Forum | Rod building...

dougw said:

Wellll.. tension is probably one of the issues. The other is that when I'm wrapping now I have to put the blank in a vice(yes, it's lightly clamped and padded) and overhand the thread around the rod – think that might be an issue? LOL

My Castaway rods have the metalic thread, about an 1/8 of an inch at the end of the standard wrap. So I'm somewhat familiar working with it.

I'd love ta' get up there and will prior to the ABA Nationals. Probably early falll after everyone puts their cruisers away and the lake is flat, calm and easy to run! Hahahahah!!!!

Yeah, tension is an issue and your method of wrapping "might" be an issue as well….

I believe that with a hand wrapper, you'll find getting the spacing on the thread will be "somewhat" easier than what you're used to doing……..And it'll be easier to control the thread wrap spacing turning by hand because you can "back up" a little bit if you need to easily with a hand wrapper.  With a power wrapper, that might not be so easy…

When the lake is flat, calm and easy to run, Oh man Doug, stop it!  You're killing me!!! 

I'll bet that with a little practice you can too! Believe me, when you get going, you'll find that tension IS the issue, and even more so when you get to the metallic threads! Metallic threads look cool, but they are a multi-layer thread, the metallic sheath over a core. The sheath is very fragile and breaks easily. Once it breaks, it creates a "blank spot" that really looks crappy, so you end up tearing all the metallic off and starting over!

And with some practice, you'll find that it's easier to get the gaps and overlaps resolved AS you wrap than after the fact.

Tell ya what, why don't you come on up and I'll show you what I mean….

Yep, one of the first "good" rods I bought had the same issue. I thought I was losing either my mind or my casting ability (one would be missed more than the other) until I learned about rod spines.

Ahh yes, the old Robert's Wrap…  I love it!  And I love it for several reasons.

First of all, it's a more efficient design and the line flows through the guides in such a manner that they'll cast further.  I know this to be a fact because I took two identical St. Croix rod blanks and built one conventionally and the other in a Robert's Wrap design.

Using the same reel, with the same line, and the same lure tied on, I was able to cast a pretty fair distance further with the Robert's Wrap.  How much further?  I dunno as I was running out of room.  My casts with the conventional rod stopped short of the sidewalk and my Robert's Wrap casts were landing way out in the street!  I had to crank the lure in before it either got ran over or snagged on a passing car!

Plus, with so many rod companies not taking the time to find the spine of the rod when they're initially putting it together, baitcasting rods have a tendency to want to "torque" or twist in your hands when putting a lot of pressure on a big fish.  This is because the line is on "top" of the rod and the improperly built rod will want to twist and bring the line underneath the rod.  With a Robert's Wrap, the line is now underneath the rod and torque is eliminated.

Third, the rods just plain look cool!    It was a lot of fun when guiding to hand one of my Robert's Wrap rods to a client.  He'd be blissfully casting away for a couple hours then notice that some of the rods were on the underside of the rod.  He'd try giving the rod a couple twists (one piece blank) before telling me that he did something to my rod!  Sometimes I'd just laugh and explain it right away, other times I'd take the rod and wail, "How in the world did you do that??????"  And THEN I'd explain the rod was built that way.  Or else I'd just say, "well, they sometimes turn out like that when I've been drinking a lot…." 

Well I 'spoze I don't "need" a power wrapper. I'ma gadget guy and it just seemed a power wrapper would make the job easier what with having two hands available to position the thread. One to guide the thread and one to tighten up the wrappings.

Actually with a hand wrapper, one hand turns the blank, the other guides the thread, and with a thread tensioner on the hand wrapper, there's no need to tighten the wraps.  And you can adjust thread spacing as you turn the rod slowly by hand much easier than with a power wrapper as you can go just as slow as you need to.

Where do/did you start your wrapping? Next to the guide or on the blank and wrap towards the guide?

I start on the blank, away from the guide foot and work towards the guide.  That way the thread seems to lay better without gaps when the thread starts up onto the guide foot.

How did you terminate the wrap? I've been starting at the guide then wrapping away from it. To end the wrap I put a drop of super glue at the end, let it dry a minute or so then cut it.

Oh man, how do I describe this process?  It's easy to do, kinda hard to explain in written words.  Before you begin wrapping the thread, cut a piece of thread 8 – 10 inches long and set it aside where you can reach it easily. 

Now begin wrapping the thread.  When you're about 1/8th of an inch from where you're going to end the wrap, stop wrapping and maintain tension on the thread. 

Take that piece of cut thread and fold it in half forming a loop in the middle.  Lay the loop UNDER the wrapping thread with the loop pointing to the unfinished end of the wrap.  You'll want about 1/2 – 3/4 inch of "loop" sticking out. 

Continue to wind on the thread OVER the loop you've inserted under the thread and wrap the final 1/8th inch. 

Pinching the rod blank/thread wraps to hold them, cut the thread from the spool.  Take the cut end that is the end of the wrap and insert it through the loop.  Maintain your hold on the wrappings throughout this process or it's going to come loose and you'll be ticked!  Grab the tag ends of the loop that goes UNDER the windings and pull it gently out of the windings.  As it comes out, it will pull the cut, tag end of the wrap thread underneath the windings and out between the threads.  This will cinch the tag end of the thread tightly underneath the wrapped thread on the blank. 

Now, using a razor blade or sharp nail clipper, trim the tag end of the wrap thread close to the windings.  Using your thumb nail, you can work the thread wrapped around the blank until the cut end is under the wrapping, creating a nicely finished wrap.

Does that make sense?  It's easy to do, easy to show, difficult to explain…..

I use a real small electrical tie-wrap to hold/position the guide – is there a better method?

If it's a double foot guide, I simply use a piece of tape over one foot, then wrap the untaped side.  Once that's done, remove the tape and wrap that side and voila', the guide is now secured.  If it's a single foot guide, I simply cut a thin strip of tape and put that as close to the guide as I can get it.  Then I wrap over the guide foot until enough is secured under the tape, then remove the tape and finish the wrap.

Did you put anything under the guide foot to protect the rod blank? I haven't in the past but have read where some builders do this. Your thoughts on that?

In the past I've cut notches in cardboard boxes to serve as a rod holder. Then used a fly tying thread holder to wrap with. Monkey and football come to mind but it did get the job done. Drying was a bit of an issue but being as I was only replacing one guide I could rotate by hand every 5 mins. or so for a couple of hours. The guide replacements actually came out fairly decent but for sure I couldn't do more than one at a time or get fancy. Two color threads to meet the Castaway factory look and that was it.

I've bought a fair amount of rod building supplies from MudHole.com over the years.  They have a nice "starter" kit that is similar to what I use and it has just about everything you need to get started and build professional looking rods.

http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Ou…..art-Up-Kit

Does this help at or or make any sense?