I'm considering getting a new power wrapper and have been researching them as extensively as I can because obviously they're not cheap. So........ if you were to buy one tomorrow, which one would you buy, and why?
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I've never double under wrapped, but when a blank is heavy and used hard, I can see the wisdom. I've only double over wrapped on roller guides. This blank is rated 80-130. I'm going to proceed with my usual under wrapping and it should be fine. It's good to get some additional recommendations. Thanks, guys.
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Tom, I guess my age is showing. I'm finally catching on to what the problem is; getting the Hypalon over the butt end of the rod. I'm pretty sure that I don't have a piece of scrap blank as big as I will need, but I'm confident I'll come up with something. I know a couple of guys with lathes who "will work for fish". Thanks for all the help.
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The butt diameter is just over an inch.
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Tom, The problem is this rod is already built and the guy wants me to replace the rear grip. It was stored in a building outside and mice chewed up the rear grip over the winter. So the reel seat is going to be the ending point. I can cut off the existing grip and the butt cap, and clamp the rod to secure it, but then I have to get the new Hypalon on. It's too chewed up to use shrink grip materi
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This isn't relevant to the EVA situation, but has anyone ever tried to install Hypalon from the bottom up, rather than from the top down? I might be faced with that situation in the future. I've re-corked handles from the bottom up several times by adding thread or drywall tape to achieve a zero taper and it worked fine. Could that same method be used with Hypalon? Cork is easy because you aren't
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Thanks, Tom. It's a really heavy blank and it's going to be wearing a 50W reel, so under wrap it is.
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When I was using Flex Coat I always used an epoxy mixer. You do end up with far fewer bubbles. My method was to measure using syringes and adding the components into the medicine cups with the graduations for dosing. These would go on to the mixer for 5 minutes, then get poured out on to a piece of aluminum foil that I formed walls on by molding it around a jar lid. The foil container went on a d
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I usually only under wrap guides on saltwater boat rods. I know I've seen this topic discussed in the past, but couldn't find it doing a search. I'm in the process of building a rail rod for a friend. Grips and reel seat are in place. I can set the guides as I customarily do with static tensioning, but until I move forward with under wrapping this rod, but my friend and I are both asking "Wh
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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
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John, I've been using Perma Gloss over my labels and decals. You'll never get a flatter finish than that, but make sure that the decal/label can handle the Perma Gloss solvent (xylene I believe). I also put a couple of coats on NFC sanded blanks before applying the decal. Stays in place a whole lot better.
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Here's an update on where I'm at right now. I created 16 test wraps with guides on a piece of scrap blank, using Pro Wrap regular nylon, Pro Wrap Colorfast, Fuji Ultra Poly, and Fuji NOCP in pairs. Eight received Flex Coat Lite, eight received Gen 4 Low Build. Four of each group of eight got coated right after the epoxy was mixed, and then I added 0.4ml of acetone with a pipet to the rest of the
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Thanks guys. I've re-wrapped all the guides, even most of the trim bands because it took less time to re-wrap than it did to dental pick all the epoxy away from the side of the wrap. I had used Gudebrod regular nylon size A black on the original wraps, but have re-wrapped with Fuji Ultra Poly. Before I put the finish on (Gen4 this time) I'm going to experiment with thinning the first coat with ac
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I've got a similar problem I mentioned in the above post on Finish and Guide Tunnels.
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I've got a serious problem. I recently built a couple of steelhead rods on NFC blanks, X-Ray LMX C6O2 for a customer. Spiral wrapped. He's been using them and is positively ecstatic about them. He called me a couple of weeks ago and said that guides were pulling out of the wraps; 4 on one rod, 2 on the other. I told him I wanted them back ASAP and I would take care of the problem. He also said th
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David, I spent a fair amount of time in my shop last night doing test wraps. Maybe I got lazy, but I used some DNA on the wraps to try and discern what would happen if I just used epoxy without color preserver. Oddly enough, almost everything I used the DNA on didn't go way dark; I was surprised at what I was seeing, especially with the 023 Fuji Poly Neon Gunmetal. One thing that prompted all
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David, The forged steel looks great; I like the understated appearance as opposed to the contrasting colors that are sometimes used. Fuji has a lot of guides in Gunmetal color, and they made a Gunmetal thread for a while. For some reason, I think they discontinued that color because I don't see it anymore, but when I discovered that I bought up 5 spools that a supplier had. Both A and D UltraPol
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I just started doing business with HFF; really nice guys, and Joe was a huge help. They have a great selection, and will be seeing more of me in the future. Since I live in Southwest Michigan, I was excited to have another source in-state and closer to home. Made my first order, they shipped it Priority Mail on 1/18, and USPS said I would have it yesterday. Nothing yesterday or today. I track my
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HFF just shipped me some Gen4 finish, but the temps here in the southern Lower Peninsula are downright balmy right now. 20+ degrees as opposed to -6 and it's supposed to get into the 40's next week with rain. There goes my ice.
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I use Flex Coat, U-40 Color Lock, and Al's. I haven't tried the Gen4 Vivid yet. The reason I have three different color preservers is after doing multiple test wraps I've found that most "color preservers" won't preserve the original thread color. Flex Coat and U-40 Color Lock will darken the thread to a certain degree. At this point, the only color preserver I have that actually will k
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RIchard, I use a power wrapper 95% of the time and am pretty fastidious about having clean hands when I do anything with a rod. I have more test wraps to do tomorrow, so I'll pay extra attention to clean hands. I've got some color matching to do, so I'll be both using CP on part of the wraps, and no CP on the other half. Curious to see if it still gets mottled with CP. As I mentioned earlier o
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Thanks David. I found them helpful. What I'm not sure about is how to post a picture on the page. I'll try and read up on it. I just completed test wraps w/o CP on the ten greens I have.
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I'm betting you guys can help me out with this. I've fished for walleyes for decades, but 95% of it has been trolling crawler harnesses, dragging bottom bouncers, and pulling cranks. I've actually only jigged for them 3 or 4 times in my life. My go-to rod is a 7" ML St.Croix Legend Tournament Walleye, fast action, 4-10#. I generally make my own rods, but the deal I got on this one was so unb
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I used to have this problem often with my PacBay wrapper. Tried all sorts of tapes and materials on the jaws to help stop the problem to no avail. I suspect that your problem is the same as what I had. If all your stand wheels are still tightened down on the blank and aren't perfectly level, the blank is going to want to walk out of the chuck during the drying mode. Here's what I found out: if yo
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Kevin, I accessed the podcast and learned a lot. When I was using Flex Coat most of the time (still do in certain applications) I always machine mixed it for 5 minutes with my shop between 68 and 75 degrees. Turned out great 99% of the time. Andy said not to machine mix it; do it manually with a stir stick, and that ideally my shop should be 70 degrees. It's his product so I'm not going to bend
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I've done it both ways; with or without a base coat. If the blank is glossy or smooth you can get away without a base coat. I mostly use Perma Gloss for a base coat unless the blank is painted (too hot for most painted blanks). A couple of very thin coats of Perma Gloss works very well and is extremely thin. I finish the decal (after it's dried) with a couple more coats of Perma Gloss. I found ou
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I've been liking the Gen 4 a lot. I went a little too thin on a second application (I'm using the Lite Build) and would like to add another thin coat. According to the directions you aren't supposed to put another coat on after a couple of days and it's been over a week. When I was using Flex Coat I have successfully put additional coats of Flex Coat on after 4 or 5 days when I needed to without
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A Merry and Blessed Christmas to everyone and a prosperous and safe New Year
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I made three more test wraps with the thread. Number one I packed really tight and had a lot more tension on the thread than I usually use. Number two I added ~0.6cc of acetone to the mixed finish. Number three I wet the thread with acetone and then used some of the remaining mixed finish(with the acetone in the mix). They all showed some streaking. Number one the least, then number two. Number t
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I'm doing a repair on a rod (replacing two guides) and trying to match the original thread color as closely as possible. It's kind of a jade green. I made test wraps of all the green threads I have (10) and found one that comes pretty close. It's a Gudebrod nylon size A in medium green. After applying some Flex Coat to the thread without any CP, the color is very mottled and streaky. I made an ad
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