Hello,
I’ve done some wrapping in the past with a book etc and decided about 6 months ago to buy a crb power wrapped and also bought the fancy crb pro stands too. The problem I have is with the chuck. I really don’t like it as it’s not smooth and doesn’t really grip the project. As I’m working, if I forget to go back and readjust, the end of the rod falls out of the chuck (usually right when I’m doing something intricate).

I’ve considered the fact that the blanks are tapered and may wanna walk so with that in mind I tried keeping the stands at varying tension but nothing seems to help.

Any thoughts on what to do would be appreciated.

Justin,
Purchase a Flex Coat “slip clutch” with two extra “diaphragms” with the smaller 5/16in hole. Chuck the slip clutch into the chuck of the wrapper and use it to hold your blanks / rods. You may need to devise a way to keep the spindle of the headstock from turning. Not only will this method hold the blank without needing to tighten the jaws of the wrapper chuck each time but also will allow you to adjust the backlash, rotational tension of the blank to avoid the blank backing up and loosening the windings of the warp = A HUGE PLUS!!!. The additional diaphragms can be easily cut to hold a variety of different blank and grip diameters. I have three different size holes in the diaphragms and secure the largest on the slip clutch itself; the other two can simply be stretched over the one mounted on the slip clutch without needing to be secured. I cannot imagine wrapping a blank any other way.
If the chuck of the wrapper loosens its grip on the slip clutch, then it is either defective or junk = return it.

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

Justin,

Another option is to use a Taig 3-Jaw machinist chuck and head stock.

Over the years, I tried others, but now only use this chuck with the soft aluminum jaws that have an inward facing shaped jaw tip for an excellent grasp on the butt of a rod with no slipping issues:

[taigtools.com]

[taigtools.com]

---------------------------------------
For myself, I made my own head stock using a piece of nylon block with a 1/2 inch ball bearings nested in each side of the block. Then, I used a 1/2 inch mandrel with an attached 1/2 inch industrial keyless chuck.
For working on rods with no butt cap, I insert a piece of tapered solid rod stock to fit the taper on the inside of the blank for a perfect fit.

For rods with a butt cap, I buy a 3/8th x 16 threaded 1/2 inch shank to go into the keyless chuck.

---------------------------
I tried all of the others, but have ended up with this concept for a trouble free chuck to hold my rods, rod blanks, and shanks for use when building rods.

For example:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Another unit that I built, using the Taig chuck, aluminum round jaw set, and the Taig head stock driving by a DC motor:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Or a Flex Coat chuck with slip clutch mounted on a DC motor . In this case it is used only for drying. But, with a different control box, could be used for wrapping just fine. These type chucks are virtually bullet proof.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Here is a Renzetti head stock with the equivalent of the Taig chuck - being driven by a DC motor:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Here is an Alps head stock with an Alps chuck which is essentially the same as the Taig Chuck and head stock:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

This was a Taig head stock and Taig chuck that I assembled with a motor many years ago - which has since been passed on to another rod builder:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Here is a "home made" chuck, made from a PVC cap and a piece of neoprene - mounted on a motor. This unit was used for a dryer, but with a different control box, could be used for wrapping. The chuck is bullet proof and is similar to other cap - neoprene type membrane with a hole in it to hold the butt of the rod. Again, fool proof and inexpensive to make . If you buy a 59 cent pvc cap and have an old inner tube around, you could make this chuck for under $1.

Here was a chuck setup using the motor and gear train from a cordless drill. I simply chuck a piece of tapered solid stock into the drill chuck and slip the matching rod blank on the matching tapered solid stock.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Close up of the "home made" pvc cap head stock chuck:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

This is a picture of some rod dryers that I made from low rpm ac timing motors and home made pvc cap chucks:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

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

Lots of ways to get a great, slip free, chuck for wrapping rods.
But, if using a conventional chuck, one of the best things that a person can do, is to create an inward shape to the jaws on the chuck if your chuck has removable jaws. Use a cutter or dremel tool burr to create this 1 1/4 inch diameter radius drum sander and you will have jaws that grip and don't slip on your 3-jaw chuck:

Or, you can remove the chuck with its straight flat jaws to a machine shop and have them machine the ends of the jaws to fit the typical 1 1/4 inch diameter rod grip that you will typically have chucked into your wrapper chuck.

If necessary, just bring the entire head stock , chuck, jaws and a sample of the typical rod butt that you will have clamped into your chuck and ask them to modify the jaws to fit the rod butt that you have supplied. Essentially you will be asking for exact equal length jaws, each with an inward concave shape of a radius such that it will be a perfect fot for a 1 1/4 inch diameter rod butt.

Best wishes

Justin,
As you can see, Roger is quite ingenious. I used his recommendation of the Taig headstock and 3-jaw chuck when upgrading the power wrapper I fabricated. But your CRB is new and the chuck should work properly; if not, return it (if they even allow you to) and buy a Flex Coat wrapper.

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

Option 1) A quick fix is to put tape around the outer rim of the locking spool to keep it from backing off. 2) If you like to tinker, by all means go the Roger way, you will have a first class setup. 3) Send it back and get this: [getbitoutdoors.com]

Mr. Wilson impressive work. I saw a pic of ice rods drying by the fire. They look nice, kinda long for my liking, do you fishing in large wooden huts? I generally would use a rod like that outside and jigging for walters.

Rich,
I have clients for ice fishing rods who live and fish in Canada. Most of the time - no matter the weather or temperature, they fish out in the open with no shelter.

They love to be mobile and use snow mobiles to quickly move from spot to spot on the huge lake where they fish.

So, this length is exactly what they like to use.

By the way, this is one fish that one of my clients caught on the first day of fishing after receiving his new rod.

Note: This is an exceptional fish and is not the typical fish caught on this lake.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

However, Lake Winnipeg is home to lots of very nice fish of all sizes.

All good ideas… I have a lathe and a mill at my disposal…I’ll have to play with some of these ideas. Thanks