Daniel, You ask a very valid question but the answers vary. If you are RESTORING the rod, build it just as it was with NOS or refurbished components from that era. Similar with REFURBISHING. If you are REBUILDING the rod, newer components and concepts can be employed; better seat, better guides, better guide spacing. Unless it is an heirloom, has sentimental value, or you were lucky to have foun
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Roger, I agree with both David and Michael; it all boils-down what YOU prefer for YOUR particular situation. I especially like David’s analogy of how pretty a woman is = point-on! Personally, as with Michael, I concentrate on building as light as possible and let the “balance” fall where it may. If it happens to be 2-4 fingers ahead of the (spinning) reel, I am happier than a pig in slop. If no
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Roger, If I were to employ your illumination and magnification, I’d never be satisfied!!! Lol Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
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Michael, Understood, accepted and even agreed upon.
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Speaking of relative, subjective terms, “nubs” and “fuzzies” can certainly be candidates as well. Once again, mine are not severe but rather tiny imperfections in / on the surface of the wrap rarely noticed until finish is applied. I suspect a single, broken filament of the thread could stick-up enough to cause a tiny imperfection / pimple in the epoxy. “Neither tension nor radius causes "f
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Michael is correct in that different materials can be used to “coat” cork. Personally, I prefer the natural appearance and feel of cork and do not care for the shiny, clear-coat urethane or epoxy produces. I have tried Birchwood Casey’s Tru Oil with satisfactory results but although cork is technically a wood (albeit the bark), I reserve Tru Oil for typical wood and, as others have suggested, U40
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Robert, Thank you for sharing your observations and remedy. While I fabricated my own power wrapper, I employed a similar upper pivoting arm which holds the third roller to secure the blank. As you, I always put the blank in the lower rollers and then adjust the uprights to hold the blank level. After becoming annoyed from measuring with a steel ruler each time, I scribed a line on a piece of a
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Tom, You are obviously correct and I agree. However, I was referring to sharply bending the thread around a screw-eye, and additionally under tension, prior to being wrapped around the blank itself.
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Thanks to John Ricks as well. Roger, I think you understand my point regarding “bending” the thread in a sharp radius possibly being the cause of fuzzies. More importantly, tension on the thread while being bent (as you mentioned) compounds the problem. Your rig affords a straight path from the tensioner to the blank = good. Mine uses a screw-eye which bends the thread ~135* between the tension
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Jim, I am also saddened by your loss and extend my deepest sympathies. Unfortunately, it seems that with the passing of 50 old-school craftsmen like your dad, maybe only one of the new generation picks-up the pride of craftsmanship banner and waves it proudly. PLEASE do not sell his precious relics to the insensitive bargain hunters; there will be plenty. Rather wait until THE RIGHT person come
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Mark, I appreciate your comment = thanks.
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Roger, I am certainly in no position to argue that the biggest culprit of my fuzzies could actually be a particular spool of thread itself. Without one spool being isolated and noticeably “fuzzier” than another as you suggested, I can only assume there is another cause of my dreaded fuzzies. It may just be the ProWrap itself in general = I do not know. Hopefully, my fabrication of a “friction-fr
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Charles, Agreed, cork is an awesome medium for rod grips! It is a totally natural, replenishable grip material which has been used for decades, if not millenniums, to produce extremely comfortable and very handsome rod handles. Hence, it is my go-to material for most grips and handles. Other grip materials may be fine and dandy from a multitude of perspectives, but nothing will ever replace cor
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Tom, Thank you for your input as well. Obviously, anything rough, let alone a burr, the thread is running through will create fuzzies. After inspecting just about every power wrapper and thread carriage known to man prior to designing and fabricating my own, I employed simple “SS screw-eyes” to direct the thread from the spool to the blank as did many of the commercial units available; and witho
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Ben, Thank you for the input. As stated, I suspected such, but reducing the tension to “very low” reduced the fuzzies but did not eliminate them.
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Roger, Thank you for your respected input as well. I think you have offered a very good “baseline” to describe the “proper tension”; if the guide can be moved “easily” after wrapping = too loose; if it requires quite a bit of effort = too tight. Very good = THANKS.
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John, Thank you for your respected input. I suppose I should have been more descriptive of the term “nub”. The nubs I get are not large but very small little imperfections, most of which would be concealed with the second coat of epoxy but, nonetheless, I prefer to shave them off just to be sure. I did not really emphasize it but my Flex Coat Slip Clutch is invaluable to me. Not only can I adj
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While the following may be more geared to those new to rod building than the veterans, it may possibly contain information useful to all. One of the first questions I posted after joining (some may say contaminating) rb.org was seeking what the “proper” thread tension should be while wrapping. While there are varying opinions and “proper” is a relative, subjective term to begin with, the replie
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Thank you Norman, you are correct, I stand corrected.
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Michael, I have used both the Minima Ms and Sea Guide high frame TiXOHG (which Norman suggested to me as well). Both are very nice and lightweight. Don’t be afraid to try the Sea Guide. One thing though, the SG size 8 was not offered until recently and the last time I checked availability (2-3 months ago) they were waiting for the first shipment. From the way it was explained to me back then, th
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Zachary, Apologies for referring to you as “Daniel” above.
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Daniel,
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Rick, If Tom and Joe’s suggestions do not work, call Chuck or Debbie at Decal Connection (contact link in the sponsor list to the left). I am quite certain they can make a typical rod decal for you from your present paper one.
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Russell, Personally, I prefer simple subtle wraps over the more flamboyant examples of thread art. Most of my wraps only involve 2 colors; a trim band on either side of the main wrap with an inlay or olive branch (JTOB), usually the same color as the trims, in the middle. It is the “color fades” (explained in the link above) which can require as many as 8 color changes to go from dark-to-light-a
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First of all, I would like to sincerely apologize to Michael for stepping on his topic; but I just couldn’t help myself. I hope to have not offended you. Russell, Thank you for the reply. I am confident I understand your description of the method you use for trim bands. But it is different from the (A&DT) method Norman and I have been describing = there is no need for pull-through loops wit
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Mike, While admittedly more “in-tune” with spin and casting rods, I don’t think it matters for your particular question. Assuming the sections are the same length, it is very easy and understandable if one section has more guides than another, even if further toward the tip. If the guides are at or very close to the ends of a section, that section could very easily have, say, 4 guides. The next
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Mike, Thank you for the reply. I had not thought of only having to rewrap the main wrap when replacing a guide if the trim and main wraps were separate. However, I would think one would spend more time trying to save the trim by having to be so careful removing the main wrap than to simply remove all, if it only “takes all of 10 seconds to do”. Rod building incorporates numerous methods and ma
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Mike, My only question is what is there to be gained by making two separate wraps rather than simply one continuous wrap?
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Gary, You make a good point on how vague terminology can be when attempting to describe an aspect of a blank in which so many “split-hairs”. At the risk of seeming to have my head stuck in the sand, old-school blank action terminology such as slow, medium, fast, is quite descriptive and has been widely accepted for many years as Tom stated. Even so, there were / are many who require a more preci
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Jason, I agree there must be a common denominator causing your recent rod breakage; something in your routine has changed. Unfortunately, we cannot help much other than offer suggestions; it is up to you to investigate, discover, decipher and eliminate such in your particular situation. The only thing I can offer is to be aware of the little / obvious things to avoid “not being able to see the t
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