In this third installment we are going to cover the following steps:
- Guide Placement
- Wrapping on the Guide Underwraps
- Sealing and Finishing the Underwraps
- Wrapping the Guide Overwraps
In Part 2 I talked about the spine of the blank and it's placement with respect to the guides. Since we are building a conventional rod, both the spine and the guides go on the top of the blank in line with the reel seat.
Guide Placement
The first step in guide placement is to get a rough estimate of the number of guides and where they should be spaced on the rod. For roughly determining the number of guides I use the length
plus 1 method. That is for rods 6-6.5 feet I use 7 guides, and for rod 7-7.5 feet I use 8 guides to start.
You can use thin strips of masking tape to tape the guides to the rod, but I prefer using 3/16 inch surgical tubing. You cut thin bands of tubing and slide them on to the blank, two for each guide, and roughly space out your guides. I like to place my first guide in front of the reel seat approximately 20 inches from the center of the reel seat. Then I position the guide closest to the tip top 4 inches from the tip top measured from the guide ring to tip top ring. I then work from the guide on the tip end, spacing out the remaining guides in increasing increments by one half to three quarters of an inch of the distance from the previous guide. Each time I go up in guide size, I increase the spacing.
Once you feel the guides are properly spaced, glue on the tip top with 5 minute epoxy glue. When the tip top is dry, attach a ten inch piece of mono to the tip top with a sinker loop to hold a 10 ounce sinker. Attach a reel to your reelseat and run the line on the reel through the guides and the tip top. Have someone hold the rod parallel to the floor, attach a ten ounce sinker to the sinker loop and let the sinker pull the tip down. Keep the rod butt parallel to the floor. Now gently take up the slack in the line that went through the guides. Make sure all the guides are in alignment with the reel seat and tip top. Look how the line moves from guide to guide and adjust the spacing to insure that the line does not touch the blank. This is called a "stress distribution"
test.
When you are satisfied with the guide placement, remove the sinker and mark the position of the guides on the blank with a grease pencil. I like to keep my guidewraps short, with no more than
one half to three quarters of an inch of underwrap beyond the end of the guide foot and proportional to the size of the guide. This will be the length of your underwraps.
Now slide back the surgical tube bands and remove the guides. You are now ready to do your
underwraps.
Wrapping on the Underwraps:
Underwraps are important. They protect the blank and add color and contrast to you wraps. I usually build on black or burgundy colored blanks, so I like to use a lighter color thread for my underwraps. I use only size A NCP or size A metallic thread for my underwraps.
After doing all the underwraps, I burnish the wraps with the round smooth surfaced tool to smooth out the threads and close up any gaps The round bottom of a teaspoon or a knitting needle are good burnishing tools.
Sealing and Finishing the Underwraps:
Apply two coats of acrylic color sealant and let dry for 24 hours. At this point most builders wrap on the guides. I go through an extra step that protects the underwrap and helps to minimize cracking of the finish around the guide feet.
Use a two part finish like Flexcoat or Classic Coat. Mix the finish according to the manufacturerÕs directions. Pour the mixed finish onto a piece of aluminum foil to spread out the finish. This will increase your working time.
Apply a very thin coat of finish to the underwraps, making sure to wick off any excess finish with a squeezed out brush. I let the rod rotate for 12 hours for the finish to cure tack free and wait at least 48 hours before starting my overwraps.
Overwrapping the Guides:
Center the guides in the middle of the underwrap and roll the rubber tubing back over the guide feet. Align the guides with the tip top and reel seat. This does not need to be precise. You will do a final alignment once all the guides are wrapped.
Use size D thread for your overwrap. Start the overwrap about 1/8 inch from the edge of the underwrap. Wrap under medium tension. You do not want the tension to be too tight. Just enough to hold the guide in place, but allow you to slightly adjust the guide for final alignment.
After all the guides are wrapped, check the guides for final alignment by sighting down the blank. An easy way to do this is to turn the rod over with the guides on the bottom and sight down the rod. You can easily notice which guides need to be adjusted. Then turn the rod back over with the guides on the top and re-sight down the rod to make a final check.
Now wrap the tip top with your underwrap thread. This is really for decorative purposes only.
Burnish all the overwraps to close any gaps in the thread.
I have not talked about decorative butt wraps. There are many books available on the subject. If you have the desire to do a decorative butt wrap than go for it.
Part 4 will cover applying the finish. This is where many amateur rod builders have problems. If you follow the steps I will show you than you should be able to achieve a professional finish.
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