

i choose to slip the guide under the thread and wrap down the guide foot..wrap from the ring down to the toe..

The dental bands are so fast and easy. I've been using them for 10+ years. I got mine online somewhere. Mud Hole carries them now.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Okay, I already have the micro bands from Mudhole, I didnt think they would hold well enough for the static testing, I just need to remove my tip top and place them on the blank. I will add a couple like mentioned above just in case. Thank all of you again. Hope yall dont get tired of me asking questions, I just have always wanted everything I do to be as perfect as possible and not have to do it but once.

Keith, if you aren't doing so already, use two lines for your static testing. Tie a line to your tip top, and use that line to load the blank. The second line is running from your reel through your guides and the tip top. You only need about 1/4 - 3/8 oz of weight attached to that line. Just enough to keep the line taunt. The rubber bands others are talking about will have more than enough power to hold your guides in place.

Personally I use the tubing that Mud Hole sells for holding the guides on. It comes in various sizes that will fit anywhere along the rod blank. I like it because I can use whatever size I want to make sure the guide foot is tight against the blank. I wrap under some pretty high thread tension and having the guide foot very tight against the blank saves me a lot of headache when getting the thread to go over the tip of the guide foot.

I use dental floss on ice rods. I tried the orthodontist bands but they weren't tight enough on the small dia. rods.

I use dental floss on ice rods. I tried the orthodontist bands but they weren't tight enough on the small dia. rods.

Pat Retlich

Keith, the only perfect rod is the one that catches fish..lol.

Keith,
I wonder what you are doing with your static testing.

When I do guide testing, I am testing for the line flow and to insure that the line follows the curve of the loaded blank.

There is essentially 0 pressure on the guides when doing this.

I have the guides in place with the tip top on the rod.

I run the line through the guide and the tip top and let the end come to the floor. Then, I stop on the line with my stocking foot - just to hold down the tag end.

Then, I press the tip section of the rod against the white ceiling and pull back on the rod - with no pressure on the line. Finally I reel in line so that the line is straight from the rod down to my foot

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Then with the slack removed from the line - I just check the appearance of the line to be sure that the guides are located in the correct location to insure that the guides keep the line so that the rod remains properly loaded when under fish tension and that there is not a large separation between the line and the rod blank.

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Now, if you want to do some test casting, just take 1/4 inch masking tape and do a two or three turn wrap with the tape over the guides to hold it secure to the blank. The tape will likely cover the entire guide foot of small guides. But do your casting and if necessary move a guide to a different position and then rewrap with the tape.

When all is good, just use a tape measure to locate each guide position and to have for future reference. Then, give each guide a twist, the guild will come off and then slip on a bunch of ortho bands to hold the guides. Slip the guides under the bands and adjust as needed according to your previous measurements.

Be safe

p.p.s.

For the folks who say that the ortho bands do not hold well enough on small diameter ice rods, just go online and purchase the " Ortho Dental Ligature Rubber Ties Bands" Search on the words inside the quote and you will come up with many sources. These tiny tiny bands will work very very well for building tiny diameter flexible ice fishing rods.

Good luck

David Baylor has it right. The two line method doesn't load the guides significantly so they stay put with almost any method of holding them, and the rod doesn't have to be unloaded to change guide positions. If you use the Fuji KLH reduction train, locate it where the KW software says to locate it, then place the running guides with the stress test, there is no need to test cast Some may disagree, but I've never improved on what Fuji said to do regarding reduction train size and location. The runners won't affect the casting performance.

Sewing supply stores sell elastic thread - about a size "D" thread - with a thin elastic core. Two turns around the guide foot and blank stretching the thread, a square knot in the thread and you're in business. You can slide the thread loop tight to the top end of the guide, trim the ends above the knot and wrap the guide right up the guide foot. When you touch the elastic with a razor it will literally jump off the blank so you can finish your wrap and under-tuck. Elastic thread is easy to move and adjust, holds the guide securely during wrapping, and it's cheap.

I take a length of 6# mono and tie a regular clinch knot loosely around my finger, slip it over the blank and secure the guide to the blank. Trim the ends short to not interfere with the wrapping. Once the thread is on the foot enough, cut the mono off. I feel it holds more securely than the bands.