I read about this in another post, I didn't even know such a thing existed. Right now I am using thin pieces of tape to hold my guides in place to start wrapping. I remove the tape when I get there and finish wrapping the guide. Once all guides have been wrapped, I eyeball down the blank and slide them around to get a straight line. If you use the guide foot adhesive, will you be able to make any final adjustments once wrapped?
Thank You,

Steve

I have found that using a very tiny drop of the adhesive on the foot, really a tiny amount, will hold the guide enough to wrap it. Then it can be moved for alignment.. It will not hold the guide well enough to do a stress test, so don't expect it to. And if you use too much the gob will deform the thread at the feet of micro guides like KT's. I just heat the stick with a lighter and barely touch the bottom of the foot to the stick, then quickly to the blank.

I have since changed to using dental brace rubber rings. Sort of unhandy having to run them almost the length of the blank from the tip, but they work fairly well. For the tip section double or triple loop them. available on Amazon . Pretty cheap.

I use flex coat guide foot adhesive for guides too small to tape on (usually running guides). I heat the guide gently with a lighter, push it on the end of the guide foot adhesive stick, and then stick it on the rod. It is just sticky enough to hold the guide while wrapping but very easy to adjust to align guides. It's really low heat glue so it doesn't take much to get it to stick.

If you go to the Flex Coat site to the left, they tell you it is a low temp. "temporary" guide adhesive. Don't use it as a tip top adhesive.

Steve,
There may be other “guide foot adhesives ‘ out there but I am only familiar with the Flex Coat brand. It works extremely well and, yes, the guide can be adjusted after wrapped; obviously not as easily as if no hot-melt was used, but still adjustable nonetheless. I do not use it on all my guides (wraps) but it certainly comes in handy for those micro runners, especially if there are numerous inlays and such where tape and bands get in the way. Yet another great product from FlexCoat!

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

I have always held them in place and aligned them with the tiny rubber o rings from mudhole then put a tiny (really tiny) spot of super glue on the side of the guide foot. I will have to try the Flex Coat adhesive as it seems to eliminate some unnecessary steps

I just used the glue stick for a hot glue gun and it worked - use only a tiny amount and have a steady hand getting it into the correct position ASAP

I have used the guide foot adhesive for years building fly rods. Once you get comfortable with it, you will find it to be fast, secure and flexible enough to allow guide adjustment after wrapping.

O.K. use guide foot adhesive. Wrap the guide using a Forhan lock wrap. Now break the guide free for final alignment. Explain to me how you can move the guide back and forth on the blank with the upright locked to the blank and keep the foot parallel to the blank. You might move the toe back and forth, but you're not going to move the ring in relation to the blank. Locked is locked.

Using guide foot adhesive does allow you to move the guides after the wrap, even with the locking wrap! The locking wrap keeps the guide from pulling out, not from moving around the circumference of the blank.!

Now to be sure, we are talking about slight adjustments, not large movements. I do it all the time in my building of fly rods with single foot guides.

Phil, maybe I'm using too much tension, I'll try some tests. But after encircling the upright 3 times and blocking wraps, I'm not feelin' it.

I modify the locking wrap slightly, in that I put one wrap behind the guide, then two around and finish with one behind. And when I say they are movable, I'm talking about tweaking them to be sure they are straight and aligned. Because I only build fly rods and almost always 4 piece, I am never having to align a long train of guides, some sections only have 3 or 4 guides!

Steve,
I use the same method you use to hold guides in place during wrapping procedures.

I tried guide adhesive a few times, but I was not satisfied with the results with the over all results and non ease of use.

As a result, I went back to using masking tape and have never looked back.

I keep rolls of tape in 1/4 inch, 1/8th inch, and 1/16th inch widths.

One of these widths will take care of the needs of securing the guide/s in question.

I use the low tack auto body striping tape that leave virtually no residue behind and thus no issues for clean up of the blank after the guides have been wrapped.

For myself, with my background - I have never found that guide adhesive makes much sense to me. But, if a person or persons like to use guide adhesive and enjoy its use and after life - by all means purchase and use it at will.

Best wishes.

I'm usually building 6.5-7.5ft. spin or cast rods so a long way to sight down the blank. In this thread I describe what I'm currently doing. Once they're wrapped, no further alignment takes place. [www.rodbuilding.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2022 06:42PM by Lynn Behler.

Roger, what brand of stripping tape do you use and where do you get it?

3M pin striping tape:

[www.3m.com]

I purchase it at any auto parts or paint store that carries pin striping tape.

Take care

I wonder if the striping tape, stretched a little and wrapped to overlap and cover the foot, then epoxied, might be a viable guide attachment? Might have to give it a look.

For small single foot guides (4 and under) I find the flex coat guide adhesive to be a godsend.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Apparently, there are more builders who use guide foot adhesive than I thought there was. Again, while I do not employ it on all my guides to be wrapped, as Russell said, it is a Godsend to me for the micros!
Although I have never experienced “guide pull-out” in 50 years of fishing, there may be others who are not as careful with their equipment. Since learning of “locking wraps” on this site, I developed my own method of doing such as an added precaution and evidence the rod is custom; basically, I do it simply because I can. I have no problem final-adjusting the guide to be straight and inline before applying epoxy; maybe the Forhan is different.

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

I have guide foot adhesive I purchased from Mud Hole. I tried to use it on Pac Bay Ti Chrome single foot guides. I used a lighter to heat the guide foot, pressed it into the adhesive stick, and got zero results when trying to adhere it to an Batson Enternity2 fly blank. Multiple attempts failed. I wonder if it was my ineptness, the type of paint on the cobalt colored blank, or the Ti Chrome finish on the guides? Any suggestions or experiences. No biggie as I have tape and the small guide bands, but was really hoping to make the adhesive work.

Here are the guides in question: [www.anglersworkshop.com]

I have not tried on any other guides or blank yet.

These guides like many Pac Bay items are about toast in the marketplace, but I have one set remaining to use purchased several years ago.