I'm building out a1 oz carbon 8' 3WT fly rod blank with single foot guides. My tip section has 4 x 1/0 single foot guides behind the tip top.

I'm not new to rod building but the combination of the very thin/flexible tip section and the very small foot is giving me a run for my money. As I wrap up the foot, there's enough movement that causes the wraps to overlap/bunch up and just look sloppy.

I'm using 1/8" masking tape and CRB micro guide bands to hold the guides in place.

Question is, are there any tips you're using when wrapping really small guides? BTW, I'm not interested in gluing anything.

Thx.

Try adding several wraps of tape just beyond guide wrap towards tip(enough to keep guide from moving). Someone on here passed that onto me and it helps. Also, make sure blank is well supported as a little flex can cause havoc. Finally, some people use fly tying bobbins when wrapping towards tip. Definitely they are tricky to wrap.

Place two or three of the micro guide bands on the foot to really hold it down tight. as you wrap up the foot push the forward band back a bit, as you wrap more, cut off the forward band, once you have half the foot wrapped or more you can cut off the final band.

About the only thing that's going to help with dealing with the rod flex is getting your rod supports closer together. Of course that's going to make working between them difficult, but that's kind of just something you have to deal with when working with very flexible tips.

I've thought about making some kind of vertical stand that you could attach to your wrapper base that would support the blank close to the guide without having to have the roller stands so close together, but while I have an idea in mind, I haven't tried to make it yet.

I have used a rubber band cut it wrap it around the blank twice and tie a granny knot in it roll it to the guide and wrap it when close to the rubber band snip it and finish the wrap it has worked for me

Go to Michaels or Joanns and buy a roll of 0.5mm Stretch Magic. It'sin the beading section.
Tie a singe 6" strand over the blank near the guide position using 2 overhand knots and leave the tag ends long.

Now pull on the two tag ends to give you room to slide the guide foot under.
Snip the tag ends.
Now using a 12" piece of the Streatch Magic - make multiple wraps - undr tension - over the foot - leaving room at the foot end to wrap with your thread.
Secure with 2-3 overhand knots.
When you rap as far as you can go - cut the multiple wraps of Streatch Magic. The one loop you installed first will hold it in place while you wrap.
Herb
CTS

Some great suggestions here that I can try to improve the wraps.

The more I think about it, it's not so much the flex of the blank - I'm accustomed to dealing with that - I think it's more that the guide foot is so small, I can't keep it from walking while I'm wrapping.

Maybe more patience, a little less tension , and trying some of your tips will get me there.

Thx again and I'll feed back any meaningful solutions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2024 11:43AM by Jeffrey Merlino.

Make sure that you prep to a very gradual ramp with a razor thin end to the foot

Have you considered wrapping from behind and coming over the guide? (Not sure my sentence makes sense, so I'll attach a video)

[www.youtube.com]

Two tips.

First - use a drop of super glue gel to glue the guides in place to keep them from moving. Added bonus is no tape or bands to deal with while you are wrapping.

Second - make a supplemental support that keeps the blank from flexing.

I do these things to wrap fiberglass ice rod tips that can measure .less than .030 inches, so a fly rod tip would be a breeze by comparison!

Good luck!

Supports close together, lower tension and turn slow by hand

If you super glue it, how do you align the guides before epoxy?

When I wrap small guides near the tip I hold them in place with a very thin strip of tape. the tape is wrapped around the guide foot and then I make a couple of wraps immediately behind the guide. This little dam of tape behind the guide helps prevent the guide from moving forward when wrapping with thread. Once you have enough thread covering the foot to hold it in place, remove the tape and then do a locking wrap to make sure the guide stays in place and will not pull out.
Norm

Mark Brassett Wrote:
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> If you super glue it, how do you align the guides
> before epoxy?

I tape the blank to a table and make pencil marks where the guides are to be and apply the guides to the top of the blank. I hold them down with the back of a razor to keep it in place and use a heat gun on low or a hair dryer for the glue set faster. (I use Gorilla Glue super glue gel.) The guides can be popped off using an old razor blade to lift them off if not in line.

One of the advantages of glueing the guides on is that they do not walk when they are being wrapped so they stay in alignment so no need to adjust the guides after wrapping which can sometimes spring back out of alignment.

Since you have set the criteria by saying "BTW, I'm not interested in gluing anything." that eliminates part of my method.

Glueing will stop the thread epoxy from wicking under the guide foot.
Herb
CTS

When I'm going to wrap small guides on a small diameter section of the blank I use either the CRB red micro bands or orthodontic rubber bands that are used when people have braces. The orthodontic bands come in different sizes. Prior to putting your tip top on, slide the number of bands on the blank that you're going to need and if you know that the rubber bands (either the CRB or the orthodontic ones), are not going to hold firmly enough, I'll double or sometimes triple turn the bands over on the blank to create more holding power for the guide so it won't move when I'm wrapping it. When you need to cut it off because your wrap is getting close, I use a dental pick that is L shaped on one end. Just slide the pick under the band, pull the band up a little and cut it with an Exacto knife. I use the doubled over red micro bands on ice rods that I've sanded down to 0.9mm. Often I have to hand wrap the tips, but the micro bands help a lot.

All great suggestions, it’s just finding what works best for you.

I’ll add my trick, which is 1/16” pin stripe tape. It’s plastic with a great adhesive.

The other point is guide prep as I assume you’re using 100wt silk. I use a hand held rotory tool with a 1” diamond wheel to prep the nose and side of the guides.

Mike

I use bright colored thread on a fly tying bobbin to lash the guide down (just a standard wrap done fast without any regards to being neat). When my wrapping thread gets near the lashing thread I just cut the lashing thread loose with a razor and continue wrapping.

Thank you all again.